Undergraduate Industrial Training Experience: A Win-win Situation for Students, Industry and Faculty

Undergraduate student industrial training programs in the engineering industry are mutually beneficial relationships that helps nurture student growth, enhance university-industry relationships, and challenge the faculty to include up-to-date information in the teaching curriculums. The engineering discipline in particular requires graduates to be well-prepared with real world experience so they can anticipate the working challenges. The industrial training program is a mandatory graduation requirement for undergraduates of the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, UKM. Students have to undergo a ten to twelve-week period of industrial training following their sixth semester of university study. Before the training period, students have to prepare a short resume and then determine their companies of choice. During the internship, students kept a daily log documenting the activities and will be monitored by a visiting faculty academic. Upon returning to the faculty, they have to complete a technical report and deliver a seminar presentation summarising their experience. This paper highlights the program description, defines the industrial training objectives and describes the implementation process and challenges. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.