Matching learning with experience
PEPS is a work-based learning program that enables final-year engineering students at The University of Queensland to spend up to six months in industry while still gaining full academic credit.
How it works
Students selected for PEPS are placed in industry, government agencies, or in research organisations from December to June. They undertake vacation work and then, during semester complete a project proposed by the placement organisation. It can be either a major investigation or research project or a significant design task that integrates technical, commercial and other factors including risk and project management.
Students remain with their selected companies full time during the PEPS program and receive a tax-free scholarship. Students gain academic credit for the placement semester by completing two university courses, ENGG4010 and ENGG4011. ENGG4010 covers aspects of professional development whereby students keep a professional development log and learn to hone the reflective skills needed to complete successful job applications, and professional body registrations. ENGG4011 covers the Project Thesis. Students will be assigned an academic supervisor from the School of Engineering who will guide them through writing an undergraduate thesis. The project accounts for the bulk of the credit (6 units) while the professional development course counts for a further 2 units.
Students apply for a place on the PEPS program. They are selected on the basis of their academic record and an interview. The scheme is not for every student. It suits those who are looking to be challenged and those who prefer to learn in context. While having a good GPA is an indicator of success in their scheme, so too are other personal attributes and the student’s level of maturity. The student must be highly motivated, an independent learner, have good communications skills and most of all have a sense of adventure.
Benefits to Students
All the students who have completed PEPS programs agree that they have benefited from more than just puting into practice their engineering skills.
They have had to work hard but it has given them an intense learning experience that would have taken them much longer to gain as a graduate engineer in their first position. They have had first hand experience of working at a professional level which has given them insights as to the direction they want their own careers to progress. For some it has been an affirmation that engineering is the career path for them. All of them have valuble experience to put onto their CVs.
For more information
Click on the
Frequently Asked Questions or contact Associate Professor Tony Howes, School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Queensland
tonyh@uq.edu.au