Engineering Co-operative Education
Engineering Co-operative Education at Memorial University
Students in Memorial University's Bachelor of Engineering Co-operative Education program are valuable to employers locally, nationally and internationally because they combine their cutting edge technical knowledge and problem-solving skills with an energetic team approach. Students are able to contribute to all aspects of an engineering project, including design, production, inspection, calculations and proposals. In fact, we encourage all employers to be demanding in order to optimize both student learning and employer benefit.
Memorial's Engineering Co-operative Education program requires students to complete a minimum of four, four-month work terms for graduation. This schedule allows practical skills and knowledge to be applied to a variety of engineering and management-related tasks.
Academics
In Engineering One, the first year of the engineering program, all students take a common program, which comprises courses in mathematics and basic science (physics and chemistry), as well as courses covering engineering fundamentals common to all disciplines.
The engineering courses in Engineering One introduce students to engineering problem-solving, analysis, design, communications and teamwork. Students will develop an understanding of the specialties, as well as the interdisciplinary nature of engineering practice. The major programs of civil engineering, computer engineering, electrical engineering, mecahnical engineering, ocean and naval architectural engineering and process engineering are offered in academic terms 3 through 8. The Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science also offers an oil and gas engineering option with all programs except process beginning in academic term 6, which provides students in any discpline with a background in issues related to the offshore oil and gas industry.
Objectives
Learning objectives for work terms include:
- Acquiring technical skills;
- developing interpersonal and communications skills;
- learning to work on a team;
- experiencing a professional environment;
- developing work and time management skills;
- examining and confirming career choices; and
- learning to work under supervision.
Work
The type of work our students can undertake varies from well-defined positions with specific tasks and procedures to unstructured situations where they work with only objectives and deadlines. The co-op co-ordinators in the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science can advise employers on structuring job descriptions to meet the needs of both students and employers.
Communications
To develop interpersonal, time, and project management skills, students must complete communications assignments during work terms.
The assignment varies each term but can include a job diary, personal work term journal, short technical report, portfolio, descriptive technical report, or any other type of report determined in conjunction with the emploter.
The University
In the co-operative partnership between the student, employer and Memorial, the co-op office provides:
- support to develop positions;
- advertisement of your job descriptions to our students;
- collection and forwarding of applications; and
- assistance with monitoring and evaluating student performance.
Memorial also operates co-op/internship programs in Business, Physical Education, Recreation, Computer Science and Economics at the undergraduate level, and Applied Social Psychology and Computational Science at the graduate level. Co-operative Education co-ordinators are housed in their respective faculty or school. All co-ordinators report to a director of Co-operative Education. The Division of Co-operative Education manages all co-operative programs at Memorial and a co-operative education services centre provides common services to all co-operative programs.
The Employer
Work term employers are asked to provide:
- work assignments suitable to employer and student needs, ranging from 14 to 17 weeks;
- participation in the selection process;
- appropriate professonal guidance and supervision to students throughout their work term;
- a salary consistent with the employer's organizational salary structure;
- an opportunity for a university representative to monitor the student during the work term; and
- a written evaluation of the student's performance at the end of the work term.
Frequently, employers also provide financial assistance to students for initial travel to and from the work location.
For more information on Memorial's Co-operative Education, please click here.