A new academic society applying artificial intelligence and machine
learning to real-world optimisation problems — and teaching the
skills to do it, from first principles up.
£10,000 secured in fundingOpen to all — engineers and non-engineers alikeFounded by Nurul Abedin
We're thrilled to announce that City Optimise Society has officially
secured £10,000 in funding to support our mission of
applying artificial intelligence and machine learning to optimisation
problems.
How the funding will be used
Launch high-impact AI projects tackling optimisation problems.
Host expert-led workshops and training sessions for all skill levels, from beginners to advanced.
Invite guest speakers from industry and academia to share insights and career opportunities.
Support research initiatives, with the potential to publish papers and attend national conferences.
Provide access to AI tools, cloud computing resources and advanced software for project development.
Organise networking events with professionals and researchers in the AI and engineering fields.
With this funding, we're ready to take the society to the next level —
and we want you to be a part of it.
We are a new academic society dedicated to exploring how AI and machine
learning can solve real-world challenges. Our goal is to equip students
with technical skills, industry exposure and hands-on project
experience, while working towards impactful solutions that can make a
real difference.
Optimisation is the thread running through all of it. Scheduling,
routing, resource allocation, model tuning, energy use — the same small
family of methods shows up everywhere once you know how to look, and
that is what we teach.
What that looks like in practice
Workshops that start from first principles and end with working code.
Projects run in small teams against genuine problems, not toy datasets.
Speakers from industry and academia, with career conversations attached.
Research support for members who want to take work as far as publication.
You do not need to be an engineering student, and you do not need to
arrive already knowing how to code. You do need to be curious.
Expert-led workshops run across the year and are pitched at every level
— genuinely from beginners to advanced. Sessions are hands-on: you
leave with something running, not just notes.
Typical tracks
Foundations — Python, numerical computing, and how to think about a problem as an objective plus constraints.
Classical optimisation — linear and integer programming, gradient methods, convexity, and when each actually applies.
Machine learning — training, evaluation, and the optimisation problem hiding inside every model.
Applied — metaheuristics, reinforcement learning, and large-scale solvers on real data.
Funding covers the tools: AI software, cloud computing resources and
the compute needed to make the advanced sessions worth attending.
Watch for our posters around City University, and follow us for dates.
A large share of the funding goes directly into launching projects that
tackle optimisation problems with real stakes. Members work in small
teams, with support from the committee and access to proper compute.
Why join a project
Hands-on experience that reads well on a CV and even better in an interview.
A codebase you can point at, rather than a certificate you can't.
Collaboration with people from other courses who see the problem differently.
A genuine path from an idea, through a prototype, to something published.
No prior project experience is required. Teams are built to mix
confident programmers with people learning as they go — that mix is
deliberate, and it works.
The funding supports research initiatives, with the potential to
publish papers and attend national conferences — and brings guest
speakers from industry and academia in to share insights and career
opportunities.
What's on offer
Support for research initiatives, up to and including publication.
Travel and attendance at national conferences.
Guest talks from practitioners and researchers working in the field.
Networking events with professionals across AI and engineering.
If you have a research idea and no idea where to start, that is exactly
the conversation to bring to us.
This achievement wouldn't have been possible without the vision and
dedication of Nurul Abedin, who founded the society,
applied for the funding, and appointed Asma D. as
Student Lead. We are incredibly grateful for his support in making this
society a reality.
Committee
Nurul Abedin — Founder. Set up the society and secured the £10,000 grant.
Asma D. — Student Lead. Runs the programme day to day.
We are actively looking for members who want to help shape what comes
next — workshops, projects, or the society itself.
City Optimise Society is open to anyone at City St George's with a
passion for AI, problem-solving and programming — whether you're an
engineering student or not. We offer a collaborative and inclusive
learning environment where you can build skills, work on projects, and
genuinely strengthen your CV.
You'll get
Workshops pitched at your level, whatever that level is.
A team to build with, and a project worth building.
Access to AI tools, cloud compute and advanced software.
Introductions to people already working in the field.
Getting involved
Have a look out for our posters around City University, and stay tuned
for updates on workshops, projects and events. Follow us and reach out
if you'd like to get involved — whether that's as a member, a project
lead, or a speaker.
