MITA supporting students

The Student Placement Programme (SPP) is a Government initiative that provides summer work opportunities for students in ICT related areas. This year’s SPP was launched in February and more than 70 organisations applied to take on board students to work with them during the summer period. In total, 300 students have been placed within the private sector, public sector and NGOs to benefit from this fantastic work opportunity. The placement involves students working a maximum of 330 hours between July to September.

The MITA Emerging Technologies Lab has been in operation since October 2018 with the purpose of providing a place for MITA employees, Public Sector employees as well as students to experience, experiment and learn on various emerging technologies. Equipment such as 3D printer, 3D scanner, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality headsets, and micro controllers can all be found at the Lab. Students who are interested in doing their dissertation related to emerging technologies can contact the Emerging Technologies Lab.   Through the Lab students can use the available equipment and required consumables both for free and they can make use of  the expertise and assistance of the team managing the Lab.  The Lab is a great creative working space where students can focus and learn at no extra cost! Send us an email on [email protected] to learn more about this opportunity. Currently, a number of students are carrying out their placement at the MITA Emerging Technologies Lab through the SPP. Below is the experience of these five students.

“As a student studying multimedia software development , the SPP has helped me in more ways than I can count. It helped me solidify my thesis idea, it exposed me to various emerging technologies (which I did not think, I would ever have the chance to at a young age) and with the help of my colleagues I was able to work in a healthy environment which promotes both idea generation and discussion.” Julian Calleja

“As a student reading Business and IT at the University of Malta and being part of the Student Placement Programme for the past year, it helped me realize more on how these two areas work together hand in hand. By making use of the equipment found in the Emerging Technologies Lab and the help of my colleagues, I was able to get a clearer view on how various technology concepts can be implemented in the business world.” Tamara Gauci

“The SPP has allowed me to get hands on experience with emerging technologies such as VR headsets and 3D printing. It has also provided me with an environment which promotes furthering one’s studies. This has allowed me to pursue a thesis in the field of AI.” Christian Pace

“Being my first student placement at MITA, I was surprised to find a pleasant working environment and an amazing  team of individuals coming from different backgrounds and experiences, as my colleagues. Here I got the opportunity to make use of the Emerging Technologies Lab. This has expanded my knowledge regarding various types of equipment from different technological areas, which I also intend to use  as part of my dissertation.” Martina Bonanno

“As a student who is very interested in all sorts of state-of-the-art technologies and currently aspiring to become a researcher, working at the Lab has been quite a unique experience that I’m sure not a lot of students have the chance to participate in and that I am grateful for. This is because not only do I get to work and learn about one of my favourite research areas known as Artificial Intelligence, but I am also able to discuss ideas and concepts with other students and colleagues, therefore attaining feedback and even an element of teamwork.” Andrea Abela