If you’re looking for an injection of fresh ideas and human-centred innovation, Brunel University runs a highly regarded scheme for companies to tap into the skills of its design and engineering students. Companies submit their briefs, which are then matched to a student who works on solving the challenge as part of their final year at university.

If you’d like to submit a brief, now is the time to talk to Brunel’s Designplus team and find out more about the process.

Having engaged in an ongoing collaboration with Brunel for a number of years, I can attest to the students’ skills, creativity and professionalism. We work with 10 – 12 Brunel students at each MEX event, involving them in facilitating workshops, contributing ideas for the event themes and using their visual talents to help the conference’s creative teams present their results.

I’ve been consistently impressed by the results of this partnership, which has now involved around 100 students over multiple years. In addition, many have gone on to careers in digital experience, becoming active members of the MEX community, including those such as Amy Huckfield and Rory Southworth who’ve returned to present professionally at MEX events in later years.

I’ve seen several examples of these collaborations between students and companies presented at the annual Made In Brunel showcase in London, often coming away inspired by the new ideas the students have been able to inject into their partner companies.

The deadline for submitting briefs is September and you can find more details here.