Our 2020-21 cohort of students on our skills programme at Solihull College & University Centre have completed this year’s projects!
To say we were blown away by the talent and determination of our students would be an understatement. So, of course, we would like to fill you in on the incredible work they have produced over the past year.
What have our students been up to?
Gener8door
Gener8door team members, Samuel and Izabela, came up with the idea of powering college campuses and workplaces using kinetic energy from revolving door motors and kinetic paving slabs.
Over the course of their project, the team have put all their planning in place, have successfully CAD (Computer Aided Design) modelled and created working prototypes of their revolving door and paving tile – and have both secured apprenticeships for next year. Great job team!
Youth Support and Protection (YSAP) – West Midlands Police
The YSAP team – Eve, Yasin, Renee, Dante, Kyle and Hannah – were given the opportunity to create an awareness campaign in partnership with West Midlands Police to inform young people about the dangers of knife crime.
The team has now successfully created a fully functional website that contains interviews, blogs, and short films created by team members which increase awareness about the issue of knife crime, as well as where victims and perpetrators alike can seek support. Such amazing work!
Police Perspectives – West Midlands Police
The project team were given the challenge of collecting information from young people to enable West Midlands Police to see how they were perceived by young people in the local area.
After creating a questionnaire and an advertising campaign to promote it to young people, Wanis and Aidan successfully collected information on the perception of the police in the West Midlands.
Return 2 Driving – University Hospitals Birmingham
The project team were challenged by the Orthopaedic Department at University Hospitals Birmingham to create a piece of equipment that can accurately test the tensile strength and reaction time of patients who have recently gone through leg surgery, so that they can give them the green light to start driving again.
So, what was the outcome? Thembe, James, Ryan, Israa, James, Daniel and Ben were able to create a simplified proof of concept of the apparatus needed as well as user handbooks, a website for the product and marketing material.
Maps – University Hospitals Birmingham
University Hospitals Birmingham asked another Digital Innovators team to create an interactive, easy to follow way of navigating each of their hospital sites.
The team have successfully created a fully functioning Artificial Intelligence (AI) chat bot that is able to tell users how to navigate through to different parts of a hospital. The team are going to continue working on the product next year to flesh it out for all hospitals – how innovative! Great job – Troy, Kamil and Cameron.
The project team – Maggie, Harrison, Harpreet, Thomas, Jaskran and Chloe – have been working with Taran3D to create their own 3D modelled and animated mascot that can be used in Augmented Reality (AR).
The Taran 3D team went on to create a fully modelled 3D mascot that has been implemented into an AR app, and will be continuing on to add animations next year. We can’t to see what you come up with next year!
DI App
Another team of students were given the opportunity of creating an app to be used by future students of Digital Innovators. The purpose of this app would be to log work experience hours, record portfolio work, and use resources provided by Digital Innovators.
Ethan, Jasper, Anwar, William, Saim, Nabil and Luke have successfully created a proof of concept and designed the aesthetic of this app, and will be continuing this project when they return in September.
The Core
In collaboration with Solihull Council, this project team has been given the opportunity to create a 3D modelled Virtual Reality (VR) version of the gallery featured in The Core, Solihull.
During their project, Emily, Chloe, Morgan and Lily were able to teach themselves 3D modelling, completed their initial planning, and created some basic design mock-ups of what they think their version of the gallery will look like. We’re very excited to see the next stages when the team continues next year…
The Members Agency
The team – Tom, Danielle, Jonathon and Hilmiya – were given the opportunity to redesign three pages of The Members Agency‘s website to make it more visually appealing whilst maintaining the business’ aesthetic.
After planning and making mock up designs of the web pages requested by The Members Agency, the employer liked them so much that they gave the team permission to redesign their whole website, which the team have now successfully created. Great work, team!
Touchwood
Reece, Tom and Josh were given the opportunity to create a customer relations survey and customer-oriented app for Touchwood Solihull.
The team have successfully completed a fully functioning app for Touchwood that helps customers find their way to the shopping centre and locate shops throughout. They can also use the app to find out vital information such as COVID-19 restrictions and accessibility provisions.
Faced with ever-changing restrictions due to COVID-19, the team adapted and chose to include the customer relations survey they created as a feature in their app.
BNP Paribas Personal Finance
This team, which included Ben, Samir and Jai, were given the task to create a recruitment campaign on behalf of BNP Paribas Personal Finance, and to come up with ways to attract new employees and fresh talent into the business – which they have successfully done!
Birmingham Parks
Birmingham City Council have been faced with the challenge of increasing footfall to local parks in Birmingham, which they tasked a team at Digital Innovators with addressing.
As a result, the team – Fynn, George, Hakeem, Irfan, Alfie and Maria – have successfully created a QR code-activated scavenger hunt which involved many different species of animals – aimed at young children to encourage them to visit and explore more of the parks in Birmingham.
Solihull Radio
Solihull Radio has given a Digital Innovators team the opportunity to create, plan and carry out a set of podcasts on topics they believe could help young people.
After quite a number obstacles, the project team now consists of one student, who has singlehandedly created a planned each stage of the podcast production and content. Great work, Shane!
So, there you have it!
A round up of all the projects that our students have worked on over the past year… We are incredibly proud of the progress our students have made, especially given the circumstances they have been been working under.
But, what’s next for our students?
Our first year students are off to have a well-deserved summer break before returning to continue their projects next year.
But what about our final year students? Well, it comes as no surprise that many of them have secured apprenticeships and university places to study everything from engineering to film – many inspired by the experience they gained during their projects!
We can’t wait to see what they go on to achieve… Good luck team!
Get in touch!
Are you an employer? Are you struggling with resources?
Interested in having a DI project team tackle a challenge for your business? Please get in touch via info@digitalinnovators.co.uk or submit your interest here.
Or if you are interested in taking on one of our brilliant students through the Kickstart, you can find out more about doing so here.