In April 2005, the Career Centre partnered with the Faculty of Science & Engineering to co-manage the Faculty’s existing Internship Co-op Program — an optional program that provides eligible students in Computer Science, Computer Engineering and Information Technology with the opportunity to engage in a four, eight, 12 or 16 month career-related work placement. Over the past several months, the Career Centre and the Faculty have worked to develop and enhance the program, including changing the name to the Technology Internship Program (TIP) to clarify its structure as that of an internship model rather than a co-op model.
In January 2006, the Geomatics Engineering and Space Engineering streams in the Faculty of Science & Engineering were integrated into the TIP. “In light of senate’s recent approval of York University’s new School of Engineering, it is very timely that the Technology Internship Program should be expanding its operations to serve students in all three engineering programs,” says Richard Hornsey, associate dean, Faculty of Science & Engineering. “Engineering is a practical profession that deals with the design and implementation of innovative concepts, so opportunities for our students to gain experience in the workplace are invaluable. I am therefore delighted that students in Computer, Geomatics and Space Engineering can benefit from the TIP.”
Noushin Khosrodad is the first Space Engineering student to participate in the TIP. Khosrodad, a research assistant at the Centre for Research in Earth & Space Science’s (CRESS) Space Instrumentation Laboratory, is excited about this opportunity to gain hands-on experience in her field. “It’s an amazing opportunity. I get to see how everything that we’ve learned in our engineering courses comes into play in the real world, but at the same time, I am constantly learning new concepts,” says Khosrodad. “I hope that by the end of my placement, I will have a much greater understanding of the engineering process that goes on behind every project and how the course materials apply to practical situations.”
Right: Noushin Khosrodad
Employers are also benefiting from hiring internship students like Khosrodad who are trained in the latest technologies and methods and bring innovative ideas to the workplace. “Having Noushin on board has been a very positive experience thus far. Her upper level courses seem to have prepared her well for her work in our laboratory and have allowed her to hit the ground running,” says Brian Solheim, who supervises Khosrodad at CRESS. “We have really thrown her into the deep end and asked her to swim. Her technical background paired with self-motivation and the ability to learn quickly and independently have made her immediately productive and successful in the role.”
York’s Career Centre and Faculty of Science & Engineering are committed to enhancing the TIP and are working to create internship experiences where eligible students can continue to expand their academic learning while gaining career management and job search skills and building their professional network.
For more information visit the Technology Internship Program Web site.