Queens University Students Join The Truist University Immersive Learning Experience
By ANNA POMARO
A team of Queens University of Charlotte students recently joined ambitious innovators from five other North Carolina universities for the Truist University Immersive Learning Experience. Held at Truist’s state-of-the-art Innovation & Technology Center, the two-day event served as a hands-on workshop where students collaborated with community and corporate partners to develop real-world design strategies. Their work focused on enhancing efficiency and accelerating the build of technology solutions for their corporate partners.
“When we founded Truist, we made a commitment to be a bank that inspires and builds better lives and communities,” said Sherry Graziano, head of Digital, Client Experience and Marketing. “Through the Truist University Immersive Learning Experience, we bring students and leading community partners together to foster an inclusive environment for innovation, focusing on reimagining solutions from a client point of view.”
Queens students worked alongside mentors from Duke Energy and were introduced to and encouraged to use a “Design Thinking” process to explore an exciting technology challenge: how might we leverage Generative AI (Gen AI) and voice functionality for billing inquiries to improve the customer experience? This kind of continuous improvement is vital for many large and significant organizations, ensuring they remain responsive to customer needs and emerging trends in technology.
“It’s really great for our students to see that even a company as significant and successful as Duke Energy is always thinking about what can be better,” noted Daniel Terry, associate provost for the undergraduate experience at Queens University.
The Queens cohort included students with varying majors and academic interests, moving beyond the typical assumption that such a technology-focused event would only involve business or finance majors. In fact, the team consisted of students from areas including humanities, multimedia storytelling, and Queens University’s McColl School of Business.
“The students from Queens University were great to work with and the facilitation from Truist was excellent!” said Gregory Bartos, senior design manager, Duke Energy. “Bringing together the fresh perspectives from students paired with the expertise from tech partners and Truist SME’s made for a successful experience overall! We are excited to share the potential of this prototype with our broader team at Duke Energy.”
Experiences like this offer students a unique opportunity to apply their skills in Charlotte’s thriving professional landscape. “This type of event is particularly valuable to our students given the city’s status as a booming financial and technology hub,” added Terry. “It’s crucial, in a city like Charlotte, that our students engage directly with industry leaders on actual issues, allowing them to participate in the kind of problem-solving process that drives innovation and continuous improvement in the corporate world.”
The Truist University Immersive Learning Experience provided a powerful framework for future talent development, ensuring Queens students enter the professional world with practical, high-demand skills and an understanding of how major corporations drive innovation.