Undergraduate Industrial Training Experience: A Win-win Situation for Students, Industry and Faculty

Undergraduate student industrial training programs in the engineering industry are mutually beneficial relationships that helps nurture student growth, enhance university-industry relationships, and challenge the faculty to include up-to-date information in the teaching curriculums. The engineering discipline in particular requires graduates to be well-prepared with real world experience so they can anticipate the working challenges. The industrial training program is a mandatory graduation requirement for undergraduates of the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, UKM. Students have to undergo a ten to twelve-week period of industrial training following their sixth semester of university study. Before the training period, students have to prepare a short resume and then determine their companies of choice. During the internship, students kept a daily log documenting the activities and will be monitored by a visiting faculty academic. Upon returning to the faculty, they have to complete a technical report and deliver a seminar presentation summarising their experience. This paper highlights the program description, defines the industrial training objectives and describes the implementation process and challenges.