Intelligent Plant promotes local Computer Science talent

Intelligent Plant are an Aberdeen headquartered and privately-owned high technology business, who currently have consultants working in Aberdeen, Nottingham and Finland.

Their “Industrial App Store” is currently being utilised by multiple international oil companies to help them optimise and better understand their operations and they gaining notoriety fast, with Microsoft the latest company to knock on their door.

Intelligent Plant is the brainchild of Steve Aitken, a local Computer Science graduate from the University of Aberdeen, who believes that technology should be made simple for the benefit of everyone.

Steve explains: “The Industrial App Store is used by the Energy industry to harness digital analytics capability from the open market without having to install it on their own network.”

With regard to their recruitment strategy, Intelligent Plant tends not to advertise specific roles or look for specific skill sets. Instead Intelligent Plant’s approach to recruitment is to inform people about the company and what it does and then ask candidates what contribution they feel they could make to the company to add value. This method allows Intelligent Plant to make the most of an individual’s skills and ensure that they are motivated to deliver the contribution that they have identified.

Intelligent Plant currently employ a Control Systems Engineer, Graphics Designer, Office Manager, and numerous Software developers. There is a flat structure and relaxed corporate culture and as such hierarchy does not really affect day-to-day operations in the company.

As a strong believer in education and the development of youth, Steve has maintained his strong links to the University of Aberdeen and is a Student Mentor, a Digital Industry Mentor and an Industrial Liaison Board Member with the University.

When Intelligent Plant first started, Steve recognised that students were a great resource and one of the most accessible and high-quality sources of talent for a growing company. Following discussions with Aberdeen University they discussed how to make more local students aware of the company and the type of work available.

This meant that Intelligent Plant was invited to host several industrial seminars and to discuss the world of work with Students. This led to Intelligent Plant getting involved with coursework and the mentoring of their students and eventually the University created the “Inform Prize”. The “Inform Prize” started as an event whereby Level 3 Computer Science students were invited to present their Software Engineering projects to Intelligent Plant as their projects were coming to completion. The students were then judged on their presentation style and ability to convey deep technical concepts to their audience. The “Inform Prize” has now grown into an event that any employer can now attend and get an insight into the Computing Science talent at the University and facilitate an introduction to potential employment. In opening up the event, Intelligent Plant hopes to not only help the students to get employment, but also to help retain the talent in the local area by highlighting to the students that there are globally significant companies in Aberdeen that require exciting software engineering skills to develop their business.

Steve hopes to continue to tap into the local academic talent and help these students on a similar journey to the one he is now enjoying!

Watch the Inform Prize event video: