Engineering Internships - Domestic and International
Laura McWethy, Calvin senior who spent a summer working in Bremen, Germany, for Matthäi Bauunternehmen GmbH, an international construction company.
Real-world Experience
We offer a very active internship program through which students are placed in engineering positions during the summer months. Placements are usually either in West Michigan or in the student’s hometown. The internship gives students an opportunity to experience what type of an engineer they want to be, actual job experience for their resume' and a job reference for future employment.
View some posters done by students from the summer of 2008.
In over eight years of placing Calvin students in internships in Europe, engineering professor Ned Nielsen has noticed an interesting thing: engineering internships often lead to language study. A significant number of the 31 students he has placed in Switzerland, Germany, Puerto Rico and the Netherlands have studied the language of their host country upon their return to the United States.
"That is unheard of for engineering majors," Nielsen says. "Their whole outlook on life changes." The cultural enrichment that comes from an overseas internship is essential for engineers, Nielsen believes. Now, as never before, "in engineering, you have to design for the whole world," he says.
"I had an e-mail two weeks ago from a company with an opening for a mechanical engineer who spoke German and who had international experience. How many people fit those criteria?" Nielsen asks. "I knew three."
A summer abroad has proven to be a valuable component in the student’s education.
Check out the blog by current Engineering student, Katrina Denny. She is spending this summer in Germany.
Here are just a few examples:
North America
Medtronic Physio-Control
Redmond, WA
Decc Company
Grand Rapids, MI
Johnson Controls
Holland, MI
Halla Climate Control Canada
Belleville, OT, Canada
SDI Consultants
Oak Brook, IL
Pharmacia Corporation
Kalamazoo, MI
International
Pfizer Global Research and Development
Freiburg, Germany
Goldschmidt AG (Division of Degussa)
Mannheim, Germany
Rockwell Automation
Aarau, Switzerland
Pharmacia
Arecibo, Puerto Rico
Sulzer Repco B.V.
Netherlands
Requirements for Internship Credit
The internship must consist of engineering work at an appropriate level for a minimum of nine full-time consecutive weeks. Students must:
- Provide a written report of their activities under the signature of their supervisor to the Internship Coordinator, Prof. Ned Nielsen, and
- Make a formal presentation of the internship work done during the fall semester. This is typically done at the Internship Poster Session every October for returning sophomores and juniors. Seniors are asked to give oral presentations to first-year engineering students and students on an International Internship will give a department seminar. (Posters are to be created electronically using the Engineering Poster Policy and Guidelines.)
Courses
ENGR 185 Internship - Freshmen year Internship
ENGR 285 Internship - Sophomore year Internship
ENGR 385 Internship - Junior year Internship
ENGR 387 Internship- International Internship
Get Involved
Do you have the ability to place an intern with your company/employer? Please contact:
Professor Ned Nielsen
Engineering Internship Coordinator,
nnielsen@calvin.edu
616-526-6440