Reporter Volume 26, No.21 March 23, 1995

By ELLEN GOLDBAUM
News Bureau Staff
Students in college internship programs generally get on-the-job
experience through a summer or part-time job.
	At the Engineering Career Institute in UB's School of
Engineering and Applied Sciences, students get that and much more:
They acquire skills not covered in college classrooms that will give
them a jump on the competition when it's time to apply for full-time
jobs.
	Placed as interns with companies in Western New York, the 47
students who enrolled in ECI last summer following their junior year,
received regular paychecks and three academic credits, in addition to
valuable work experience in their chosen fields. They attended
intensive, mandatory classes taught on campus by managers from local
companies who explained planning, time management, leadership,
teamwork, total quality management, workplace diversity, financial
issues and communications.
	Several of the students have already landed full-time
positions as a result of their internships.
	But the UB students weren't the only ones to benefit from
participation in the institute. 	According to the 21 Western
New York companies that participated, the interns boosted efficiency,
provided computer and process support and, in some cases, helped cut
hundreds of thousands of dollars in manufacturing costs. 
	In fact, interns played a central role in the following local
business success stories:
o	A design and manufacturing team at Prestolite Electric Inc. in
Arcade redesigned an electronic component of an alternator, saving the
company $143,000.
o	A new test protocol designed for a laboratory instrument that
was about to be released by Leica Inc.'s Optical Products Division in
Buffalo was so successful that the company has instituted it as a
standard procedure for all new instruments.
o	Steuben Food in Elma decided to purchase new equipment that
makes operations much more efficient and will pay for itself in only
six months.
	About 130 students have already signed up for this summer's
program and UB is actively recruiting new companies to participate in
the Engineering Career Institute.
	"The UB program is not only effective for its students, but
it's an academic alliance that is also beneficial to industry," said
Susanta Datta, director of engineering at Prestolite Electric. "I
highly recommend the program, and I thank UB for having the foresight
to develop it."
	At Leica, Bruce J. Yorio, manager of human resources, said,
"Our experience with UB student Robert Atkinson was an ideal example
of the win-win experience afforded by UB's 1994 career institute. The
project that resulted in the new test protocol was challenging in
scope and magnitude and it was critical for Leica's release of a new
product," Yorio said.
	Initiated by George C. Lee, dean of the School of Engineering
and Applied Sciences, the Engineering Career Institute is designed to
supplement the technical education UB engineering students receive.
	"UB's strength in providing talent to local companies is
critical to our manufacturing and industrial base in Western New
York," said Dean Millar, assistant dean of engineering and director of
the institute. He was formerly Praxair's manager of human resources.
"This is important at a time when corporations are restructuring in
order to remain competitive and universities are being challenged to
provide a more relevant education to students," he said.
	Some of last year's interns already have full-time job offers
from the companies they worked for, an unexpected bonus in a job
market that is uncertain, at best.
	"I can't believe it really happened," said Patricia Beamish, a
senior who will soon begin working full time as a mechanical engineer
for Motorola in Elma, where she had her internship. Companies
interested in participating in the Engineering Career Institute this
summer should contact Dean Millar at 645-2768.