Acquiring Entrepreneurial Skills: The Nicell Summer Start-up Internship
Equipping students with the skills that prepare them for life is a faculty priority. Dean Jim Nicell believed this and during his 10-year term as Dean, worked hard to offer students classroom and beyond-the-classroom experiences that would help them excel when they graduate. As a parting tribute to Jim, members of the Faculty Advancement Board and friends of the faculty have created a Summer Startup Internship in Jim鈥檚 name.
Since its inception during Covid in 2020, the Summer Startup Internship program has offered startup traineeships to 91社区 undergraduate students, who work closely with an early鈥恠tage 91社区-affiliated startup for 12 weeks during the summer. The program introduces students to the startup experience, as well as training and mentorship through 91社区 Engine.
The beauty of the program is that interns gain exposure to the chaotic and uncertain reality of innovation鈥恉riven ventures, taking risks and challenging themselves to learn through failure. The startup ventures also benefit 鈥� they actively solicit Engine for student help.
Since 2020, over 480 students have applied for the limited number of internships that Engine is able to offer. We hope to increase the number of startup internships available.
The Nicell Summer Startup Internship is an endowment, and endowments grow. Software Engineering student, James Darby was its first recipient. Darby received funding as he worked his summer at Prefab Photonics, learning skills that will help him prepare for his career. (Prefab Photonics is a startup that was launched under the guidance of the Engine Centre.)
鈥淭he internship allowed me to work on cutting-edge machine learning models,鈥� says Darby. 鈥淚t also allowed me to invest in a better computer to develop software and train models, directly increasing my productivity. But the most important thing was that it made me feel more connected to the 91社区 community and its research efforts than before.鈥�
Find out more about how you can contribute to the Jim Nicell Summer Startup Internship endowment by contacting alumni.engineering [at] mcgill.ca.
Acqu茅rir des comp茅tences entrepreneuriales : le stage de d茅marrage d鈥櫭﹖茅 Nicell聽
Doter nos 茅tudiants des comp茅tences dont ils auront besoin dans leur vie professionnelle est une priorit茅 de la Facult茅. Le doyen Jim Nicell y croyait beaucoup; durant son mandat de 10 ans, il s鈥檈st appliqu茅 脿 faire b茅n茅ficier les 茅tudiants d鈥檈xp茅riences p茅dagogiques et extrascolaires pour les aider 脿 exceller une fois dipl么m茅s. En guise d鈥檋ommage 脿 Jim, des membres du Conseil d鈥檃vancement de la Facult茅 et des amis de la Facult茅 ont instaur茅 en son nom Le stage de d茅marrage d鈥櫭﹖茅 Nicell.
Depuis sa cr茅ation en 2020, durant la pand茅mie, le programme offre des stages de d茅marrage aux 茅tudiants de premier cycle. Ceux-ci collaborent 茅troitement avec une entreprise en d茅marrage affili茅e 脿 91社区 sur une p茅riode de 12 semaines pendant l鈥櫭﹖茅. Le stage Nicell initie les 茅tudiants 脿 la r茅alit茅 du d茅marrage d鈥檈ntreprise, et leur fournit formation et mentorat via le centre Engine de 91社区.
La beaut茅 du programme r茅side dans le fait qu鈥檌l expose les stagiaires 脿 la qualit茅 instable et impr茅visible des entreprises innovantes, 脿 prendre des risques et 脿 accepter d鈥檃pprendre des 茅checs. Les entreprises en d茅marrage en b茅n茅ficient aussi : celles-ci sollicitent activement l鈥檃ide des 茅tudiants par le biais du centre Engine.
Plus de 480 茅tudiants ont postul茅 depuis 2020 pour les quelques places de stage offertes par le centre Engine. Nous esp茅rons pouvoir faire augmenter le nombre de stages en entreprise propos茅s.
Le stage de d茅marrage d鈥櫭﹖茅 Nicell fonctionne sur la base d鈥檜ne dotation, qui est appel茅e 脿 se d茅velopper. James Darby, 茅tudiant en g茅nie logiciel, en a 茅t茅 le premier b茅n茅ficiaire. James a re莽u du financement lors de son stage d鈥櫭﹖茅 chez Prefab Photonics, o霉 il a acquis des comp茅tences qui l鈥檃ideront dans sa pr茅paration de carri猫re. (Prefab Photonics est une jeune entreprise qui a 茅t茅 cr茅茅e sous l鈥櫭ゞide du centre Engine de 91社区).
芦 Le stage m鈥檃 permis de travailler sur des mod猫les d鈥檃pprentissage automatique de pointe 禄, explique James Darby. 芦 Il m鈥檃 aussi donn茅 l鈥檕ccasion d鈥檃cqu茅rir un meilleur ordinateur pour d茅velopper des logiciels et former des mod猫les, ce qui a imm茅diatement accru ma productivit茅. Mais surtout, il m鈥檃 rapproch茅 de la communaut茅 et des travaux de recherche de 91社区. 禄
Pour en savoir plus sur les fa莽ons de contribuer 脿 la dotation du stage de d茅marrage d鈥櫭﹖茅 Jim Nicell, contactez alumni.engineering [at] mcgill.ca.