MS3910: Professional Attachment

Academic Units5 (10 weeks)
SemesterBoth
Pre-requisite(s)Y3 Standing
Co-requisite(s)Nil

Course AIMS

Internship is an integral part of the College of Engineering’s undergraduate curriculum and provides students with the opportunity to gain relevant industry exposure and experience before they formally enter the workforce. Students will be able to apply the knowledge and skills learnt in the university in an authentic work environment and develop professional competencies that will enhance their readiness and employability to support their career aspirations.

Intended Learning Outcomes

In the course of the internship, students should be able to progressively develop the following graduate attributes based on NTU’s 3Cs: 

A. Competence

  1. Apply knowledge and skills relevantly and appropriately throughout the project and/or work requirements.  
  2. Understand and recognise internship company’s nature and context of business, and to articulate outcome expectation (for workplace internship) and/or understand business problem and intent leading to determining work objectives, scope and expected outcome (for project internship).
  3. Identify and develop feasible solutions to address problems effectively (involves using critical thinking and creative thinking, demonstrating curiosity, planning resources and applying knowhow). 
  4. Use acquired knowledge, skills and appropriate tools to resolve project and/or work-related issues and deriving a favourable outcome.
  5. Deduce additional skills required and personal skills competencies gap. 
  6. Evaluate and develop personal learning and development pathways that would help to bridge the skills competency gaps.
  7. Execute project management skills in the realm of personal specialisation.
  8. Exhibit effective writing and oral communication skills in a professional setting when interacting with other stakeholders during project and/or work. 

B. Character 

  1. Assimilate into the project and/or work team environment and to be able to function as an effective contributor. 
  2. Effectively manage project and/or work ambiguity and situational changes. 
  3. Demonstrate responsibility, integrity and professionalism in the fulfilment of all project requirements and/or work demands.
  4. Demonstrate personal resilience and grit to learn, overcome and improve. 

C. Cognitive Agility

  1. Organise personal time and develop task management strategies.
  2. Evaluate resources required to deliver the task and develop insights to make informed judgements and recommendations.
  3. Reflect on the dynamics of working with the company supervisor(s) and other team members to identify strengths as well as areas for improvement.
  4. Appraise significance and impact of the project and/or work undertaken and provided by the internship company. 

Describe the career pathways in the broader industry after gaining exposure on the project and/or work and reflect on personal career goals to advance along a potential career path. 

Course Content

This internship programme is a work-integrated education course with its educational content embedded within the industry work environment and the workplace goals and tasks that students will undertake during the internship stint. For this reason, the internship will be evaluated by the Faculty Supervisor using the following criteria: 

  1. It enables opportunities for students to apply knowledge and skills that are acquired from their current area of studies whether directly or indirectly.
  2. It is a realistic industry related work task that contributes / addresses real-world business/industry needs/issues.
  3. It can be accommodated within NTU’s stipulated internship periods.
  4. It provides sufficient structure and rigour that will enable students to achieve the intended learning outcomes within the specified period.
  5. It provides the appropriate workload during the stipulated internship period.
  6. Able to enhance the learning experiences of the students and through this internship enhances their understanding and knowledge.
  7. The work environment is safe and conducive for student learning and development.
  8. The internship company is willing to provide the necessary tools and resources that students will need to complete the internship work tasks/ project tasks.
  9. The internship company has appropriate standing policies to safeguard the welfare of students.
  10. The internship company supervisor has the right level of competencies, experience and commitment to provide guidance to the student.
  11. The internship company is willing to adopt operational and assessment requirements and meet all responsibilities required for the students. 

Reading and References

As content is project-dependent, students are expected to seek references that are relevant to the projects.