University of East London collaborates with AWS to become the leading careers-focused University in the UK

 

London, UK – 10 July 2019 – The University of East London (UEL) has announced a ground-breaking collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS). This includes the creation of a UEL Career Zone and Innovation Loft at the University; establishment of a UEL industry research institute; and support for UEL’s flagship Professional Fitness & Mental Wealth programme. See below for more details.

As part of its mission to become the UK’s leading careers-focused university, UEL will exploit AWS cloud technologies. AWS’s expertise in areas such as artificial intelligence, digital and cloud skills would enable significant cost savings to be made from moving to the cloud and allow UEL to increase resources on what matters most: providing an outstanding learning experience for students and further investment in research and development.

Professor Amanda Broderick, Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of East London, said, “Amazon Web Services was a natural choice for this far-reaching and transformative collaboration. Our close relationship will drive innovative ways of learning, increase the employment-preparedness of our graduates and enhance our research and enterprise capacity.

“We are delighted that our collaboration demonstrates our commitment to innovate for the public good.”

Paul Grist, Head of Education, EMEA at AWS, said, “We’ve seen innovative educational institutions around the world simplify their business models and benefit from the cost savings, scalability, and agility that AWS brings to the organization. We’re thrilled to see UK universities such as the UEL taking advantage of this and look forward to be supporting UEL to create the Innovation Hub and Career Zone to equip students with the latest cloud skills, technical knowledge, critical thinking, and decision-making skills needed to be successful in today’s digital economy.”

About the collaboration

Career Zone

Located on the University of East London’s Royal Albert Docks campus, the Career Zone supported by AWS will assist students with graduate careers including access to advice and guidance on cloud technology from AWS experts. The space will also offer facilities for conferences, seminars and meetings equipped with the latest technology, such as Amazon Alexa.

This innovative programme will provide students with access to AWS Educate and AWS Academy, giving them the resources needed to accelerate the cloud-related learning that drives innovation in fields such as artificial intelligence, voice, and facial recognition, gaming, medical advancements and more. This will ensure UEL students have the necessary skills to thrive in the careers of the future.

Innovation Loft

UEL will create a new Innovation Loft where students will have the opportunity to get hands-on with the latest cloud technology from AWS, get access to AWS experts who can answer their questions and attend exclusive AWS seminars featuring AWS partners and customers. The Innovation Loft will be available in the Career Zone and will display a range of AWS services in action.

School of Business and Cloud Associate Degree

UEL’s School of Business and Law will incorporate a new industry research institute, supported by AWS with a focus on technology-informed business skills required to deliver success in a constantly changing environment. AWS’s expertise in areas such as artificial intelligence, and digital and cloud skills will inform UEL’s curriculum development at both postgraduate and undergraduate level. This will include the launch of the Cloud Associate Degree to prepare students for entry-level jobs in cloud computing.

Professional Fitness & Mental Wealth programme and Career Passport

UEL’s Professional Fitness & Mental Wealth programme, which launches in September 2019, will equip UEL graduates with the employer-demanded competencies and life-long resilience to flourish in the digital economy. The Career Passport is a digital repository that provides employers with evidence of the applied skills, competencies and experience the graduate has developed from the Professional Fitness & Mental Wealth programme. AWS will become an ambassador for this flagship programme, providing the support necessary for students to achieve AWS Certification digital badges to add to their Career Passport.

Details of the announcement

The collaboration was announced by Teresa Carlson, vice president, worldwide public sector at AWS, at the company’s global education conference IMAGINE: A Better World in Seattle, which explored building the workforce of tomorrow. UEL’s vice-chancellor and president, Professor Amanda Broderick, provided the closing keynote at the conference on increasing the diversity of the talent pipeline and contributed to the University Presidents’ Roundtable on how technology can drive student success.