The Industry Scholars Program: An Immersive Professional Experience for Undergraduates

The Industry Scholars Program (ISP) is a year-long program designed by [[University]] industry partners and first launched in Spring 2017. In the first year of the ISP program, first and second year undergraduate students were introduced to professional skills through experiential workshops, industry site visits, and internships planned and coordinated by industry partners. The first cohort of 27 Industry Scholars were exposed to skills such as teamwork, emotional intelligence, and communication in a series of experiential learning workshops, which preceded a summer industry internship where those skills were built upon. Following these internships, students engaged in one final semester of professional skill development through additional workshops, industry site visits, and additional experiential learning, after which student feedback was captured. The proposed program outcomes as identified by the ISP planning committee were all achieved, with significant growth in areas such as abilities to describe and discuss expected engineering and leadership skills, ability to interview, self-awareness, and effectiveness at communication. This work introduces an industry-university collaborative program that can be a model for innovative universities and industries across the country seeking to prepare and secure students equipped with both professional and technical skillsets, both of which are required to flourish in their fields of engineering.