From exploring ocean ecosystems to unlocking new approaches in education and cancer care, students and researchers from King's College London showcased advances in artificial intelligence and computer science during London Tech Week.
Hosted at Bush House by the Faculty of Natural, Mathematical & Engineering Sciences, the Informatics Industry Showcase brought together more than 200 representatives from industry, government and academia for a programme of talks, panel discussions, live demonstrations and prototype exhibits.
The event highlighted research in large language models, robotics, cybersecurity and digital healthcare, with a focus on how these technologies can address economic, societal and environmental challenges.
Dr Eric Orenstein, AI+ Senior Fellow in the Department of Informatics, demonstrated how machine learning is helping to better understand ocean ecosystems. With biological data currently available for only around 5% of the ocean's volume, his work aims to identify priority areas for exploration and enable autonomous underwater vehicles to adapt sampling in rapidly changing environments.
Yulan He, Professor of Natural Language Processing, shared insights from LearnLens, a King's-developed startup creating an AI-powered platform for personalised assessment and feedback. Funded by the UK Department for Education and developed with AQA, the UK's largest exam board, the platform aims to reduce teachers' marking workloads, improve the consistency of feedback and support more tailored learning pathways.
Student-led innovation was a key feature of the showcase, with Master's and PhD students presenting their work to leaders from across the technology and third sectors.
The showcase has become a real highlight of the calendar and this year was no exception. It was inspiring to see the breadth and quality of research taking place across our faculty, from foundational discovery through to applications already demonstrating significant societal impact. Importantly, the event creates valuable opportunities for our students and researchers to engage with partners whose expertise, networks and support can help these innovations reach their full potential.
Professor Rachel Bearon, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Natural, Mathematical & Engineering Sciences
Translating discovery into global impact
Discussions across London Tech Week emphasised the need to balance rapid AI innovation with responsible development, while strengthening the UK's ability to scale and commercialise research through coordinated investment, infrastructure, and cross-sector collaboration. These themes were reflected in King's contributions to the Innovation Arc Day at Olympia London.
Professor Graham Lord, Senior Vice-President of Health & Life Sciences, chaired a life sciences roundtable exploring how advances in AI and biomedical research can move beyond breakthrough to real-world adoption, highlighting both the opportunities for innovation and the practical challenges of investment, integration and delivery within health systems.
A clear example of this translation in action came from Anita Grigoriadis, Professor of Molecular and Digital Pathology in the School of Cancer & Pharmaceutical Sciences, who spoke in a session on UK breakthroughs with global impact. She presented PharosAI, a King's spin-out working in partnership with the NHS to unlock decades of cancer data through a secure, AI-ready platform, demonstrating how collaboration between academia and healthcare can accelerate the translation of research into scalable solutions for patient care.
Opening the day, UK Science Minister Lord Vallance called for greater commercial ambition, arguing that research excellence must be matched by a sharper focus on scaling and retaining companies in the UK. His remarks came as the government pledged £1.1 billion to boost AI growth, with investment in infrastructure and skills to help Britain compete globally.
Let's build on the UK's extraordinary strengths. Move faster at turning ideas into impact and make the UK, which I really think it can be and it's headed towards, one of the top places in the world to create, invest in, and scale up science and technology businesses
Lord Vallance, Minister for Science, Research and Innovation
London Tech Week ran from 8 to 12 June, bringing together startups, investors, policymakers and global technology leaders to explore innovations shaping the future.
