International Opportunities for Chemical Engineering Students

 

IAESTE

(The International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience)

The IAESTE scheme provides opportunities for travel to gain technical experience in a foreign environment.

Each year 6-8 students (approximately 30% of the class) from Chemical Engineering (approximately 30% of the class) spend the summer working in foreign companies and universities. The destinations included: Australia, USA, Canada, and South Africa.

In 2006 a QUB Chemical Engineering (Matthew Wilson) won the prestigious UK IAESTE Trainee of the Year Award.

Further details may be obtained from the IAESTE web site. http://www.iaeste.org/

 

Sandwich Year (Industrial Placement)

BEng and MENG students can opt for a Sandwich year of industrial placement. Many of these placements are in overseas companies, with the scheme normally offering a City and Guilds qualification at the end of a successful year placement.

 

Socrates-Erasmus

The aim of Socrates-Erasmus is to increase European awareness amongst university students by encouraging them to have a period of study in another European Union member state, or member states of the European Economic Area.

Chemical Engineering has established bilateral links with three leading European Universities: Chalmers University (Sweden), Delft University (The Netherlands) and Aachen University (Gemany). This offers students the opportunity to spend the 1st Semester of Stage 4 studying for their QUB degree in another EU university.

 

Benefits for the student

The personal benefits should be obvious: the broadening and deepening of understanding which should come from immersion in a foreign culture; the increased self-reliance and self-assurance which come from a venture into the (relatively) unknown; new friendships; and all the advantages which flow from the mastery of a foreign language.

Socrates-Erasmus students may also find benefits for their specific degree course: a fresh range for specialisms in the host university: a fresh angle on the subject: different methods of teaching, learning and assessment.

A Socrates-Erasmus placement should also enhance a student's employment prospects. Employers put a high value on initiative, self-reliance, maturity of outlook; they are also keenly aware of the need for staff who can work confidently and efficiently in an international context. Participation in the scheme should also improve the likelihood of obtaining a job elsewhere in Europe in an increasingly international labour market. Fewer than 5% of UK students take part in any sort of study abroad - so you will have a definite advantage over the majority of students!

More information can be found at the QUB International Office website, http://www.qub.ac.uk/ilo/soc3.htm