Empowering our communities to harness AI in their personal and professional lives
During NCL in Action 2025, our community have united in volunteering opportunities, activities and events to explore the impact AI and technology is having on our world and upskill themselves to prepare for the future.
9 May 2025
NCL in Action 2024/25: Exploring AI's impact on our world
Kicking off in October 2024 with a tri-campus launch day in Newcastle, Malaysia and Singapore, this year’s NCL in Action programme welcomed over 900 Newcastle University alumni, students, colleagues and business partners from across 5 generations and 47 countries worldwide. With participants ranging in age from 23 to 91, we proudly demonstrated that you’re never too old to embrace new technology!
NCL in Action ran from October 2024 – May 2025, with 18 events for our alumni community to get involved in and learn how AI can make a difference to their lives. This included professional development webinars; technical skills workshops; and public lectures exploring the latest pioneering research from campus. The programme highlighted how AI is making seismic changes in all areas of our lives, with spotlights on the music industry, online security, education and healthcare to name just a few.
Alongside this exciting events series, NCL in Action also included a career mentoring programme which was accessed by graduates from over 40 industries. In our 60-minute mentoring sessions, industry leaders from our alumni community volunteered to share their knowledge and insights with fellow graduates to help them on their career paths.
Our launch day events in October welcomed 319 alumni in Newcastle, Malaysia and Singapore, and spotlighted graduates and academics from across the university community leading the way when it comes to future technology.
In Newcastle, delegates set out to answer the big question when it comes to AI: will it steal our jobs? Workshops covering business leadership and boosting productivity with the help of AI were well attended, and guests also took part in a debate to reveal whether AI could replace all humans in the workforce.
Class of 1998 graduate Rob McCargow delivered the keynote address at our Newcastle launch day and chaired the debate. Since graduating from Newcastle University with a degree in Medical Microbiology, Rob has gone on to become Director and Technology Impact Leader at PwC, where he leads efforts around the ethical implementation of AI. He said:
“There are extraordinary opportunities to harness this technology at scale and solve some of the most intractable problems facing business and society at large. I personally am really excited about applications of this to make us more efficient and productive, taking away the burden of administrative tasks so we’re free to focus on areas that are more cognitively-rewarding!”
In Malaysia, where Newcastle University has been delivering medical courses since 2011, the focus was very much on AI implications in healthcare. Professor Vishna Devi V Nadarajah, CEO, Provost, and Professor at Newcastle University Medicine Malaysia (NUMed), led discussions on the benefits AI can bring, including improved diagnostics, along with the challenges, such as ethical considerations, privacy and security, and regulatory compliance.
Later in the programme, we welcomed alumnus and Newcastle researcher Professor Colin Rees to deliver a lecture on his innovate research, in which an AI tool called "GI Genius" was used to analyse potential bowel abnormalities during a colonoscopy and detect signs of cancer sooner.
And in Singapore, guests set out to answer how AI advancements and new technologies help us live more sustainably.
As well as exploring how technology can solve the many problems society faces, we also empowered alumni to make the most of technology in their everyday lives, from tips on attaching documents to emails and how to stay safe online, to harnessing accessibility features on our devices to make life easier for us all.
Catch up on events and get involved
Thank you to the alumni, colleagues, students and business partners who joined together and got involved in this year’s NCL in Action programme. Events from the series are still available to catch up on via our YouTube channel and you can also partake in an online crash course into AI with alumni-founded business 100 School.
.png)