Interns from Queen’s University continue to flourish at Devon Canada Corporation.

Omatseye Wilkie is the second Queen’s student in three years to win the energy company’s end-of-term peer-rated engineering presentation award.

Matt Fallen (Sci’03), Technology Development, Devon Canada Corporation, has been impressed by Mr. Wilkie and other interns from Queen’s.

“I find the Queen’s students have a natural ability to work in cross-discipline teams and understand the theme of a common goal, which for me is a critical skillset required to succeed in today’s engineering environment,” he says.

For his part, Mr. Wilkie walked away from the internship experience with a lot more than the best presentation award.

“I have been extremely blessed by this experience. Having 12 to 16 months of practical experience puts you in the upper echelon of new graduate position consideration,” he notes.

Mr. Wilkie accessed the opportunity through the Queen’s Undergraduate Internship Program (QUIP). During the 16-month internship at the independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company in Calgary, he worked on significant projects that taught him how to structure his time, give updates to stakeholders, present his ideas, and demonstrate how he could thrive long term in the company.

QUIP facilitates experiential learning opportunities for second- and third-year students. The internships are paid, professionally supervised, career-related positions that allow students to learn about current advances, practices and technologies in business and industry.

“QUIP internships appeal to students because they get to test drive a career before they graduate,” says Katie Fizzell, Co-ordinator, QUIP. “They also enjoy applying the skills they have learned in the classroom. And, in many cases, students return to their final year of studies with renewed energy and a fresh perspective that helps them get a deeper understanding of course materials.”

Career Services will host a QUIP information sessions on Wednesday, Jan. 14 from 5:30-7 pm. More information about the internship program is available on the Career Services website.