Kainos Sponsored Final Year Projects 🎓
I’m a software engineer working at Kainos in the Applied Innovation team, we work with customers to use and develop tools beyond the immediate horizon to discover their business value. This involves researching emerging technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence, and their applications.
As part of our work we also work with universities & ambitious students to push boundaries and to engage in interesting research, and interesting projects.
During the 17/18 academic year, myself and Jordan McDonald mentored 4 students with 4 exciting final year projects. Find out about their work below!
The Students 👨🎓👩🎓
Each student completed a final year project with Kainos mentorship. All students involved received a first for their hard work — congrats all! 🎉🎉🎉
The Projects 🎒📚
Project 1: 🚗 Virtual Reality — Hazard Perception Test
Tech: Unity3D | Virtual Reality | Eye Tracking
One of Kainos’ biggest customers is the DVSA. This project explored the use of simulations as a means to understand the real world. This is becoming a cost effective way to train AI-for example, teaching self driving cars using grand theft auto.
Andrew’s project was a demonstration of how Virtual Reality (VR) could be used to simulate, record, and understand the current Hazard Perception test as well as the behaviour of a subject during a test.
Project 2: 📑 Document Processing using Machine Learning
Tech: Machine Learning | Natural Language Processing
Maturing AI tools and techniques are transforming the legal industry.
Claire’s project was a web application that performs file categorisation using Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing. A legal document is analysed and assigned a category, a summary and a mood description. These are all created using Machine Learning. Allowing for the document to be intelligently stored.
Project 3: 🚁 Autonomous vehicle navigation planning using simulation tools
Tech: Unity3D | Artificial Intelligence
Simulated training of AI systems can be cost effective and used to train AI for real world scenarios.
Conor’s project was a simulation of a drone, it’s environment, and its visual input (lower half of the screen).
He developed data structures and algorithms to allow a simulated, or — theoretically — a real drone , to navigate autonomously.
Project 4: 🔍 Using computer vision and object detection to achieve product placement in videos as a post effect.
Tech: Artificial Intelligence | Computer Vision
Video and image intelligence is becoming a commodity and enabling a new generation of AI driven tools.
Brian’s project was to build a web application that could replace objects in pre-recorded videos with a different object, or the same object of a different brand.
The Impact 🤜
Outside of producing great final year projects, the student’s work has made even more of an impact. Andrew’s work has been the foundation for some collaborative innovation work between Kainos, Ulster University, and DVSA. Find out more about that here. Claire and Brian took the opportunity to speak to the local Artificial Intelligence community about their work at a Artificial Intelligence Northern Ireland Meetup:
All of these projects have provided valuable insights for Kainos into emerging technologies, their value, and their applications. Additionally, these projects will all hopefully benefit the students as they bring their learning forward to their respective future employers.
Get in touch 📩
If you are a student interested in a project with Kainos, or generally interested in any of the above projects — get in touch at FYP@kainos.com. Looking forward to another set of exciting projects this year!
