Earlier this month, FMD’s Digital Education Community of Practice (DECoP) gathered to hear from Dr. Aisha Abuelmaatti (Director of Employability and Senior Lecturer in the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science) for our September webinar. Aisha shared insights from a recent project on preparing students to be “future ready” through development of an interdisciplinary project-based module.
Aisha began by situating the project within the broader conversation about graduate employability. She emphasised that while technical or “hard” skills remain important, the so-called “soft skills”—such as critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, and entrepreneurial mindset—are increasingly vital, especially as artificial intelligence reshapes professional environments. Far from being optional, these skills are now essential to ensuring graduates remain adaptable and resilient. She argued that the more students rely uncritically on AI, the more replaceable they risk becoming, underscoring the need to cultivate independent judgment and innovation.
As Director of Employability in EECS, one of Aisha’s first initiatives was to map graduate attributes against university values and career development frameworks. Recognising that many students, particularly those from disadvantaged or first-generation backgrounds, lacked equal access to extracurricular opportunities, she sought ways to embed skill development within the curriculum itself. This included cross-school collaborations such as the QTech initiative, where students from computer science and economics worked together on financial literacy projects. These pilots demonstrated the added value of interdisciplinary, real-world projects, particularly when they formed part of assessed coursework rather than optional activities.
Building on these experiences, Aisha convened a group of academic colleagues from across the University to launch the “Future Ready Project,” supported by the President and Principal’s Fund for Educational Excellence. The project aimed to integrate AI literacy, interdisciplinary collaboration, and entrepreneurial skills into a new university-wide module.
The project unfolded in several phases. The first phase was exploratory, involving students as partners in scoping future skills needs. The student partners, representing all three faculties, identified priority employers and industry leaders, leading to a “World Café” event that brought together over 100 attendees, including representatives from organisations such as Google DeepMind, alumni, academics, and students. Facilitated by students themselves, discussions focused on the essential attributes for graduates in an AI-driven economy. Key themes included critical evaluation of AI’s limitations, fostering creativity and experimentation, cultivating entrepreneurial mindsets, reducing cognitive overload through effective AI use, and addressing ethical and social implications.
The second phase concentrated on designing the interdisciplinary module. The proposed year-long structure envisions teaching contributions from multiple schools—Computer Science, Economics and Finance, Business and Management, and Law—alongside project-based work tackling sustainability challenges. Initially, the module will run as a zero-credit pilot, with plans to transition to a credit-bearing option. Students will work in cross-disciplinary teams to design AI-enabled solutions to global and local issues, simultaneously gaining technical, social, and entrepreneurial competencies. The module approval process is underway.
Aisha concluded by outlining next steps: co-developing learning materials with students, refining the module in consultation with employers, and embedding it more widely across the university. Ultimately, the project’s purpose is to democratise access to transformative learning opportunities, ensuring that all students—not just the most proactive—can graduate with the resilience, adaptability, and skills necessary for a rapidly evolving job market.
Find out more
If you’d like to learn more about the project, the webinar recording is available on QMplus Media.
Student partners Nuthan Ganapathi and Jasmine Pilgir shared their experience of the project in our February 2025 newsletter.