UWTSD’s Institute of Welsh Institute of Science and Art (WISA) has partnered with Alacrity Foundation to deliver a Start-up Challenge Workshop to support graduate enterprise, entrepreneurship and employability.
The two day event covered business models, pitching and ideation with demand led problems, and also featured a talk by UWTSD Graphic Design graduate Joe Lewis a cohort member of Alacrity Foundation, who was able to share his experiences and expertise.
The Alacrity Foundation is a unique 15 month programme that provides graduates with practical business training, software skills and mentoring so that they can develop as entrepreneurs and launch their own UK based technology companies.
The workshops delivered by Alacrity complements the University’s major European 3-year project, the Erasmus+ funded Arts and Humanities Entrepreneurship Hubs project (AHEH), AHEH brings together an alliance of 14 partners from academia and industry across 7 European countries. The collective works together to jointly research, design, test and disseminate a programme of entrepreneurial training for Arts and Humanities staff and students.
Dr Amanda Roberts, Senior Education Liaison Officer at UWTSD’s Swansea College of Art said: “Working with the Alacrity foundation has been an exciting and valuable experience for the students from Swansea College of Art, UWTSD.
“Both AHEH and the Alacrity Foundation contribute to a joined up network of industry collaboration that supports graduate enterprise, entrepreneurship and employability across UWTSD. These initiatives offer opportunities for students to work in multi-disciplinary teams to solve real world, industry lead problems in a supportive, educational environment. These examples of extra curricula opportunities, combined with curriculum embedded professional development modules help students develop the confidence, abilities and knowledge that will help ensure they thrive in the post university workplace.”
Comments from students participating in the Alacrity workshops:
“I feel more confident about giving presentations including my final year viva.”
“The structure it provided for presentations was really helpful.”
“Working in a multidisciplinary team was very powerful.”
“Working and presenting in a team in a friendly and supportive environment was good practice.”
“As a fine artist I tend to think in a different way to business models, but it helped with my practice helping me identify my key values and understand underlying problems and why I respond the way I do.”
“It has increased my confidence in presenting my skills to others. You never know when or where you might meet a potential employer.”
“It has been useful to expand our professional networks meeting and working with the Alacrity team and students from other disciplines.”
Further Information
Rebecca Davies
Executive Press and Media Relations Officer
Corporate Communications and PR
Tel: 01792 483695
Email: Rebecca.Davies@uwtsd.ac.uk