On Wednesday, April 19, Victoria University (VU) announced their partnership with start-up
Company Bugbox.
Based in Melbourne’s west, Bugbox is an innovative robotics company, recently launched by aeronautical engineer Dylan Nguyen.
VU has signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), with Bugbox to provide real-life projects for engineering students with companies that face technology gaps in their businesses.
The partnership will provide opportunities for VU Electrical and Electronic Engineering students to work on larger projects such as final-year capstone assignments, which are designed to give students real world problems to solve to expand their professional knowledge and skills.
Head of VU Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Associate Professor Daniel Lai, said this opportunity will allow students to engage in the field of robots and artificial intelligence .
“These fields are now increasingly in demand in almost all industry sectors, from advanced manufacturing to health and sports,” he said.
“We aim to expand our engineering student experience by collaborating with industry clients who have real industry problems, allowing our students to drive innovation in science and technology as they emerge as the next generation of engineers,” he said.
Two VU students have already been given the lucky opportunity to begin working on projects with Bugbox.
Rashini Thathsarani is working on advancing the functions of one of Bugbox’s existing robots, which is used in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) outreach programs in primary schools.
The second student Rishik Tiwari, is developing a robot prototype for a plumbing business , which will help with pipe and sewer inspections.
Future opportunities for Bugbox and VU may include VU Masters or PhD students in Engineering or Business undertaking more advanced projects in the program.
While Bugbox is now based at SPARK, Wyndham’s innovation hub, the organisation is exploring opportunities to set up on a VU campus.
Jennifer Pittorino
