Internships & Study Abroad
Internships Abroad (For a list of partner companies, click here)
Professional engineering internships are a key component of the International Engineering Program. IEP internships typically take place during the fourth year of the program, and usually after a semester of study at one of our partner universities (listed below). IEP Internships are six months in length, are coordinated with students' engineering disciplines, and are under the supervision of a person or team in one of the many IEP corporate partner companies. IEP interns are usually provided housing by the company sponsor, and are paid a cost of living stipend. Each intern regularly writes internship reports of his or her experience in German, French, Spanish, or Chinese.
Nearly 500 IEP students have already completed or are completing internships with companies in Germany, France, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Spain, Mexico, Brazil, Canada, and China.
It is not unusual for students to develop an ongoing relationship with a company through the internship experience. IEP students often work with divisions of the same company in the U.S. before and/or after the internship, and then go to work for the company after graduation. Though not required for domestic summer internships, many IEP students send in a short report about their activities.
Click HERE to view IEP alumni posters detailing their time abroad.
Kelly Cook (center) interning with Siemens in Germany
Semester Exchanges
IEP students typically spend the first semester of the fourth year studying abroad at an exchange partner insitution. This allows the opportunity to acclimate oneself to the new culture and language, as well as gain insight into how local engineers approach learning and problem-solving, prior to the full-time internship experience abroad. Students take a full-time course load in the host language, and credits earned apply to their URI degrees. We enjoy very strong relationships with our partner universities, all of which have strong reputations for their engineering programs.
The cost of the semester abroad through an IEP exchange is very affordable at roughly the cost of in-state tuition, fees, room, and board. Most financial aid and scholarship awards apply to the exchange semester, and there are other special internal and external scholarships for study abroad that students may apply to on a competitive basis.
Our exchange partner universities include:
TU Braunschweig
Braunschweig, Germany
Technische Universität Braunschweig
Braunschweig Exchange Program FAQ
Université de Compiègne
Compiègne, France
Université de Technologie de Compiègne (English)
ITESM (Tec de Monterrey)
Monterrey and Toluca, Mexico
Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (English)
Université Laval
Québec, Canada
Université Laval (English)
TECNUN (Universidad de Navarra)
San Sebastián, Spain
Universidad de Navarra (English)
Universidad de Cantabria
Santander, Spain
Universidad de Cantabria (English)
Universidad de Zaragoza
Zaragoza, Spain
Escuela de Ingeniería y Arquitectura
Universidad de Zaragoza (English)
Zhejiang University
Hangzhou, China
Zhejiang University
ALUMNI TESTIMONIAL
"Having interned with BMW in Munich through the IEP was excellent preparation for my current responsibilities. I now apply my technical, language, and cultural skills as the interface between two engineering cultures--Germany and the US. When I visit BMW headquarters, they accept me because I can adapt to their creative process; in the US they appreciate my ability to integrate German concepts using a US approach. Bridging effortlessly between two cultures is what sets me apart."
--Eric Sargent, '03 mechanical engineering and German majors, now employed with BMW
More Information
Join The 2012 International Engineering Education Colloquium. Click HERE.
For Prospective Students: Need money? Consider applying for the Centennial Scholarship or any of the scholarships or grants from the College of Engineering today!
