Enhancing Graduate Skills through Bootcamps

Universities are facing challenges to prepare industry-ready graduates with knowledge and skills in-demand for the workforce. One of the ways to overcome these challenges is university industry collaboration for innovations in teaching. This paper presents the experience of such collaboration in the form of Bootcamp by industry partner Microsoft at University of Canberra to deliver intensive theory and practical knowledge sessions for the students. The purpose of the Bootcamp is to extend graduate skills and prepare them for industry certification, which in turn has the potential to increase their employability. Experienced practitioners from Microsoft and Akkodis presented sessions during two Bootcamps over three weeks each, in the most sought-after areas of Artificial Intelligence, Cloud-computing, Machine Learning, and Data Science. More than 200 undergraduate and post graduate students participated in these Bootcamps to gain job-ready skills and knowledge. These Bootcamps have been received well by students as indicated in their encouraging responses. The initial response to these Bootcamps indicates that such Bootcamps will be valuable in future as well.