Students from Software Engineering and Computer Science have showcased their project work to a national townhall event hosted by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), highlighting an ongoing collaboration between academia and industry.
The event provided an opportunity for students to present a web-based documentation access system, developed in response to a real-world brief set by UKHSA. The system is designed to help staff manage, vet and grant access to the organisation’s extensive range of datasets, which underpin its work in protecting public health.
Students from both the first-year Software Projects module and the second-year Professional Software Projects module contributed to the initiative. Working closely with UKHSA mentors, they engaged in regular feedback sessions, enabling them to deliver sophisticated dashboard-driven solutions aligned with professional specifications and user needs.
In front of an audience of more than 170 UKHSA professionals attending the online townhall, two student groups delivered confident live demonstrations of their systems and responded to questions from an expert audience.
Kat Paes, Partnerships Manager at UKHSA praised the students’ performance:
“A massive well done to the teams that presented today. It takes real confidence to deliver live demos in front of such a large audience, and they should be extremely proud of what they’ve achieved.”
This marks the second year of collaboration with UKHSA. Following a successful pilot involving second-year students, the project has now expanded to include selected first-year cohorts, broadening opportunities for students to engage with live, industry-driven challenges early in their studies.
The initiative reflects the strength of partnership between the Sheffield Hallam University and UKHSA, and the value of providing students with authentic, impactful project experiences.
