Northern Illinois University
College of Engineering and Engineering Technology

A unique program that is community-based and industry integrated.

Consider an Internship

An internship in your industry offers many short- and long-term benefits. You’ll:

• Refine your résumé and gain job interview experience
• Apply classroom knowledge in a real-world environment right in your community
• Confirm whether you’re in the field that’s right for you
• Gain valuable work experience to prepare for your career

Corporate Partners

• Woodward
• UTC Aerospace Systems

 These industry partners:

• Are eager to welcome you as an intern and as a potential full-time employee
• Meet with us regularly to ensure our curriculum is relevant

Benefits

As an NIU@RVC student, you’ll benefit from:

• Real-world, hands-on work experience
• Multiple internship opportunities with local industries
• Hundreds of NIU Engineering alumni in the northern Illinois region who are eager to serve as mentors

Hands-on Experience

NIU@RVC interns have worked in a range of projects and departments, including:

• Shop Floor
• Competitive Intelligence (CI) Team
• Pump Engineering
• Quality Engineering
• Fuel Systems Engineering

Did you know? According to the periodical Machine Design:

• The current conversion rate from intern to full-time employee is 51.7 percent.
• Almost 80 percent of employers view internships as a way to find full-time hires.

Hear from Woodward Intern Bradley Robison, NIU @ RVC B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Class of 2018

What sort of work have you done as part of your internship?

A:  I have gotten to work on a lot of cool projects and parts in my time at Woodward. On the shop floor I got to machine and make parts that went into the fuel system of the Blackhawk, Warthog and the Apache (aircraft). Currently, I am working on a project with a team of engineers to redesign a component of the fuel control for the Boeing 777. My main responsibilities have been to crunch test data we collect from testing and create reports to document every aspect of the test and results.

What have you been learning from the internship and how is it preparing you for an engineering career?

I have learned a lot from my internship. Some of the key things I have learned are:

1. Communication is key and never be shy. Almost daily you have to communicate with your team to get work done. I used to be shy and would get nervous going up to someone I didn't know to ask them a question. Because of my internship, I have had to go talk to people I do not know and it got me out of my comfort zone and made me a much better communicator.
2. There is no such thing as a stupid question. If I don't know something or understand something, it is much better to ask than to guess because at the end of day, the product I am working with will make its way onto the wing of an airplane.

What do you think a student considering this program needs to know?

A student entering this program needs to understand that the program is designed to have you work while going to school. Things will get tough. It will be hard. But the knowledge you gain, not only from your classes but from on the job experience, cannot be beaten. Getting on-the-job experience will put you further ahead than someone who has no experience and just a degree. So embrace the challenges and the hardship because it will pay off.