Case study: Bipsync
Bipsync, a Cardiff-based research management software company, has become a valued partner of the National Software Academy (NSA).
In the 2023-24 academic year, Applied Software Engineering (BSc) and Software Engineering (MSc) students worked on either four-week projects, towards the end of their autumn semester, or on their MSc summer-Dissertation projects.
We spoke to Heather Perkins, Bipsync’s People Experience Manager, to gain some more insights into what the projects involved and her experience of running a project with our Software Engineering students:
The projects involved Development of an Equipment Checklist, to check in and out items used communally by staff, and Development of an Onboarding Tool for HR processes. For both projects, Bipsync only gave the students a basic list of requirements to give them the freedom to get creative. Heather reported that after the first sprint the students came back with almost fully functioning tools, which only needed some minor tweaks and that the level of thinking and development by the NSA students was extremely impressive.
Heather shared that while Bipsync were eager for the students to deliver project outcomes, a primary objective in working with the students extended beyond the project itself. Bipsync focused on engaging with the students, increasing awareness of the Bipsync brand, and informally assessing and identifying potential talent among future graduates. This creates a project which is mutually beneficial to both parties, supporting students’ skills development on their path to a future career and enabling Bipsync to develop a local talent pipeline to recruit from in the future, potentially becoming employed by the company after the project has been completed.
Heather highly rates the whole experience of providing a project to NSA students, adding that students at the NSA “always exceed their expectations.” This is testament to the skills and education provided by the Software Engineering programmes at Cardiff University and to the commitment and passion of our NSA students. Heather’s advice to anyone else thinking of providing a project to NSA students is to “think broadly,” look at the bigger picture and, in Bipsync’s case, look at operational efficiency ideas. Combining the validity of the projects, the skills and interview-confidence of the students and ability to talent spot, Bipsync has employed 4 students in the last 2 years, meaning 66% of graduates employed have come from the NSA.
Heather proudly summed up by saying that when Cardiff University Computer Science or Software Engineering students are asked what their dream company to work for would be – Bipsync feature in the top 3 and together with the fact that Bipsync’s team is made up mostly of former Cardiff University alumni, this is testament to the relationship and exposure built with Cardiff University, of which the NSA is a big factor.
Bipsync (and Heather) continue to support the NSA through numerous engagement events like Project Showcase events and Careers Fairs and are looking forward to working with the NSA students again on the next batch of student projects later in the year.
