Peculiarities of training, cooperation with the IT industry and the challenges of implementing the program «Artificial Intelligence Systems»

LVIV IT CLUSTER
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Artificial Intelligence Systems at Lviv Polytechnic National University and Data Science & Intelligence Systems at Ivan Franko National University of Lviv have become one of the pilot educational programs developed with the involvement of Lviv IT Cluster. In 2021, the first graduates of these programs received bachelor’s degrees.

The modernization of the Artificial Intelligence Systems educational program was initiated in September 2016 at the initiative of Professors Nataliia Shakhovska and Ivan Zahorodnyi, a graduate of Lviv Polytechnic National University and Director of Software Development Office at SoftServe. A working group of IT experts and representatives of Lviv Polytechnic was formed with the support of Lviv IT Cluster. They developed the course program. Significant support in the preparation of the program was provided by SoftServe, GlobalLogic, Ciklum, N-IX, and EPAM. The Department of Artificial Intelligence has attracted specialists from EPAM, Intellias, Inoxoft, GlobalLogic, Solidbrain, and Grammarly to the teaching staff. The first recruitment for the program took place in September 2017. At that time, 136 students were enrolled in the additional course «Artificial Intelligence Systems», 88 of whom received bachelor’s degrees 4 years later.

– When we, together with representatives of the IT industry, modified the additional course «Artificial Intelligence Systems», it was quite difficult to predict the demand for graduates in the future. But due to the fact that the first 2 years provide basic fundamental and professional training, students were able to find themselves in various areas of IT. All our graduates are employed, and a significant part of them started working in the 2nd -3rd year of study. In addition, we took a risk and organized together with SoftServe dual education for 20 students, of which a separate group was created in the third year, – said Nataliia Shakhovska, Head of the Department of Artificial Intelligence Systems, Lviv Polytechnic National University.

– We started with AI and IoT projects; the launch of AI became more difficult and took about 2 years, because it was necessary to help not only with the educational component, but also with the development of the teaching staff of the Department and the infrastructure for the educational process. This work was carried out in active cooperation between the team of the University, Lviv IT Cluster and Lviv IT companies. In total, more than 150 people were involved. Four years of work on the project is a test of time, which the program and the Department passed perfectly. I am glad that everything planned has been implemented, and now we have the first graduation, where almost a hundred students received a bachelor’s degree and successfully work in Lviv companies, – said Ivan Zahorodnii, Director of Software Development Office, SoftServe, educational program «Artificial Intelligence Systems» from the IT industry.

Andrii Natiahlyi, a graduate majoring in Artificial Intelligence Systems, shared his impressions of the program:

– First of all, the Department of Artificial Intelligence Systems is a community of people who, choosing this field, consciously or unconsciously chose development. The study program is really difficult – this is its value. Students work in small groups on projects that need to be presented at the end of the semester. As a result, they fill out their resumes and gain both technical and communication skills.