ARM’s new student technology kit could lead you to the career of tomorrow

The new kit from ARM – the company behind most of the world’s smartphone and tablet processors – lets students develop their own wireless devices for controlling things like miniature robots, wearable technology and even creating “smart” toasters.

The company hopes this will encourage students to join firms like ARM or start-up their own electronics or software businesses, by giving them experience with the “Internet of Things” (the idea that everyday objects from cars to fridges will increasingly be equipped with wireless chips to improve their performance).

The spread of these internet-enabled “smart” devices means the engineers of tomorrow will need greater expertise in wireless communication and sensor technology, which will play a much greater role in all industries from aerospace to medicine, as well as in products from electronics firms like ARM.

‘By 2020 there will be 50 billion internet-connected devices, which will dwarf the mobile and PC industries put together,’ said ARM’s chief technology officer, Mike Muller, at the kit’s launch at University College London (UCL).