Impact in Action
The measure of an institution lies not in its mission statements, but in the tangible achievements of its community. At Blackbridge, we are immensely proud of the work our students, faculty, and alumni are doing to shape their fields and make a positive impact on the world. These stories represent the spirit of inquiry and innovation that we strive to cultivate every day. We don’t always succeed in our ambitions, but we believe in celebrating the moments when hard work and bright ideas come together.
Alumni Spotlight: ‘Fjord Dynamics’ Four years ago, three graduates of our MSc in Strategic Business & Entrepreneurship—an engineer, a designer, and a finance specialist—founded ‘Fjord Dynamics’. From their initial sketches in our Venture Lab, they developed a revolutionary autonomous system for monitoring the structural integrity of offshore wind turbines. Their technology, which uses a combination of AI-driven drone surveillance and predictive analytics, has significantly reduced maintenance costs and improved safety in the North Sea’s renewable energy sector. This year, the company secured its second round of major international investment and was named Norway’s ‘Technology Start-up of the Year’. Their journey embodies our ethos of interdisciplinary collaboration and real-world problem-solving.
Faculty Research Breakthrough: Explainable AI in Medical Diagnostics A team led by a Professor in our Centre for Digital Futures & Society has recently published a groundbreaking paper in a leading scientific journal on ‘Explainable AI’ (XAI). For years, one of the biggest hurdles to using complex neural networks in medicine has been their ‘black box’ nature—they provide an answer, but can’t show their reasoning. The Blackbridge team has developed a novel methodology that allows their diagnostic AI to not only identify potential pathologies in medical scans with incredible accuracy but also to highlight the specific visual evidence it used to reach its conclusion. This breakthrough represents a major step towards building trust and transparency in clinical AI, and is now entering clinical trials.
Student Award: The Oslo Civic Design Prize A final-year Master of Architecture student has been awarded the prestigious Oslo Civic Design Prize for her thesis project. Her project, ‘Breathe Brygge’, was a visionary yet practical proposal for the redevelopment of a post-industrial waterfront area near our campus. The design masterfully integrated affordable housing, public green spaces, and innovative flood-resilience features using sustainable materials. The judging panel praised the project for its “profound social conscience and elegant architectural expression,” noting that it provided a compelling and humane blueprint for the future of urban coastal living. The student’s work is a testament to our school’s commitment to design that serves the community.
Institutional Initiative: The Blackbridge Access Programme We recognise that talent is not confined by postcode or privilege. Three years ago, we launched the Blackbridge Access Programme, an initiative designed to mentor and support promising Sixth Form students from under-represented backgrounds across the wider Oslo region. The programme includes subject-specific masterclasses, university application support, and one-on-one mentorship from our current undergraduate students. This year, we are proud to announce that over 70% of the students who completed the programme received offers from top-tier universities for competitive courses, including several who will be joining us here at Blackbridge for their undergraduate studies. This is an achievement we value as highly as any academic prize.