Graduates pass on their gratitude
Teesside University London students were invited to a Here East Community coffee morning and lunch, held on Tuesday 5 December, as part of their careers and employability curriculum.
Students were from a range of backgrounds, including business, marketing, games and animation, bringing a depth of knowledge to the event. The aim of the event was to give students an opportunity to speak with industry experts and professionals to develop their communication and relationship building skills, and for many of the students, this was their first experience speaking to employers in a professional capacity. This event fed into their core curriculum (Graduate Talents) Relationship Builder module and was an opportunity to showcase their research finding, portfolios and digital profiles to industry experts and gain some feedback.
As a result of the event, Scott Watson, Teesside University’s Enterprise Manager for Launchpad, and his team will be supporting some students’ entrepreneurial ideas in follow up appointments. Speaking at the event was Harry Potter, Account Director of Safetech, a company based within Plexal who deliver global cyber security services and solutions, who shared insight with MSc Information and Cyber Security students about internship opportunities within their company.
Games and Animation students spoke with Senior Games Designer and Teesside graduate James Vassiliou from Rocksteady Studios, Concept Artist Maciej Ruszala, from Factory 42, and Senior Technical Artist Brad Austin from Atomhawk. They provided students with insight into their professional career journeys, technical tips, and answered student questions on navigating the industry.
The event was nicely hosted, I had a lot of conversation with students
James, who graduated with a BA (Hons) Computer Games Design, in 2014, said: “I fondly remembered my time at Teesside University and felt like I wanted to give back a bit after my time there. It was really inspiring to talk to so many ambitious students, and though the games course seemed to be just getting off the ground I saw some great potential with some of the work being done at TU London.”
Opeoluwa Ladeinde, who completed a BSc (Hons) Computer Games Programming, in 2016, said: “The event was nicely hosted, I had a lot of conversation with students about their early progress, as well as nice conversations with other professionals in the industry.”
The event was a huge success with positive feedback from students, staff and professionals, it was rounded off by an exciting opportunity for all to have a tour of the brand-new facilities at TU London.
