by Mitch Zimmer and Iwona Ciesielka

In times of increased competition for "top talent", Western’s Faculty of Science offers a unique approach, the Science Industry Internship Program. This is an alternative to the traditional type of cooperative education, as the program involves 8-16 month placements in Industry and is geared towards 3^rd year Honors students. The extended length of the workterm allows enhanced training for students, and gives them the opportunity to contribute to advanced projects from start to finish. There is another advantage, since internship students have usually completed three years of their degree; they have the required skills to take on more challenging assignments.

Employers, in turn, have the opportunity to work with academically well-qualified students who have at least a 70% average and are in good standing with their academic departments. Most importantly, industry will have the opportunity to get to know the personality as well as the skills of an Intern. If it turns out that there is a good match of interests, an Internship placement may lead to successful recruitment of a full-time employee upon graduation.

Students also receive benefits, which at times are "not so obvious". Geophysics Intern, Eileen Blackmore, used her placement to define her future goals. "From working with an airborne geophysics company, I have learned a lot about the field of geophysics; how the industry works, what kinds of opportunities exist, and the possibilities I may later consider. I chose an Internship because I was unsure of my career choices, and after 16 months, I am certain of what I want to pursue."

Steve Henderson also shaped his career path through the internship program. After his third year, he worked at 3M Canada for the 1999 to 2000 term. "For my internship position, I worked in a research and development lab. The work was interesting but I discovered it wasn't quite right for me" he says. When he returned to Western, Henderson shifted the focus of his fourth year chemistry thesis, "As a result, I selected a project I probably wouldn't have before my internship and wound up enjoying it tremendously. Upon graduation, I landed a job as a Quality Assurance supervisor for Procter and Gamble Pharmaceuticals." This position suited his interests more closely and he has found it "a lot more rewarding than the daily frustrations of research. Without the internship experience, I likely would have would have had no idea about any of this and I may have wound up in a job I didn't like."

Yuzhen Xie, a graduate student in the Computer Science department, had a similar feeling when she returned from her Internship in 2001 with FAG Bearings. "While working, I was often faced with deadlines," she says. "This showed me that time is a valuable commodity, and this in turn has helped me improve my time management skills. When I came back to UWO, I was a 'serious' student, which means that I knew what my responsibilities were. Now, as a graduate student, I don't treat my project as a student project, but rather view it as a useful tool for industry. In addition, my grades improved following my internship… perhaps this is because I saw my courses were important and relative to my work."

Please send your questions or comments on "Science Flashpoint" to: iwona@uwo.ca