First IT Student's Festival

On April 11, 2025, we held the very first IT Students’ Festival at the Mile End Library at Queen Mary University of London. The event was a great success, offering us a valuable opportunity to engage directly with students, answer their questions, and deliver a seminar series on key IT topics.

We set up a stall in the library and booked a seminar room for two presentation sessions — the first at 11:00 AM and the second at 2:00 PM. These sessions featured a range of speakers and topics:

Nicola Readwin opened with an introduction to IT at QMUL, guiding students through seven steps to unlock its full potential. Richard explained how schools and faculties collaborate with IT. Phillip spoke about digital sustainability initiatives at Queen Mary. Alex highlighted IT security and best practices for staying safe online. I presented on High Performance Computing (HPC) resources available to researchers. Joe showcased AskQM, one of QMUL’s largest recent projects. Subi introduced students to the teaching and learning platforms, including QMplus.

Throughout the day, we interacted with many students at our stall, handed out merchandise, and gathered valuable feedback through a short survey, with 55 responses collected. Alex categorised the student feedback into the following themes:

• Improved access to on-campus IT support
• More awareness campaigns like this festival
• “Familiar faces” — students want to see photos of support staff
• Open meetings for better engagement
• Clearer email communications about upcoming maintenance
• Improved Wi-Fi service

We were very pleased with the outcome of the festival. It provided us with useful insights and has inspired us to plan more engaging and educational activities in the future. We’re already looking forward to seeing you at the IT Students’ Festival 2026!