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University celebrates student internships with local businesses

University celebrates student internships with local businesses

Posted on 8 December 2022

A third year Interactive Media student has won Intern of the Year at a special awards night at the University of York.

Ashley with Bethany Watrous of Experience Heritage.

Ashley Loo worked with Experience Heritage, a York-based business that brings history to life through innovative digital storytelling.

Achievements

Over the summer, 58 York students undertook a diverse range of internships with local employers and on 22 November the University, along with local businesses, recognised their success and achievements with a celebration event on campus.

The awards night included a series of student presentations with a judging panel made up of Amanda Selvaratnam from the University of York, Louise Saw, Business Growth Manager from the City of York Council, and Andrew Lowson, Executive Director of the York Business Improvement District (BID).

After some difficult deliberations, the judges selected Ashley Loo, as the overall Intern of the Year winner.

Accessibility

Over the course of her internship, Ashley built, and continually tested, a new app on behalf of the National Paralymics Heritage Trust. With accessibility at the heart of her project, she researched the needs of potential users as well as developing testable prototypes.

Ashley, an international student from Singapore, said: “Without this internship I would never have had the confidence to stand and speak in front of a room of people like this, so this is all thanks to Experience Heritage.'

Panel member Louise Saw, said: "I was delighted to be part of the judging panel. Internships offer a great opportunity for students to experience working environments and learn new skills, whilst also bringing talented people with innovative and creative ideas to a business."

Three other students provided stiff competition for the title of Intern of the Year.

Charlie Stubbs built innovative software to monitor breast cancer screening images, working with Boroughbridge-based company Leeds Test Objects.

Maya Bewley developed a social media marketing campaign for specialist clothing company ‘And Able’, taking the company onto TikTok and, as a result, attracting customer interest from the USA.

Elisha Henry worked with Transpennine Route Upgrade to conduct a Social Value Community Research project.

Experiences

The event also recognised the exceptional support and opportunities that the host employers provided with the announcement of “Employer of the Year”. After a competitive nomination process, led by the interns themselves, Finyx Consulting was selected as the 2022 Employer winner for the range and quality of the experiences and interactions the strategy consulting firm had offered.

Santander Universities provides a generous gift to the University, to subsidise internships to work with independently owned small and medium sized enterprises.

Further information:

The University of York’s Student Internship Bureau offers business the opportunity to engage the talent, skills and enthusiasm of York students and graduates to tackle short to medium term projects of genuine value to them. Since September 2018, over 450 projects were delivered on a part-time basis during term times or on a full time basis over the vacation periods. The Student Internship Bureau offers support in designing appropriate projects, advertising and selecting the best candidates and offers quick, easy and value for money systems to get the student working on the project with the minimum of delay.
Santander Universities (www.santander.co.uk/uk/santander-universities) provides a generous gift to The University of York to subsidise internships to work within independently owned small and medium sized enterprises (defined as fewer than 250 employees). Subsidies can be up to 50% of the cost of the intern.
For more information on student internships please visit: https://www.york.ac.uk/about/departments/support-and-admin/careers/employers/internships/ or email careers-placements@york.ac.uk