AIIA: MSc EEE Dissertations 2026-27
For businesses: bring an applied AI question to a supervised MSc dissertation project at the University of Surrey.
Supported by
About
About this run
This is the first AIIA cohort, open to businesses with an applied AI question for MSc students on four University of Surrey engineering courses:
- Astronautics and Space Engineering
- Electronic Engineering
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering
- Electronic Engineering with Artificial Intelligence
The work happens through the MSc project module and runs from 8 February to 24 September 2027. Students work part time alongside their taught modules in the spring, then full time over the summer, ending with a report and a viva.
The course team
- Dr Tim Brown, Programme Leader, MSc Electronic Engineering
- Dr Mahdi Boloursaz Mashhadi, Module Leader for the MSc project
- Kevin Wells, course lead, who helped develop the Accelerator with us
For businesses: we run five free online briefings in November and December, and shape briefs with you before Christmas. Register your interest by 6 January 2027, and the University matches students and supervisors in the new year.
Key dates
Dates to know
October 2026
Applications open.
November and December 2026
Five free online briefings: come to one to find out how it works.
By Christmas
Shape your challenge with the Agent Build Club team.
6 January 2027
Applications close.
January 2027
The University reviews challenges and matches students and supervisors.
8 February 2027
Dissertations start.
Mid-way
Mid-point review with your student and their supervisor.
Towards the end
The viva. You’re encouraged to come.
24 September 2027
Dissertations end. Time to celebrate.
We can’t guarantee every challenge is taken up in this first cohort: matching depends on the University’s review and on student numbers.
How it works
Step by step
Agent Build Club is your guide through the programme. We help you understand how to get the most from it and how to prepare a strong business challenge without wasting your time, then introduce you to the University of Surrey, which runs the research itself. Taking part is free, and each step is clear, so you always know what happens next.
Register your interest
Tell us a little about your business and the AI question on your mind. It only takes a few minutes.
Shape your challenge
Someone from the Agent Build Club team will be in touch with a toolkit and guidance, and will help you shape your question so it meets the University’s requirements.
Meet the University
We introduce you to the University. Its academics help finalise your challenge so it fits the course, and its AIIA team matches you with a student and a supervisor.
Sign and get started
If everyone’s happy, you sign a dissertation sponsor contract with the University, and the student begins their dissertation with you as their business sponsor.
Help your student understand the challenge
Give your student the context and data they need, within what your contract sets out on data sharing and confidentiality, plus a little mentoring along the way. Anything personal or sensitive needs approval from the University’s ethics committee first.
Join the mid-point review
See how the work is going and help steer it while there’s still time to change course.
Come to the viva
You’re encouraged to come and see your student present and defend their findings. It’s optional, and well worth it.
Then celebrate their success
See what the work has shown you: whether the idea is feasible, what it would need, the constraints and the potential. Then decide what to do next, perhaps with the student who did the work.
Events
What happens and when
AI Innovation Accelerator: Work with the next generation of AI engineers
A free 45-minute online briefing for engineering firms wondering what agentic AI could do for them, and what it would take to find out with a Surrey MSc student.
AI Innovation Accelerator: Work with the next generation of AI engineers
A free 45-minute online briefing for engineering firms wondering what agentic AI could do for them, and what it would take to find out with a Surrey MSc student.
AI Innovation Accelerator: Work with the next generation of AI engineers
A free 45-minute online briefing for engineering firms wondering what agentic AI could do for them, and what it would take to find out with a Surrey MSc student.
AI Innovation Accelerator: Work with the next generation of AI engineers
A free 45-minute online briefing for engineering firms wondering what agentic AI could do for them, and what it would take to find out with a Surrey MSc student.
AI Innovation Accelerator: Work with the next generation of AI engineers
A free 45-minute online briefing for engineering firms wondering what agentic AI could do for them, and what it would take to find out with a Surrey MSc student.
Steps
What opens when
Supporters wanted
Supported by
The organisations behind this run
Register interest
Tell us about your AI question
Register your interest and we will come back to you within two working days to talk through whether the Accelerator is a good fit.
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Free and open to everyone. Opening soon.
