TEP Canada Transatlantic Exchange Project

Transcription

1 TEP Canada Transatlantic Exchange Project FEEDBACK REPORT FROM A CZECH STUDENT IN CANADA Prepared by: Bc. Lukáš Žofka master s degree student at the Technical University of Liberec (TUL), Czech Republic - Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Manufacturing systems Obrázek 1: Me at the Peyto lake during the trip to Canadian Rocky mountains Length of the stay: Timetable of my project: : International exchange student at the University of Waterloo (UW), ON Canada - Mechanical Engineering, undergraguate and master program courses : Co-op position in Canadian industry under UW, Waterloo, ON Canada - Dimplex North America Ltd., Cambridge, ON Canada - regular co-op student position in Reserach and Developlment (R&D) department : Extended co-op position in Canadian industry with cooperation of TEP under

2 Conestoga College, Kitchener, ON Canada - Dimplex North America Ltd., Cambridge, ON Canada - R&D lab technician for renewable products and new product development 1. Preparation for TEP project The application process starts with the communication with the international departments of both participating institutions in order to be chosen and successful during the whole stay. Each student should have a detailed understanding to which program to sign in. The oversea-programs are different from the European exchange programs. Most of the students from Europe do not fully understand the study requirements in Canada which differs a lot compared to the European universities. For me it meant that I was not fully aware of the high level of education in Canada specifically at UW and how to plan properly the work load in my schedule. Diligence is a need for the studies in North-America. Since the exchange has worked bilaterally between Canada and the Czech Republic, I would recommend inviting experienced students to help and talk to the new applicants already before the application process. The whole preparation starts with a proper paper work in both participating institutions in order to be eligible to leave for the exchange program studies and to obtain the required student and work permit. This period begins more than half year prior to the departure. Time table prior to the arrival The choice of courses in Canada is relatively easy since everything is taught in English. All courses cover the curriculum of my studies at TUL and I was able to choose courses from different year streams. Understandably the content of the courses can never be exactly the same like at the home university. I had roughly chosen the courses with help of Prof. Wiliam Melek and Prof. Jan Huissoon, the TEP coordinators of UW. The communication prior to my arrival was good and the deal was to fine-tune the final schedule after my arrival to Waterloo. I have had still enough time before the school started to do so and you have also another 14days to change the taken courses without any problem as a student. Accommodation While you are on an exchange in another country it is a basic need to have accommodation somewhere close to the university prior to your arrival. I had two possibilities: either staying at a dormitory with an agreement exactly for the length of my stay or staying off the campus by my own. Because I wanted to live with my other TEP colleague and friend together in one apartment we have chosen to find an accommodation by our own close to the university. It is kind of difficult to find an apartment when you are not in the country yet but everything is possible with sufficient and diligent effort. When I found a nice apartment close to the university the only problem was that the tenant agreement had to be signed for 12 months, so in that case the student has to sublet his room for a period of time that he or she does not live in. This condition we had to accept and hoped that we have enough time to find somebody for the time we cannot live there eventually. The accommodation was the same for me while I was working as well as during the academic term, because my co-op position was within commuting distance. The accommodation provided a very good level of living close by the university, and bus stops nearby made the commuting much easier. Furthermore I have used carpooling to commute to my workplace. It was very helpful for me to get to know some Canadians already in the Czech Republic from the last academic year, because they and their families supplied me with necessary cooking equipment and other accessories for living in the unfurnished apartment. Therefore I saved some

3 money and I had all the necessary things for living. Knowing helpful people in the place of going is definitely invaluable. 2. Academic program at the University of Waterloo, ON Canada First of all I have to admit that I was not prepared for such work load and I did not know exactly what to expect from the Canadian university until I have started the term. The expectations in Canada are completely different from those in the Czech Republic. It took me at least half of the study term to get used to this kind of studying and day by day preparation in combination with working on big multiple projects. This was a cause of my bad results during the midterm exam period, when I did not get enough time to prepare properly, because I was too busy to fulfill the deadlines for deliverables of the projects, which were followed immediately by exams. It was a kind of study shock. Fortunately I did not feel any culture shock or language barrier in the beginning. After the midterm exams I had to work even harder at the end of the term to pass the final exams but unfortunately I was not able to accomplish one from five of my courses, because I did not have sufficiently good results in midterms and enough accomplished hand-in work. I have had basically 3 courses very closely related to mechanical engineering design, which is my specialization. One compulsory course, which I found very interesting and wanted intentionally to study here and another course which was a bit out of my field of master s studies and it was autonomous robotics. (I actually did not know before the course started but I wanted to study it here for my improvement and unique engineering knowledge.) I tried to be really careful with the choice of courses during the internship and be sure that the courses are following in sequence of my studies at TUL. In the same time I tried to gain valuable experience in topics which I am interested in, and I found it important to have sufficient previous knowledge in order to get a maximum from the whole international experience. Here is my personal ranking of the courses I have taken from best to worst in terms of: Ability to understand subject ME design project (4th year) Delivery of Lectures/Labs Introduction of control systems (3rd year) ME design 2 (3rd year) ME design 2 (3rd year) Introduction to control systems (3rd year) Heat transfer (4th year) ME design project (4th year) Autonomous robotics (master s) Heat transfer (4th year) Autonomous robotics (master s) Teacher Support ME design 2 (3rd year) ME design project (4th year) Introduction to control systems (3rd year) Autonomous robotics (master s) Heat transfer (4th year) Comments on the Project Based Learning Environment and the Project(s) at UW Mechanical Design 2 (Main topic: Race car two speed transmission design) was a great perfectly taught course with well planned workload during the term combined with a big project. It summarized a lot of mechanical design parts to one complex which makes sense for students in all engineering courses which are shown in a real life design project. We studied everything step by step and the professor made always sure everybody understands and is able to follow the

4 other step of the work on the project deliverables and in the same time pass the tests. Professors offered extra lessons for additional practice for students who do not fully understand and may have question for CAD design software or mechanical design tasks eventually. Similar teaching style was used for other 2 courses (Introduction to Control systems and Autonomous Robotics) taught by another great professor. The Heat transfer course was a hard course which did not require much work during the term but made it difficult for me to follow up and find a time to prepare for everything at the end of the term. Extensive lab work and lab report needed to be done during the end of the term as well, which concluded all knowledge, but all of these had to be handed in within very short time, which was almost impossible for international student without support of other students to fully accomplish. This was a reason why I was not able to pass this course properly. Mechanical Engineering design project (Topic: Design of an ankle and heel for active prosthetic knee) as course was for me a Full project based learning-course, the last and biggest project course for domestic students for their undergraduate studies. I felt comfortable with that and the supervision was managed mostly on mutual agreement, which was perfect and helped me a lot in my time scheduling and directed me to a very successful end. The project was closely related to my field of studies and I found it very helpful. This course supposes to simulate a real life mechanical design project structure as it works in all companies under supervision of your boss with follow up of all engineering decision criteria. The only thing that I have missed was a detailed evaluation of this project at the end and I have some difficulties with the technical language and academic report structure. I think the professors should make some difference between domestic students and exchange students who do not have so much experience. I would appreciate to know my level of knowledge in comparison to native students, but I did not have any continuation with feedback from very specialized study, which took me extensive time during my study term. After this experience I would rather take one course less than the regular students in order to gain better final results and do not be stressed so much from all work load shock. On the other hand now I know what the course load means and how it is leveled for different courses, which I did not know during determining of my academic term schedule. So, accordingly, next time I could be smarter with time planning, but in this case to start without the knowledge was a bit challenging for me. I would definitely recommend familiarizing new incoming students with course load and its meaning from the curriculum in order to get the best results. 3. Coop work placement Application for coop position at UW At the UW the student is responsible for getting a co-op position through the electronic system called Jobmine. Basically it is the same process as applying for a normal job position after graduation, comprising limited amount of online application with resume and cover letter. Once the potential employer chooses couple of applicants they are invited for an interview held up usually personally at the co-op department at the university or in a phone room at the same place since some offers are from the whole North-America. After the interview process both the potential employer and the student has to rank from 1 to 10 how much they are interested in the employee and the particular position and finally an automatic algorithm matches the students with the employers with announcement to both of them as a successful or unsuccessful applicant. For me as a TEP exchange student there was no access to the Jobmine system and I had to meet up couple of people making sure about my ability to apply and having prime resume as deciding factor to succeed at the interview. This process came late for me and when I was able to apply

5 finally for some position I missed already the first round of application, where the vast majority of the students and the best jobs got matched. However I was still able to send 35 applications for coop position that I was interested in during the time left. Finally I attended three interviews from all applications. My third interview was the most successful one and the employer chose me as the most suitable for the job, although it was strange for him to recognize me in the system as UW regular student or international student. So I have got coop position as coop Research and Development assistant in R&D department in company Dimplex North America Ltd., Cambridge, ON Canada. Requirements of the coop position on students Firstly I was a bit afraid that I have missed my field from mechanical design specialization but finally it showed up that I completely fulfill the position in Research and Development department and I am very valuable and personally satisfied in there. The employer was very confused during choosing me for an interview and could not recognize the level of engineering from an exchange student, which is probably reason why, it is difficult for the TEP students to get a job in competition with domestic students. The coop position is also a possibility for the companies to get to know the person for an eventual further employment. It is like training for the particular company and a kind of four- month-interview. My work consisted of independent work on multiple projects going on currently at the company. The main topics were deep involvement in Domestic Solar hot water heating (testing, evaluating and designing of Double wall heat exchanger pumping station suitable for North American plumbing code), Resistance sheathed heating element failures and green energy product efficiency testing. Obviously it is very contributing on my knowledge in Heat Transfer as well as thermodynamics studies and proves that a TEP student can be also highly valuable in fields that they use. The employer was looking especially for an employee who can use calculus, computer design and evaluations as well as own hands to build up prototype heaters from things which are found in the company or are low cost parts, with small supervision. Furthermore I was required couple of times to connect completely newly designed indirect Solar system together with my prototypes and solar collector. However the best way to learn for a young engineer is to understand the design concept and hold the parts in your hands, so I was very satisfied with the way I was requested to work with achievement of good results. Obviously it is similar with most of the coop positions in Canadian industry since the employers have many years of experience with co-op students. Furthermore the intention of the employer in hiring a co-op student is a possibility to find good worker well suited for the full-time job. Co-op employment is something like a 4-monthinterview in order to get to know if the student is eligible for the present position. For co-op student co-op position means either the time of trying the eventual dream job and obtain eventual fulltime offer after graduation or find out that maybe this kind of job is not suiting to him or her. This outstanding evaluation is exactly what happened to me and I got offer from Dimplex North America to remain for another co-op term.

6 Obrázek 2: Me at the lobby in Dimplex North America Ltd. 4. Extending of the TEP project, allocation between two Canadian institutions, visa extension The standard length of TEP is 8 months, however in the rules of TEP is that the project can last up to 12 months and it can be split up in two institutions participating in TEP in given country of study. In my case It was a Canadian university and my studies back in the Czech Republic at TUL are starting at the end of September, 2011, so I had the chance to use a full period of TEP and use the great opportunity to learn more in Canada with a second coop term position. However, for me as a Czech student the extension of study or working period is also connected with visa requirement for the legal stay in Canada. This seems to be the biggest issue. UW was not able to extend my student status because I already have fulfilled all TEP requirements which were written in the contract until the end of April. I decided to use the opportunity of splitting the TEP between two institutions and become student at Conestoga College, Kitchener, ON Canada which is also participating in TEP. Thanks to great and hard working people, who understand perfectly all the points of TEP and the point of being a successful exchange student I got accepted to an CEAB accredited program Mechanical Systems Engineering at Conestoga College and accordingly I could apply for an extension of my student and working visa at the office in Vergeville, Alberta, Canada. The extension process takes extremely long time, but the person applying can remain in Canada under implied status with special rules until the decision has been made and do whatever the permission had allowed before. This means that the TEP student can work as well as study with cooperation of TEP institution. Therefore I was able to start immediately my second coop position in Dimplex North America Ltd under supervision of Conestoga College. Hard and great work led me though to very successful outstanding 8 months student employment in R&D department, which highly developed my engineering skills from real life field of study. The circumstances did not lead me only to study and to apply what I have learned at the university, but also understand and take deep consideration of economical and marketing side of engineering work in order to be successful at the market and sell my ideas to other people. I learned that designer cannot be only an engineer but has to be also good factual salesman for his product, which many designers do not want to accept or do not think about. Conclusively the coop position in the industry during the studies prepares the student well for the real life problem

7 project solving, which is the workday content nowadays. This concept at TUL is missing from the curriculum, when there is a real need to teach better the understanding of economical part of engineering. 5. Conclusion of my success in TEP Canada At the end I would like to say first of all that the whole TEP project is a great opportunity for young engineers and I am sure this exchange experience will mean for me and the other participant big asset in the future career. For European students such a valuable experience means a lot of work on things you firstly do not understand, but it also means that you will realize many things together with gaining ability to accomplish comprehensive work and life challenges. I am definitely a person who acknowledges new challenges in the life and TEP over all is one of them, which brought me unforgettable experience from different places in North America with different people after one year together also with great American traveling adventures. Living one year at an internship in another country is not only about studying and working, but also about culture, hobbies and doing things which you like and want to do. You have to accept some minor changes in your life style, find new friends but the time will bring you much more positives and the sacrifice is definitely worthy. An internship works actually like a mirror, you see yourself with the eyes of other people and you will realize perfectly who you are and what you can really do. For every European student it might be an issue also the comprehension and use of a second language, English, but in this case I can assure everybody that Canadian English is very understandable and all Canadian people are very helpful in all cases. Canadians have very good understanding for someone being a foreign student since most of their parents or grandparents had similar experience during their immigration to Canada and they know how difficult the life can get, because of a foreign language. For me it was the speed of talking the biggest issue to comprehend at the start of my stay but I got used to it very quickly since you hear it every day from the morning to the night. The best way to learn the language is to socialize with the native speakers and Canada is definitely a great choice for improving your language skills. I was brave enough to organize my tight time and I have got the opportunity to travel around North- America. It takes time, money and lot of managing in order to travel on low student budget, but it brought me unforgettable traveling moments and I was able to travel to the places which I could never visit in my life from Europe. For a student coming to Canada only for so short time it is difficult to get to know all of the processes how to manage something at the university and get familiarized with all events going on. At the University of Waterloo I was struggling sometimes with finding a way how to manage something by myself, because it is a big complex and no one is exactly saying what should be done, because you are only an ant in the anthill, but I do not mean it as a bad sign because the university itself is great and all complications are caused by unawareness of all processes. On the other hand I truly appreciate that I got the opportunity to participate in this unique project giving me the school of life and I hope to help to spread my experience back home in the Czech Republic in order to help to develop a quality, reasonable project based learning curriculum or way of teaching for students to be better prepared for a real working life in the industry as well as let to understand other students that it can work differently somewhere else and show them the right path for successful start in Engineering.