Milestone moment for UL’s pioneering Immersive Software Engineering course
The first master’s students have graduated from University of Limerick’s pioneering Immersive Software Engineering programme.
The 16 MSc graduates will step into highly sought-after roles at companies including Stripe, Fin (formerly Intercom), Analog Devices, Shannonside Capital, and Amazon Web Services.
Launched in 2022 to be one of the world’s leading computer science courses, ISE has rewritten the rules of software engineering education by replacing lectures and theory with practical, on-the-job experience from day one.
Since 2022, the course has grown significantly to around 60 students per year, with entry standards now comparable to medicine.
Backed by many of the world’s leading tech and pharma companies – including the likes of OpenAI, Qualcomm, Susquehanna, Eli Lilly, and Deloitte – students can undertake five long-term paid residencies at industry partners that also include Irish firms like Manna Aero, Provizio, Tines, ProtexAI, and Mbryonics, alongside research institutions and public sector partners including the Departments of Justice and Enterprise, Tourism, and Employment.
Students also have a chance to build their own companies in partnership with DogPatch Labs. ISE has now partnered with more than 70 organisations since its launch, including four of Ireland’s nine unicorns.
In total, students spend around half of the course in the workplace and are given the opportunity to work on real-world problems and products. These products often enter production, such as an early detection and intervention tool for cerebral palsy in infants, building home protection tools, wireless battery management systems, and many more.
ISE students have won multiple prestigious awards and scholarships, including Naughton and Google. ISE students have access to six bespoke scholarships funded by industry. Two ISE graduates today also received the highest grades across the university’s wider Science and Engineering Faculty. Stripe has worked with ISE since its earliest days, co-building the curriculum and the residency placement process as a founding partner, while also encouraging other companies to join the programme’s partner network.
The programme’s deep integration with industry ensures a constant, up-to-date feedback loop that keeps the curriculum aligned to real employer needs, ensuring students graduate workforce-ready.
ISE builds on UL’s proud history as an innovator in work-integrated learning as part of education, building on UL’s cooperative education model which began in 1974.
Professor Stephen Kinsella, Co-Director of UL’s Immersive Software Engineering Programme, said: “We launched the ISE programme with an ambition. We wanted to prove that a radically different model of software engineering education built on real-world complexity rather than the traditional lecture hall would produce graduates able to operate at the highest level of the software industry. Today, we’re seeing the results of that ambition realised. Our students are stepping into roles with some of the country’s most innovative companies. We’re excited for, and proud of, each of them, and can’t wait to see how they progress as the future of Ireland’s tech ecosystem.”
Alison Ahern, Head of Education Partnerships at Stripe, said: “The incredible students graduating today took a bet on a different kind of degree when they signed up to ISE. I’m delighted to see that faith being repaid as they leave for exciting careers and bright futures. ISE is made possible by deep collaboration between academia and industry leaders, and Stripe is proud to support a truly world-class programme. We’ve also enjoyed the partnership immensely, and we look forward to continuing to work with ISE.”
