The hackathon aimed to challenge students to leverage their coding skills to solve problems while emphasising the principles of green coding, which prioritises energy efficiency, reduced resource consumption, and minimised carbon footprint in software development.

Led by former West student and current Accenture employee, Giuseppe Perugia, who graduated with an HND in Cyber Security in 2021, the event aimed to bridge the gap between academia and industry. Giuseppe, now actively involved in Accenture's graduate program, returned to the College to promote opportunities within the company. He was joined by Hayley Menzies, another former college student now embarking on year 1 of her apprenticeship with Accenture.

Joe Harkins, Computing Curriculum and Quality Leader, expressed his enthusiasm about the collaboration, stating, "Having former students return to share their industry experiences is invaluable.

The Accenture graduate scheme is an excellent programme that offers our students a unique opportunity to gain practical experience alongside their studies, with the added benefit of earning while they learn.

‘Accenture's commitment to nurturing talent from the College is evident, with plans to return next year to recruit more successful students from both the Greenock and Clydebank campuses. I know a few of the students who attended today have already applied for the apprenticeship and hopefully they are successful with the next stage of their journey in cyber security.”

Reflecting on the event, Max Simeon, an 18-year-old HND Cyber Security student, shared, "Overall, the event was enjoyable, and the class gained important knowledge about the Graduate Apprenticeship that Accenture was advertising, and hosted challenging but fun activities."

James MacColl, aged 34, also attending the event, remarked, "It was a good day, interesting to try and code problems even though I didn't know much code.

It was a fun day and well catered for with good info about Accenture. Well worth going.

For more information about Cyber Security courses at West and how to apply, click here.