Salford Data Science student saves National Highway thousands of pounds

Vadims Seimanovs, now a Master’s Graduate in Data Science, a pathway that he followed after successfully completing his undergraduate degree in Computer Science at the University. He was one of three students who undertook a 12-week internship at National Highways where he developed a computer chatbot that can give people real-time traffic information about any part of National Highways’ road network.  

The new online tool is now being developed to support the Customer Contact Centre in offering another way to interact with National Highways, answering inquiries and providing information including latest travel news. The initial work undertaken by Vadims has saved the company thousands of pounds in early development costs. 

After his three month internship he was offered a job as a data scientist based in Manchester and will be looking at innovative data and digital products that will make a real difference to the way National Highways works. 

He said: “I was interested in developing the chatbot because it helps people navigate their journeys and makes life easier. The internship was a good experience – I used new technology, got an insight into how National Highways works and enjoyed working with the Data Services team who were very friendly so I was really pleased to get a job here.”  

Vadims has previously been recognised for his talents at the University, after winning the annual HackCamp competition at Salford which allows Computer Science and Engineering students to work collaboratively to build a piece of software in response to an industry brief.  

Julian Bass, Head of Computer Science and Software Engineering at the University of Salford added: “This is a fabulous example of how our Data Science MSc graduates have an impact in major organisations. Congratulations to Vadims on his success and new role. Congratulations also to the programme team for another successful project.”