Internships
Gaining real-world engineering experience
Students looking for internship opportunities can connect with the Career and Professional Development Office in the Student Success Center to be matched with an appropriate off-campus company or organization.
Internship Contact
Gregory Kleinheinz, R.S., Ph.D.
(920) 424-1100
kleinhei@uwosh.edu
Earning credit for internships
See below for information on courses you can take that will give you credit for your internship. To earn credits, you must fulfill the requirements explained below.
Students
Employers/Supervisors
EGR 400: Engineering Internship
Course Description: An internship experience with a cooperative organization or corporation to gain on the job learning in some aspect of Engineering Technology. Internships may be arranged at any time across the academic year or summer. The student will work with cooperating companies or government agencies.
Prerequisite: Student must arrange for a specific internship with the Internship Coordinator before starting the internship and registering for the course.
Objectives: To allow students an opportunity to get hands on Engineering Technology experiences in a ‘real-world’ location that furthers their education and career goals. To let students make an informed decision about their interest in an Engineering Technology career.
Student Outcomes:
UW Oshkosh’s Essential Learning Outcomes outline the broader goals for liberal education courses like this one. A full list of Essential Learning Outcomes can be found on the University web site. No single course or academic discipline can hope to touch on all outcomes, but those specifically addressed to a greater or lesser degree by this course include:
- Knowledge of the Physical & Natural World
- Skills, both Intellectual & Practical, including
- Identification and objective evaluation of theories and assumptions
- critical thinking & problem solving
- quantitative, technology & information literacy
Each learning outcome represents an essential facet of your overall education, which we hope leads to broad knowledge, transferrable skills, and civic engagement. Some of the tools we will use to attain these goals include demonstration of phenomena, hands-on experimentation, discussion of concepts and theories, and problem-solving sessions.
Specific Student Outcomes & Performance Indicators for this course:
- an ability to function effectively as a member or leader on a technical team;
- e1 demonstrate ability to research and gather information for the team
- e2 fulfill duties associated with assigned team role
- e3 share in the work of the team
- an ability to apply written, oral, and graphical communication in both technical and non-technical environments; and an ability to identify and use appropriate technical literature;
- g1 demonstrate an ability to write effectively with appropriate visual supporting materials
- g2 demonstrate an ability to effectively communicate verbally with appropriate use of visual aids
- professional development;
- h2 demonstrates initiative to learn new techniques and tools for design and problem-solving activities
- h3 demonstrate recognition of the ongoing need for participating in professional development activities
- knowledge of the impact of engineering technology solutions in a societal and global context;
- j1 demonstrate awareness and knowledge of contemporary issues
- j2 describe the interrelationships between technology and contemporary society including global issues
- a commitment to quality, timeliness, and continuous improvement;
- k1 demonstrate the ability to plan tasks, set goals & priorities, and work toward the timely completion of a project
- k2 revise written reports to address shortcomings, revise technical drawings to industry standards, and/or acquire higher quality experimental data to enable meaningful analysis
EGR 410: Engineering Capstone
Capstone – EGRT 410
This experience is intended for working and place-bound students only.
The Capstone option is generally conducted by those working full-time and can be done with your employer. To start this process, submit a mini proposal to Dr. Greg Kleinheinz that outlines:
- Where are you doing the project?
- What are the objectives of the project?
- What is the general approach?
- What are the expected outcomes of the project?
- How is the experience adding to your education?
- Who is supervising the project?
This is typically 1-2 pages. Please email Dr. Greg Kleinheinz some approval from the project supervisor. Indicate your preference for number of credits. Once the project is completed, a report will need to be submitted summarizing the experience. As part of this report, please comment on the following with as much detail as you can.
- Were you able to demonstrate an ability to function effectively as a member or leader on a technical team? If so, please describe how you were able to:
- research and gather information for the team,
- fulfill duties associated with the team,
- share work of the team, and
- how you demonstrated a willingness to listen to other teammates and examine different ideas.
- Were you able to apply written, oral, and graphical communication in both technical and non-technical environments? As part of this did you need to:
- demonstrate an ability to identify the audience, assess their information needs, and organize information to meet those needs
- demonstrate an ability to write effectively with appropriate visual supporting materials,
- demonstrate an ability to effectively communicate verbally with appropriate use of visual aids, and/or
- use data and literature references that are factually correct, supported with evidence?
- Describe how this capstone project allowed you to integrate academic preparation from your various courses into the experience.
Internship Logistics
I. Internship Opportunities
There are many ways and opportunities for internships with local businesses and government agencies. These can be at a variety of locations and can take many forms. Some of these may be sent to you by the Department, but students can find these through their contacts as well.
II. Required Paper Work
The first step to becoming enrolled in ET 400 is to contact Dr. Kleinheinz (kleinhei@uwosh.edu) to discuss the opportunity. Fill out the Internship Application. You will then have a form given to your prospective internship supervisor that includes questions about the type of work you would be doing during the internship and how it would relate to your engineering technology education. After we receive a completed form, we will ask that you visit the Program Assistant in the Engineering Technology Office. You then need to fill out an add card which will be processed to enroll you in ET 400 for your up-coming 1-3 credits.
Internship Credit(s) | Hour Requirement |
1 credit | 70 hours |
2 credit | 140 hours |
3 credit | 210 hours |
III. Student Requirements
Students are required to keep a daily (typed) journal, an hour log, write a brief essay about the internship, provide photographic record of work (if possible), and generate a power point presentation or poster presentation.
Daily Journal: Each entry needs to detail your activities performed during their internship.
Hour Log: Your hour log needs to have a list of each day that you worked and the number of hours that you worked. This could accompany each entry in your daily journal.
Presentation Slides and Presentation: With approval of your supervisor, take several pictures showing you active in the field. Please prepare a 5-10 minute presentation on this experience for presentation to faculty and students in the program. This will be presented at a departmental event in the semester you take the Internship credits. This is a requirement of this experience. The exact date will be worked out with the Coordinator.
Essay: Each student needs to write a 3-4 page double-spaced typed retrospective essay, which should summarize the internship experience, describe how this experience contributed to the student’s professional development, and include a section about skills learned or applied over the course of the internship.
As part of this essay, please comment on the following with as much detail as you can. NOTE: You MUST address #1-3 below as they are part of the grading rubric for the course.
- Were you able to demonstrate an ability to function effectively as a member or leader on a technical team? If so, please describe how you were able to a) research and gather information for the team, b) fulfill duties associated with the team, c) share work of the team, and d) how you demonstrated a willingness to listen to other teammates and examine different ideas.
- Were you able to apply written, oral, and graphical communication in both technical and non-technical environments? As part of this did you need to a) demonstrate an ability to identify the audience, assess their information needs, and organize information to meet those needs, b) demonstrate an ability to write effectively with appropriate visual supporting materials, c) demonstrate an ability to effectively communicate verbally with appropriate use of visual aids, and/or d) use data and literature references that are factually correct, supported with evidence?
- Describe in detail how this internship allowed you to integrate academic preparation from your various courses into the overall experience.
Supervisor Evaluation: The internship coordinator may contact the supervisor for an evaluation of the student’s performance after the internship is complete.
The internship coordinator must receive the journal, essay, and evaluation by the supervisor by last week of the semester/session in which the student is enrolled in ET 400. These materials need to be submitted to electronically to the Internship Coordinator. If the internship coordinator does not receive these materials by the end of the semester the student will get an Incomplete (see University Bulletin or Academic Policies web page regarding the consequences of Incomplete grades).
- Graduates will be employed in a degree-related field and begin to assume greater responsibility and leadership within their company;
- Graduates will communicate effectively in oral, written, and visual modes and exhibit ethical behavior, professionalism and a respect for diversity as they pursue a career in industry;
- Graduates will apply their critical thinking skills and knowledge of engineering and technology to identify, analyze, and solve problems during the design, development, implementation and improvement phases of projects;
- Graduates will pursue lifelong learning and continuous improvement through additional training, active membership in professional societies, and other high quality developmental endeavors.
Department of Engineering and Engineering Technology