Practical Training in Industry

This information is only valid for master students Electrical Engineering (ICT).
Other master programs may use the same rules, but please contact your coördinator or program director.

The possibility for students to perform an industrial traineeship is offered during their master program. Those traineeships, in the holiday period (July-September) between the two master years, are taken into account as an optional course "Industrial Training: Electrical Engineering (ICT)" (H03F6A) if some conditions are met. Industrial training can be executed in the whole world where no dangers might be feared.

Purpose

The purpose of those internships is not only to get acquainted with the culture of companies, but also to realise something of importance for the company visited. By working in a group within the company, it is expected that the trainee gets a better insight in the practical aspects of the industry. This is intended to facilitate the transition from the thorough theoretical education, dispensed at our University, into an industrial professional career.

Procedure

The internship should be planned during the holidays between the two years of the master program. If a substantial motivation is submitted and both the master coordinator and the ESAT internship coordinator judge that sufficient prerequisite knowledge is available, one might consider performing an internship before the first master year (it will anyway only be credited in the last year). The minimal duration is six weeks. The student has to take the initiative and looks by himself for both a contact person within the company and a proposal for work agreed with this contact person. Any further questions can be asked or information obtained with the ESAT internship coordinator Emmanuel Van Lil.

No list of possible companies is placed on the web. Interested students might obtain a list of possible companies offering positions in your field since 2004 from the ESAT internship coordinator. Do not forget to mention in your request (preferably by e-mail) your interests, so that a first selection can be made. Only on explicit request, one might obtain a complete list of all companies and contact persons.

The content of the internship must be approved by the master coordinator. This person is automatically (co-)promoter of the internship. Another staff member of ESAT can be proposed as co-promoter.

An application should be submitted before May, 31 and should contain the following elements:

1. name and address of the company
2. supervisor within the company (with its e-mail address)
3. description of the work during the internship (between 1/2 and 1 page)
4. start and end date of the internship (the duration should be at least 6 weeks)

This date cannot be postponed for companies which do not accept the model contract of ESAT, usually because of intellectual property rights. Examples (not limitative) are a.o. Alcatel, Verhaert, MEAC, Belgacom. Please submit the contract proposal as early as possible, but surely before the beginning of the July exam period, so that they can be processed in time. For the companies accepting the model contract, a later date than May, 31 is possible, but in no way after the beginning of the internship.

As soon as you have received the authorisations, you fill in the model contract of ESAT and you have it signed by the company in 3 copies. You sign all 3 forms also yourself and you pass by in the office of the ESAT internship coordinator for the last signatures. If he is not in his office, you may place the 3 copies in his pigeon mailbox. The two copies for you and for the company will then be delivered to you according to e-mail agreements.

Approval

Each application for an internship should be approved in advance by the master coordinator. He/she is verifying if the content of the internship is satisfying the requirements for sufficient industrial training. The student should provide in his application sufficient elements to allow this evaluation. It is also mandatory that the internship has no relation with an eventual thesis work. So, there must be a clear separation between internship work and thesis work. Internships may be combined with a European week, since there is enough difference between the subject and the implementation.

After this first approval, the proposal is submitted to the ESAT internship coordinator for final approval. He will then expect to get the contracts as soon as possible.

Evaluation

At the beginning of the next academic year, each student is supposed to hand in a report on the activities during the internship and to make an oral presentation about it. The report, about 25 pages in size, should contain the following elements:

• Title of the work, name of the company with the full address and the e-mail of the local responsible, who has supervised your work
• A short description of the company (about 1 page A4)
• A description of the important parts of the work during the internship (about 20 pages A4)
• Conclusions of the work. Are the goals set in the work plan met? Was it an interesting experience for the trainee? ... (ca. 2 pages A4)
• Description of the internship. Here, the student reports on how the daily routine was proceeding, if the work was interesting and relevant for the company. Also, the practical arrangements (eventual housing abroad, transportation facilities ...) should be commented in this part. (ca. 1 page A4)

Based on this report, the members of the internship jury will evaluate the internship, after discussion with the local responsible. Only, if problems occur during the duration of the internship, in such a way that it cannot be completed successfully, the student may replace the internship by another course at the beginning of the academic year. In that case, the student is not obliged to make an activity report.

To keep confidential information for the company, the students are supposed to first get the approval of the local responsible within the company for the first 3 elements of the report. Eventual confidential matters, useful for the evaluation of the internship, may be provided in a separate appendix. Insofar this is not mentioned in the contract with the company, we will sign a separate non-disclosure agreement with this company.

A printed version of the report is expected on the First working day after November, 2, both with the master coordinator and with the ESAT internship coordinator. The presentations of the work will take place preferably at the end of November. Each student will receive 20 minutes maximum (and this is strictly enforced) to present his work, followed by questions from the jury. The local responsible of the company will be invited to this presentation. We will try our best to take into account all his availabilities. If it turns out that he cannot be present, a written evaluation will be requested from him. Every student will submit a separate report. If you work with more than on student on a global project, the tasks in the project should be split between the different students, so that every student can emphasize the specific parts that he has achieved. One common presentation is acceptable, but then the work should be presented in a period equal to as many times 20 minutes as there are students involved in the project.

The grades are only officially disclosed at the end of the academic year. Concerning the transfers of grades, the same exam rules as for laboratory work apply.