Computer science digital students at City of Liverpool College are teaming up with Clatterbridge Cancer Centre and construction giant Laing O’Rourke on the project

Students at the City of Liverpool College will develop digital applications to help the new Clatterbridge Cancer Centre run more smoothly.

They are teaming up with Clatterbridge and construction giant Laing O’Rourke to develop both augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) applications designed to help speed up maintenance requirements at the cancer centre.

Computer science

The AR app, designed by students from the college’s computer science digital courses, will allow staff at the cancer centre, in the grounds of Fazakerley Hospital in Liverpool,  to see all of the machinery in any given room along with their maintenance requirements.

This will in turn be linked to a database which could ultimately order and schedule maintenance automatically, dramatically speeding up the process and saving precious time. The partnership has been designed to inspire students with the digital technologies used to develop the brand-new cancer centre and promote the modern careers now available in the construction industry.

In the second project, a virtual reality app will be designed for staff to have the ability to see maintenance requirements and interact with objects, while being fully immersed in the building from elsewhere, allowing them to navigate around the building and stripping back the walls for a ‘behind the scenes’ view.

Real world

Elaine Bowker, principal of The City of Liverpool College, said: “The partnerships that we have  are designed to provide our students with unique opportunities real world experience. We are passionate about ensuring that we are at the cutting edge of emerging technologies and providing our students with the skills they need to enter the world of work.”

Students will work closely with programmers and coders from Laing O’Rourke’s digital engineering department as well as Clatterbridge to develop the apps, with the aim of the project creating a lasting legacy by providing students with the chance to work on a real industry project.

Estefania Alves, digital engineer at Laing O’Rourke, added: “Construction is a progressive industry, constantly adopting new technology and digital methodologies to enhance efficiency, to reduce construction time, waste, cost and to create a safer workplace throughout the whole project lifecycle. 

“For the industry to keep innovating it is vital that skills and experience is brought in from other creative industries.”