Students Solve Business Challenges in Innovative Collaboration Projects

Information technology students at Vaasa University of Applied Sciences were given the opportunity to develop their working-life and problem-solving skills by tackling a real business challenge in cooperation with Fresh Servant Group. Company projects benefit both students and businesses.

Studies at Vaasa University of Applied Sciences are strongly work-life oriented, and cooperation with companies is widely integrated into courses. Students in the Information Technology programs, both Finnish-language ICT and the English-language Information Technology degree, worked on a real business challenge as part of their second-year programming course. Under the guidance of Senior Lecturer Anna-Kaisa Saari, the students collaborated with Fresh Servant Group Oy Ab.

The collaboration offered students the opportunity to apply their skills in practical situations, develop their problem-solving abilities, and work on real working-life needs.

“Such company collaboration projects are extremely beneficial for students, as the best learning experiences are created when theory is combined with practice,” says Saari.

“Working-life projects strengthen students’ readiness to transition into employment and bring valuable practical perspectives into studies, while also reinforcing RDI cooperation i.e. research, development, innovation, and teaching collaboration, which our RDI business activities aim to support. At the same time, companies receive fresh ideas and new perspectives from future professionals,” says Tommi Siljamäki, who is responsible for RDI business activities at VAMK.

The collaboration with the students went very well, and the company was also pleased with the results.

“The project results were positively surprising,” says Rami Kahlos from Fresh Servant.