Grow with Google AI Experts Empower 1,300+ UEL Students

UEL recently partnered with Grow with Google to deliver Gemini Academy, an initiative designed to equip students with ethical and practical AI skills. Across October and November 2025, Google AI experts hosted five high-impact workshops across all UEL campuses, reaching a total of 1,383 students.

The campaign was specifically designed to help students understand how to integrate AI into their studies responsibly. The workshops were presented to students from the School of Architecture, Computing and Engineering (ACE), School of Health, Sports and Bioscience (HSB) and Royal Docks School of Business and Law (RDSBL). The sessions aligned closely with each School’s pedagogic needs, and the students’ desired careers. 

Dr Theodora Thomadaki, Employer Engagement Officer at UEL, said:

Hosting Grow with Google at UEL has been an extraordinary opportunity for our students. It has given them a unique chance to connect with industry leaders, gain hands-on experience, and develop cutting-edge AI skills that will shape their future careers. The Gemini Academy workshops reached students across disciplines, providing invaluable insights into both practical applications and ethical considerations. Initiatives like this reflect UEL’s Vision 2028, ensuring our students are career-ready and at the forefront of AI innovation. We are truly grateful for Google’s passion and collaboration and look forward to continuing this impactful partnership.

The sessions, led by trainer and AI expert Tom Pengilley, provided interactive demonstrations on:

• 
  AI Fundamentals: Decoding technical terms and how AI tools are created.
• Effective Prompting: Strategies to generate high-quality AI outcomes for research.
• Academic Integrity: Clear guidance on using AI within university guidelines.
• Practical Application: Using Gemini to brainstorm research questions and structure chapters, and NotebookLM for revision techniques.

Commenting on the success of the interactive sessions, Tom said, "Standing in front of these massive groups of students has been an absolute privilege. Their energy is infectious! We’re teaching them how to use Gemini, NotebookLM and AI generally, but also diving deep into the 'how' and 'why' of their creation and the ethics behind them. They were remarkably knowledgeable already, which allowed us to have really sophisticated conversations about the mechanics and ethics of the technology. The students showed a real sense of curiosity, were enthusiastic, interactive, challenging, engaged, and full of brilliant questions. Which has left me feeling incredibly excited for the future they’re going to build." Students were widely engaged with the workshops, eager to optimise the way that they study and learn through the tools that Google Gemini provides. There was a continued host of questions for the experts as students expanded their knowledge of not only how to use Google Gemini but also how to use it ethically and within the line of course guidelines. 

One attendee, Business Management student Lina, shared her enthusiasm for the training, stating,

I found this session to be useful, I learnt new ways to enhance my learning through Google Gemini. The speakers were engaging and overall, I thought the workshop was fantastic

The initiative reinforces UEL’s commitment to "Vision 2028" by ensuring students are not just consumers of technology, but informed, ethical, and "AI-ready" professionals. It helps students take another step towards becoming career-ready.

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