McMaster Engineering to offer co-op option for graduate students

McMaster Engineering graduate students can soon add co-op experience to their resumes.

The University Senate recently approved a new co-op option, which will provide Master’s and PhD students with the opportunity to gain paid, relevant work experience starting September 2017.

The new co-op opportunity will enable students to establish a network of industry contacts, and develop a range of valuable skills, which will aid them in their graduate studies and future careers.

Unique in Ontario and across most of Canada, the McMaster Engineering co-op option offers work experience across all engineering graduate programs within the Faculty.

“At McMaster Engineering, we believe our students need a broader set of skills to land that first job,” said Michael Thompson, Associate Dean of Graduate Studies. “Master’s and PhD students have so much to offer companies, with ground-breaking knowledge and techniques fresh in their minds from their research. Affording students the unique opportunity to gain work experience will be enriching for students and the industries they will be contributing to.”

The co-op option is the latest in a comprehensive professional skills development program for engineering graduate students.

Within the last two years, the Faculty has hired a career development and relationship manager, offers mandatory career planning sessions for all graduate students and is developing online professional skills training modules in areas such as interview preparation and communications skills.

As well, the Faculty offers an Industrial PhD for those in the workforce who want to complete a graduate degree while on the job.

The Faculty currently offers a robust and flexible co-op for undergraduate students, which enables students to gain work experience in four, eight, 12 and 16-month internships.