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09 December 2024

Former Lincoln College Student Leading the Cutting Edge of AI

A former Lincoln College University Centre student recently returned to the College to share his educational and personal journey.

A former Lincoln College University Centre student, who is leading teams working on AI for some of the world’s largest companies, recently returned to the College to share his educational and personal journey.

Thomas Hughes, a former student at Lincoln College from 2018 to 2023, last week returned to the College to deliver an inspirational closing speech at the Lincoln College Group’s annual Further Education Awards, held to highlight not only academic excellence, but to mark students who have overcome challenging circumstances and difficulties in order to succeed.  

The annual awards recognise students from across the Lincoln College Group community, with titles being awarded to students for an array of reasons; whether it is attainment, the most improved student or an achievement that has made a mark. 

Thomas, who started his journey at Lincoln College studying on a Level 2 Computing course before progressing to study the BSc (Hons) Computer Science degree programme within Lincoln College’s University Centre, is himself no stranger to adversity. Having undergone double knee surgery prior to his GCSEs - his exams were taken at a time when he was experiencing great pain.  

“I only achieved two GCSEs at school due to the effects of having to medicate after my surgery, so I had to study my Level 2 Computing qualification at College alongside attaining my Maths and English GCSEs,” said Thomas, “After that, I moved onto achieving my Level 3 qualification.  

“When it came time to choose a university, I decided to stay at Lincoln College for my BSc (Hons) in Computer Science. I chose to stay because I trusted the education, mentorship, and environment here.” 

Awarded a First-Class Honours degree in 2023, Thomas has since landed a position as a Data Science and Machine Learning Specialist at Bayezian.  

Thomas explains: “I decided to take the plunge and move to London following graduation. I was lucky enough to be appointed at Bayezian.

“I’m now a Lead AI Engineer and I work with a team of six other developers. We produce work for the pharmaceutical industry as well as the finance sector.” 

Mark Locking, Principal and CEO of Lincoln College Group, added: “It was truly special to have Thomas return to the College to give his account of his experiences. From dealing with personal challenges, Thomas has proven that hard work and dedication can lead to fantastic results.  

“Thomas’s work at Bayezian is no doubt shaping the future of business and I’m so pleased to see that we played a key part in his future. To have former students return and inspire our current cohort is always such a special occasion and I want to thank Thomas for taking the time to speak to our winners.” 

Asked about his appreciation for Lincoln College, Thomas says one of his highlights was being an award recipient himself at a past FE Awards in 2019, where he took the title of Best Student.  

“I’m very proud of where I am today, it has been a struggle but I’m glad I got here in the end. My time at Lincoln College gave me so many opportunities and I’ve also been honoured to return as a guest lecturer.” 

Find out more about Career Degrees at Lincoln College University Centre. 

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