Trinity joins forces with Intel to launch new Employability Award for students
Posted on: 01 November 2016
Trinity College Dublin in partnership with Intel launched a new Trinity Employability Award that aims to increase students’ ‘career readiness’ for future employment.
Announcing the initiative at a special event at Trinity College Dublin, Vice-Provost and Chief Academic Officer, Professor Chris Morash said:“The first of its kind in Ireland, the Trinity Employability Award will develop skills and competencies that students need to enhance their employability. It will engage employers and industry in preparing students for the ever changing challenges of the 21st century workforce. We are especially delighted to be doing this in conjunction with Intel Ireland, the first industry partner to support this initiative as part of a two-year feasibility study.”
The students will participate in a specialist curriculum that will further develop skills and graduate attributes to succeed in their academic studies and future career. The award will give them skills to help secure jobs in the engineering and technology sector.
They will attend workshops using problem-solving methodologies and apply learning to work-related situations. They will further enhance personal and professional development through experiential learning and critical-thinking. Intel will lead on the workshops on relevant areas such as model-based problem solving and statistics.
Fifty, 3rd year students in the Schools of Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Computer Science and Statistics have been selected to participate in the first phase of the initiative. We will build on the experience of these participants with a view to eventually making the Employability Award available to all 3rd year students across College.
All participants who successfully complete the full Employability Award programme will receive a certificate of recognition, and two finalists will receive an Intel prize.
The Intel Postgraduate Student Sponsorship Programme was also announced. It will see 16 Trinity College Dublin students selected each year receive a monetary grant as well as ongoing support and mentoring provided by Intel. The eligible students are those in full-time postgraduate programmes in 2016 in Science and Engineering related disciplines.
The programme provides each participant with €3,000 to support their academic studies and also ensures that students have the opportunity to experience practical learning which is aligned to the needs of industry. The provision of employee mentors by Intel provides students with a direct relationship to the world of work.
Intel Ireland General Manager Eamonn Sinnott said: “It is bright, creative and curious minds that will be responsible for the innovations of tomorrow and the technologies and discoveries that we have yet to imagine. We are delighted to partner with Trinity College on programmes that will enable students to take their place as Ireland’s next innovators, entrepreneurs and technologists. The postgraduate scholarships and the Trinity Employability Award, on which we are partnering, are fantastic first steps on this journey.”