ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — This fall semester, up to 10 communities in the province will welcome Memorial University engineering co-op students to work on infrastructure projects for four months.
It’s the result of a partnership between Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador (MNL), Memorial’s faculty of engineering and applied science, and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA).
The partnership will continue during the winter 2021 semester, and will involve students in their third and fourth year of studies.
“This is an exciting partnership for MNL. We see the value in providing work experience to students studying in our province and showing them that the municipal sector is a desirable place for future employment. This is, of course, also a great opportunity for our members to expand their capacity and to work with our future labour force,” MNL president Sheila Fitzgerald stated Tuesday in a news release.
The @municipalNL work-term placement initiative is helping @memorialuniversity engineering students gain valuable real-life work experience, preparing them for the workforce and helping them build an exciting & successful career. https://t.co/88r2u0HAGY pic.twitter.com/POcwvDLkgI
— ACOA Canada (@ACOACanada) October 6, 2020
MNL wil also hire a student in both semesters to help communities with asset-management planning.
“This partnership has enabled our municipalities to benefit from the skillful and resourceful engineering co-op education students, while at the same time providing valuable work experience to our students”, said Anil Raheja, director of engineering co-op education at Memorial.
Greg Naterer, dean of the faculty of engineering and applied science at Memorial, said students will bring new ideas to benefit communities’ asset-management plans, capital works projects and long-term planning of infrastructure.
ACOA is contributing $291,540 to the project, Memorial University is contributing $44,173, and MNL and participating municipalities is putting in $53,007.
MNL is administering the project as part of its membership services program, MNL Advantage.
