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Graduate Internship Program Benefits

To the Student

The internship program offers a unique experience in graduate education. From the students' viewpoint, it provides a valuable clinical experience as part of the educational process. Specific benefits include:

• Students' knowledge about professional practice and research is strengthened in the laboratory of the real world.
• The clinical exposure helps integrate theory and practice and enhances the practical significance of textbook offerings.
• The internship plus the master's degree can usually be counted for two years' experience toward professional engineer registration.
• On-the-job experience helps students build confidence, shape individual goals, and make career choices.
• Internship earnings greatly reduce the financial burden of engineering education.
• The work experience often provides an environment for identifying and developing topics for thesis and graduate projects.
• Students can gain access to specialized laboratories not available on campus.

To the Sponsor

"Our experience with WPI graduate intern students has been extremely effective. We have been able to provide a valuable intern experience for the student and simultaneously achieve important objectives for UL and the safety community at large." - Tom Castino, President and CEO, Underwriters Laboratories, Inc.

Sponsors ranging from commercial business to consulting firms, from government agencies to research organizations can profit from the Graduate Internship Program. Benefits include:

• The internship program serves as a source of mature engineering personnel capable of taking on responsible assignments in a professional work environment (all interns have at least a B.S. degree).
• For-credit thesis and graduate project work can be oriented toward program interests of the sponsor. This can provide results in areas that might not otherwise be addressed by regular full-time staff members.
• The program can help maintain an infusion of new talent. Students and employers can make early assessments of each other without making initial long-term commitments.
• Valuable linkages are created between the academic and professional worlds. The program strengthens employers' contact with new ideas, viewpoints, and latest generation technologies.
• The program improves access to the facilities and capabilities of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, including the expertise of the faculty, fire laboratories and computer support capabilities, fire-related software, databases, and library holdings.

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Last modified: September 15, 2006 15:56:38