The Start Up Experience for Engineers
- 1. The Start-Up Experience for Engineers Alon Eisenstein Assistant Professor of Teaching December 10, 2021 1
- 2. 2 A course-based Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) experience For graduate engineering students (MEng, MASc, PhD in Civil, Electrical, Mechanical and Manufacturing) Learn about entrepreneurship and the start-up work environment Complete 180 working hours with a technology start-up Expected outcome: Students can answer “is entrepreneurship/start-up for me?” What is this course about?
- 3. 3 Technology-based (hardware/software is integral to the business) For engineering students to find relevance Preferably based in Kelowna (but not limited to) In-person experience is irreplicable Early stage (product/service in development but not scaled) To maintain relevance to the course Small in size (ideal team size of 2-20 people) To afford meaningful mentoring with potential for impact A start-up that is a good fit for the course is..
- 4. 4 180 working hours in engineering-related work (unpaid*) 15 hours/week (avg) between May 16 and August 11 Support your company’s growing needs Product design, Bus. Dev., Project Management, etc. Scout for early talent International students, MEng have 4 – 12 months internships Connect with UBC Okanagan’s School of Engineering Talent pipeline (Co-op, internships, alumni) Industry/academia collaborative funded research What’s in it for me?
- 5. 5 Assign work in engineering-related tasks/projects Expose students to the inner working of a start-up company Train, guide and mentor students throughout their work Submit work performance evaluations (mid-term and final) Provide a meaningful working/learning experience Students earn academic credit You invest in effort What is expected of me?
- 6. 6 Apply to offer a placement opportunity: https://ewil.ok.ubc.ca Provide the following details: - Company’s name - Website - Location - # of founders and employees - A short description of the start-up - Your company’s logo - The work experience offered: • Position title • Position scope • 1-3 skills needed I’m interested, now what?
- 7. 7 Submit placement offers by January 15th Interview student applicants until February 11th Submit candidate preferences by February 18th (students will submit their placement preferences) Placement matches announced on February 25th First day of work – starting May 16th (sign NDA, set up work schedule, determine outcomes) What’s next?
- 8. 8 I’m here to support you! Information and application: https://ewil.ok.ubc.ca Email me at: alon.eisenstein@ubc.ca Got Questions?