Industry projects with HS2 and West Midlands Academic Health Science Network (WMAHSN) were launched at The Ideator with young people on the Digital Innovators Skills Programme.
Held at Innovation Birmingham, The Ideator saw more than 80 students from Solihull College and University Centre come together with innovation teams at HS2 and WMAHSN to delve into challenges in travel infrastructure and healthcare.
Reena Sidhu, WMAHSN’s Commercial Enterprise Lead (Digital Health Innovation), spoke about her experience with the students:
“It was inspiring to see so many talented students come together at The Ideator to share their innovative solutions on solving some of healthcare’s most complex problems.
“We are now looking forward to working with these young people and watching their thoughts and ideas flourish into viable products that will help to benefit the health of our region.”
These projects are building upon the successful execution of projects with last year’s cohort which produced innovative solutions around customer experiences in HS2 stations and reduction of NHS wait times, and resulted in students progressing in their education and careers with tangible experience with leading employers.
Since The Ideator, this year’s cohort of students have continued to develop their ideas and solutions in preparation for their upcoming sprint with the HS2 and WMAHSN teams – the first of three presentations over the duration of the programme.
Harry Paige, Centre Manager at Digital Innovators, shared his excitement at the progress of this year’s cohort:
“Seeing the DI Learners on our first cohort of the academic year begin to realise the possibilities of their solutions has been fantastic.
“As the first presentations to their employer approach, their passion is only growing larger as they start to see their innovations and ideas become more of a reality!”
This cohort forms the first of three to be ran between September 2022 and July 2023 and has set the bar high as employers and mentors have been left thoroughly impressed by the professionalism and creativity demonstrated so far.
With this cohort set to complete the programme in January, we are excited to see their ideas take shape throughout their industry placements and see students come into their own with new-found skills and confidence.
This activity is delivered with the support of Greater Birmingham and Solihull Enterprise LEP and Bruntwood SciTech.
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