In June 2024, Qt Group launched its University and Talent Network. The network aims to foster the growth of the next generation of Qt talent by finding meaningful ways of collaborating with universities. Well before the network's launch, Qt Group initiated a partnership with Oulu University, focusing on revitalizing and modernizing the University of Oulu’s C++ course, which had not been offered by the university for over a decade.
Dr. Anna LaValle, a university lecturer at Oulu University, describes how the collaboration started:
We built the course (Intermediate Level Programming with C++) using materials from a 2014 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA, C++ course. These materials were excellent from an educational standpoint - students worked on large, real-world codebases every week, learning by fixing and improving them, much like they would in an actual industry job. However, the materials were outdated, written with C++11 practices, and none of our staff had recent industry experience to modernize them. That’s where Qt Group stepped in. They provided access to Ville Voutilainen, one of Finland’s top C++ experts, who played a critical role in updating the course to C++23 standards.
Ville Voutilainen, principal software engineer at Qt Group and a C++ committee member, worked closely with the university, particularly with Anna and university teacher Elmeri Uotila, to help modernize the materials and advise on how to future-proof the course. With this, it was ensured that students learned modern practices directly applicable to the industry.
The Impact of Industry-Academia Collaboration
The renewed course occurred in the spring of 2024 with 336 registered students. During the course, Ville actively engaged with students by joining Discord discussions to answer their questions. This provided the students a unique opportunity to learn from an expert and connect the learnings into practice. This was not only interesting for the students but also enjoyable for Ville as he answered the students' questions:
The work on helping and guiding students on Discord was pleasant, and quite motivating for the helpers themselves, the students had interesting questions and interesting problems to solve, and the experience we have on the C++ language itself and on various tools related to it was put to good use during that helping and guidance.
Not surprisingly, many students praised Ville’s contributions, and Anna describes his impact as meaningful, leading to increased motivation among the students:
The course helped increase students' interest and motivation to pursue careers involving C++ by showing them the relevance of C++ in real-world industries—particularly with Qt and other local companies.
In addition to supporting students in their learning, Ville also gave a guest lecture on advancements from C++11 to C++23. This was tied to the work on updating the course materials, and during the lecture, the updated material sparked questions, as Ville describes:
The visiting lecture was a good experience, the audience was very interested in the material and asked good questions about the lecture material and all sorts of things beyond it.
For students, the guest lecture was an added motivational boost well beyond the topic, as Anna explains:
Ville’s lecture on advancements from C++11 to C++23 was a course highlight, with a packed room and students eager to talk with him afterward. Many expressed interest in applying for internships and jobs at Qt after completing the course.
The partnership exemplified a significant collaboration between academia and industry, bridging students to real-world expertise while serving as a pilot for working with universities near Qt’s office sites. This initiative not only helped discover exceptional talent but also expanded collaborations to new courses. With an upcoming C++ course and ongoing engagement in Oulu University’s VR program, Qt is ensuring students grasp the full potential of its tools. Since Qt’s powerful framework is built on C++, mastering the language equips students with the performance, flexibility, and efficiency needed to develop everything from embedded systems to immersive applications. While QML simplifies UI development, its seamless integration with C++ enables high-performance, scalable software—giving students a critical edge in modern development.
