Organizers Benjamin Ricaud and Lars Ailo Bongo setting up the event.
Image:
Photo Julia Sen

Organizers Benjamin Ricaud and Lars Ailo Bongo setting up the event.

Pitch-day for ideas for master’s projects for the computer science and machine learning students at UiT

We invited companies, the public sector, and other organizations to present their ideas for master’s projects and to connect with students having an interest and background in computer science and machine learning.

Pitch-day for ideas for master’s projects for the computer science and machine learning students at UiT

The Pitch-day event took place on the 5th of April. It consisted of a selection of short pitches from startups to large research centers. Even more project proposals were sent by email and distributed to the students. There was a high diversity in the topics presented, from the analysis of texts, to images, 3D videos, weather, marine data, satellite images... We could feel a lot of enthusiasm and passion from the presenters. On the student side, more than 20 participants came, mostly from the computer science department and the physics and technology one.

 

The master project is an important part of the study program. After two years of pandemy, it may not be so easy for students to break their isolation and come back to normal interactions. It is important to help them by proposing such in-person events where they can re-connect with the university and companies' environment.

 

Thanks to the connections built over the years by one of the co-organizers, the Innovation Lab at UiT, several startups and small entities were given the opportunity to pitch. In these small structures, the help of a master student can make a difference. The startup can both have a new team member, curious and dedicated, and be connected to research and innovation via the academic supervisor. Besides, the pitch-day was a good opportunity to show the students that you do not need to be in the Silicon Valley or in a large city to launch or be part of a high-tech startup.  

 

This event can also be seen as a contribution to a long-term plan to foster innovation and connections between the university and the industrial sector. This is one of the missions of the center SFI Visual Intelligence, one of the co-organizers. In addition, the event aligns with the strategy of developing the high north: it puts an emphasis on gathering local companies and local research centers, giving them high visibility.

The companies and institution that presented this year were: Medsensio AS, SINTEF Digital, Institute of Marine Research, Keenious AS, Oceanbox AS, Unifractal AS, Kreativ Teknologi @ Tvibit, Directorate for Higher Education and Skills, and NORCE. In addition, Helse Nord IKT, Arva AS, and Norwegian Centre for E-health Research proposed project but could not attend the event.

 

We look forward to next year's edition!

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