Case study
Creating Impact Experiential Project
What was the project?
An experiential network (XN) project was set by an external partner measurable.energy on whether AI-enabled automation can help students reduce small power wastage in a university context.
What was involved?
Students in interdisciplinary teams performed desk-based and primary market research to explore student perspectives on automation versus human intervention in reducing small power waste in a university setting. Students were supported by faculty and industry mentors and presented their creative, evidence-informed solutions to the external partner in a Creating Impact event at the end of the semester.
How did students learn?
As part of challenge-based learning, students had to address a complex global problem in a local context. They regularly participated in a process of reflection and acquired key transferable skills such as communication, problem-solving, teamwork, and creative thinking. They engaged in active student-centred learning.
Key benefits for students:
- Preparation for the working world as the project mimicked a professional environment.
- Obtained real-world experience that could be showcased to prospective employers
- Gained industry insights from business mentors and discovered employment opportunities.
- Applied interdisciplinary academic knowledge to a practical challenge.
- Developed key transferable skills that employers highly demand.
- A meaningful experience with real-world impact.
Student perspective
“It was a chance to get real-world experience as well as learn about it in an academic way at the same time, so it was a mixture of both — I think that kind of opportunity is quite rare.”
Jack Van Dale, Business student
“I’ve met people in industry and it has been a good chance to network. But it has also been about knowing that you’re tackling a real-world problem. This has been a great opportunity to hone those skills before graduating.”
Kate Nguyen, Data Science student
External partner perspective
“Experience is really important to us. We are recruiting graduates coming from universities and we’re already seeing that if they don’t have experience in industry — even just this light touch kind of experience — then it can be quite a struggle.”
Dan Williams CEO of measurable.energy
“One thing that we are challenged with on a regular basis is communicating what we are doing in the buildings where we are installed. There have been some really great ideas from the students about how to effectively [communicate] the savings to people.”
Josh Eadie CTO of measurable.energy
You can read more about this project in the Global News article here.