Work Placement Programme

The work placement programme is an integrated period of paid work experience between third year and final year which, as part of the CK605 degree, has proven enormously beneficial to our engineering graduates. After three years at UCC, our electrical engineers have completed a wide range of foundation courses and practical work and, accordingly, they are well equipped to contribute meaningfully in an engineering environment.

The work placement programme is a three-way partnership between the student, the employer and the university, and forms part of the compulsory final year module EE4021 Engineering in the Commercial World. The companies chosen to participate in the programme are generally leading national and international design, manufacturing, commercial and financial businesses. In this way students are afforded the opportunity to gain practical experience relevant to their studies and to put into practice the theories and methodologies studied at university.

Employers are asked to appoint a mentor (usually a professional engineer) who monitors the student's work and performance. An academic supervisor is also assigned to each student and makes on-site visits to liaise with the employers. To date, students have been placed in companies throughout Ireland and also in the UK, Germany, Holland and the USA. In recent years, the companies in which our students were placed were among the following:

Bertelsmann (Germany)

Infineon (Germany)

Citigroup (UK)

RF Integration (USA)

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (USA)

Salomon Smith Barney (UK)

Analog Devices (Cork, Limerick)

Ericsson (Dublin)

Esat (Dublin)

PMC Sierra (Galway)

Silicon & Software Systems (Cork, Dublin)

Motorola / Freescale (Cork)

EMC (Cork)

M/A Com - Tyco Electronics(Cork & USA)

Pfizers (Cork)

Farran Technology (Cork)

ESB and ESBI (Cork and Dublin)

Project Management (Cork)

 There are several advantages to scheduling the placement period at the end of the third year, rather than at the end of the second year (as with some other electrical engineering degree programmes):

1. Students are better equipped to undertake real engineering tasks and are better prepared to assimilate professional engineering practice.

2. On return from placement, students may undertake related work as part of their final-year projects.

3. Employment opportunities are considerably enhanced by the fact that graduates are available for employment less than a year after they complete the  placement period.