Industry supports top scholars

Its current offerings span across 24 areas in business, engineering, science and the built environment.

 

For 2012, six new sponsors have signed up including Johnson & Johnson Medical Pty Ltd, Silanna, City of Sydney, Facilities Management UNSW, Veolia Environmental Services (Australia) Pty Ltd and Reckitt Benckiser. 

 

Collectively, sponsors offer more than $6 million a year in funding to UNSW Co-op students.

 

Co-op Program Manager Kay Carey says  the program is the oldest, largest and most prestigious scholarship of its kind in Australia.      

 

“At the simplest level, Co-op delivers a stream of highly talented, motivated young scholars, who bring fresh perspectives, ideas and challenges into a sponsor’s company,” she said. 

 

“At a deeper level, the scholarship program is part of the graduate recruitment and professional development strategies of our sponsor companies, who want early access to the best and brightest of our students and an opportunity to raise their profile with high-achieving graduates across the University.” 

 

Carey believes the program develops the ‘complete’ graduate.

 

“A cohort of high achievers has the opportunity to combine academic excellence, real world experience, leadership and professional development training, mentoring and networking and they get financial support for every year of their degree.” 

 

UNSW Co-op scholar Jade Fennell, who is in her final year studying photovoltaics and renewable energy, believes that the Co-op experience has been invaluable in shaping her career direction.

 

 “The sponsors on each of my industrial placements gave me a huge range of opportunities to experience the many facets of working in the photovoltaics industry; everything from R&D, designing and distributing solar systems, building measurement tools and even working on the world's largest solar cell production line,” said Fennell, who has completed work placements in Norway and China.

 

 “Co-op also provided industry networking events; mentors and leadership development workshops, all of which helped strengthen my professional skills and made me feel more capable entering the workplace,” said Fennell.

 

For Penny Benjamin, the networking opportunities that accompanied her industry training placements helped her secure an ideal job. 

 

“In the end, the exposure to the industry and the network of contacts I built helped me gain a position on Shell’s Graduate Program, opening up a world of opportunities in a multi-national energy company.”