Optimising growth for students and organisations
From UCM, to an applied research internship, to a master’s, to launching her own consulting projects in digital transformation, to helping other UM students shape their careers. Uliana Rybina does it all. With her motto of optimising and simplifying everything as much as possible, she improves not only business processes but also internships opportunities, enabling students to take their first steps into the professional world with far greater ease.
At just fourteen, Uliana was already thinking about her future. She travelled across Europe visiting universities, searching for the right fit. She eventually chose University College Maastricht because she thought this study specifically was very good at blending science, business and real-world application: “I really wanted to understand the science, but also be able to immediately apply it to the business needs of the companies and societal benefit.”
This early clarity shaped not only her academic path, but also the way she now supports students standing where she once stood.
"A core part of my mission is reducing the gender gap in STEM education by lowering barriers to entry and expanding access to high-quality learning opportunities."
Bridging science & business as a mission
And so Uliana’s career began at UCM where she had “one of the best times of her life”. She immediately felt at home in the Liberal Arts and Sciences programme, where she could combine her interests in neuroscience, business automation, and computer science into a coherent study path. “I was always driven towards interdisciplinarity and combining business and science,” she says, “so I can help more people and build this bridge between the scientific world, or IT world, and the business world.”
And Uliana was not only motivated to bridge the world between science and business, but also to make this world more accessible to women. This motivation originated during a special topic at UCM. “We had a topic about the STEM gap,” she recalls. “I think this was the moment when I was inspired to actually join the IT world and see how I can help other women, and also other people, join the same industry without internal or industrial friction.”
With the support of her academic supervisor, Wilfred van Dellen, she undertook internships, completed her MARBLE project, and, in her own words, “managed to do everything I wanted”. These experiences soon opened the door to her next major milestone.
The ARI that changed everything
She soon landed an “amazing” Applied Research Internship (ARI) at DENSO under the supervision of Wilfred van Dellen. She had no idea in those early months how significantly this would shape her career. “One month after I joined it as an Applied Research Internship programme, I was hired as a working student,” she explains. Not long afterwards, DENSO changed her status to employee, allowing her to immediately apply her continuous education in Innovation Sciences and Digital Transformation into real business cases.
Today, three years after the initial internship, she works at DENSO as a Digital Transformation & Strategy specialist. Her role includes advising on which technologies the company should adopt, training employees in digital tools, and ensuring these technologies are effectively embedded across the organisation. And, most excitedly, she coordinates the internship programme.
Building a student-centred internship programme
Having experienced first-hand how transformative a good internship can be, Uliana set out to create those opportunities for others. During her own internship, she identified a clear challenge: “Many people might not yet have the digital skills that could enhance their work,” she notes. To address this, DENSO brought in two additional students the following year to map and improve business processes. The success of this initiative led to rapid growth. “We expanded the programme by hiring seven additional students, followed by three more," she explains. "These teams supported key initiatives in digitalisation, product inspection, and business expansion."
The enthusiasm among both students and DENSO prompted Uliana to formalise the programme. “We thought that the results were good and the students are really looking forward to this,” she explains. “So why not make it more official?” After securing approval from the board and optimising the onboarding procedure, as many as 28 internal projects were submitted for students to take on. “There is a big supply and a big demand,” Uliana says, “and my task is to match those two things.”
"The goal is to give students real work experience and help them become genuinely ready for the job market as it is today ‒ shaped by AI, continuous learning, constant upskilling, and ongoing change."
At the heart of the programme is a commitment to meaningful learning. “We are specifically focusing on ensuring that students do their research and that we match it to their thesis,” she says. “We compensate them, they earn credits, and there is always a research component, enabling them to contribute to both the expansion of scientific knowledge and the fulfilment of business needs. Nurturing the development of the next generation professionals is a priority for DENSO and myself. Each intern is matched with an internal supervisor, ensuring personalised mentorship.”
The results were visible almost immediately. “The students who were on our internship last year are joining us again this year for their thesis,” she says proudly. “They were in the ARI programme and now they’re going to do their thesis with us in AI roadmap, AI scripting and the Digital Training Centre.”
Optimising the future
Uliana’s forward-thinking mindset extends well beyond her work at DENSO. Alongside het master's studies at Utrecht University, she is also consulting on business process automation and enterprise architecture at the consulting studio, Leapfrog Agency. She gives lectures and workshops on Digital Transformation and AI-proof jobs creation. “The idea is that in parallel to my work and my studies, I also consult a lot,” she explains. “Basically, what I do is help automate business processes with AI and other technologies, and create strategic narratives for IT transformation. A lot of things are still done manually, but if you just embed a bit of AI, or know how to use Power BI correctly, or just know a bit of APIs and Enterprise Architecture, like TOGAF, you can automate the things which people don’t like to do.”
She emphasises that automation is never about replacing people. “Our purpose is not to substitute people,” she says, “but to make sure that they are working more efficiently, know how to use new digital skills, and can secure their workplaces or upgrade their career possibilities.”
Looking ahead, she plans to continue developing her consultancy, supporting innovation, and creating opportunities for more students. In fact, she hopes to expand the collaboration with UM beyond UCM to other faculties. “If the results are great,” she says, “we are going to expand the collaboration and potentially host even more students.”
"The point isn't to substitute people. It's to free up their time so they can focus on meaningful, creative work instead of routine tasks."
Creating opportunities
DENSO’s growing partnership with UM shows how valuable meaningful, research-driven internships can be. And thanks to alumni such as Uliana, more and more students gain access to opportunities that shape careers, develop confidence and open doors.
Are you interested in opening your organisation to UM student talent? Get in touch with UM Career Services to explore the possibilities.
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