Aligning internship, Co-op and new graduate engineering rotation programs to improve experiential learning

Abstract

It has become extremely important that engineering students participate in relevant industry experience prior to graduation to become sufficiently qualified as the next generation of technological innovators. Through a structured development process aligning Internship, Co-op and New Graduate Engineering Programs within one organization, Northrop Grumman Corporation has been successful in providing significant relevant industry experience to current engineering students during their academic development periods while shortening the time a recent graduate in engineering is required to participate in a rotation program before feeling comfortable in becoming a long-term fixture in the organization. The Northrop Grumman Corporation has developed solid processes and continues to experience successful early integration of university engineering students into the organization who become; assimilated quicker, demonstrate a greater engagement than most recent graduates, and offer more productive experiences, while providing a significant advantage over other corporations in the hiring process. The integrated program satisfies both the student's and the corporation's desire to provide relevant experiences while offering the ability for students to "try out" the corporation and the corporation to "try-out" the engineering student prior to full-time consideration upon graduation from either an undergraduate or graduate engineering program. To develop an integrated program that provides relevant work experiences while meeting customer and corporate goals, each of the integrated program elements must be; proposed and "sold" to the internal (hiring) organizations, be vetted as individual programs, and carefully aligned and integrated such that the organization embraces the structure and expenses involved in creating these early career development opportunities. The Development Programs Office has two customers in this scenario; the eventual hiring organization and the soon to be new graduate engineering student who will have multiple opportunities to select her 1st professional employment position upon graduation. After having proposed, developed, vetted, piloted and integrated a successful Internship / Co-op/ and new graduate rotational program in engineering across the country at the Electronic Systems Sector of the Northrop Grumman Corporation, the push for constant evaluation and improvement continues. After three months of significant research and development Electronic Systems will be extending the Internship Program of the Integrated Experiential Learning Program within the Development Programs Office to allow for part-time year-round positions for local university students to supplement the permanent workforce during 10 - 14 week internships during the traditional academic sessions. © 2012 American Society for Engineering Education.