<p>My son is seriously considering UA. We recently visited and absolutely loved the campus and the people we met. I’m curious if there are any UA engineers who can comment on job/career placement? Does UA have a good “pipeline” to Huntsville tech/engineering jobs? I’m specifically interest in mechanical/aerospace opportunities. Are there coops and internships available through the university with Huntsville companies? Do these companies activity recruit on the UA campus? Or will it be incumbent upon the student to make those connections? I want to believe with all the other terrific attributes UA has to offer that location to high tech/aerospace job in Huntsville is another. Thanks!</p>
<p>When my older son was an engineering student (he changed to math and graduated last May), he easily found internships and co-ops. He didn’t do a co-op, but did do an internship for 3 summers and 2 Christmas breaks as a student engineer for the Army. </p>
<p>Younger son is a ChemE major, but since he’s pre-med, he’s more focused on REU’s. He’s doing a REU this summer at Univ of South Carolina…which Bama helped him get. The REU that he is doing is for Bio-medical engineering.</p>
<p>Yes, Cummings Research Park high-tech companies and Redstone Arsenal have jobs/internships/co-ops for Bama kids. </p>
<p>There are job fairs and internship fairs offered during the school year when these companies come to campus.</p>
<p>And…REUs **Research Experience for Undergrads are available in various STEM disciplines across this country. Kids apply in the spring. ** REUs are fully funded, include housing, stipend and travel money.</p>
<p>VIGRE programs are for math majors. My older son is doing a VIGRE program this summer before he begins his PhD in August. VIGRE’s are also fully funded and include housing, stipend, and travel money.</p>
<p>Students from all over apply to various college’s summer REU’s and VIGRE’s. Colleges don’t just want students from their own schools. Since these are federally funded, they’re supposed to give every applicant a fair shot at acceptance. </p>
<p>At the “family lunch” that my son’s REU hosted, each kid introduced himself and these kids were from everywhere…from UCs (Calif) to Ivies to Tech school (Georgia Tech, RPI) to flagships (Bama, UVA, UIUC, etc).<br>
[nsf.gov</a> - Funding - Research Experiences for Undergraduates - US National Science Foundation (NSF)](<a href=“Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) | NSF - National Science Foundation”>Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) | NSF - National Science Foundation)</p>
<p>Search for a REU site: [US</a> NSF - REU - Search for an REU Site](<a href=“http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/reu_search.cfm]US”>Search for an REU Site | NSF - National Science Foundation)</p>
<p>Since next summer’s REUs may not be up yet, you may not be able to find ALL the programs just yet.</p>
<p>Here’s a link for the colleges that offer Engineering REUs.
[US</a> NSF - REU - List Result](<a href=“Search Results for REU Sites | NSF - National Science Foundation”>REU Sites | NSF - National Science Foundation)</p>
<p>You’ll see that Bama has 3 for Engineering, but again, you don’t have to apply to the ones at your own university. It’s exciting to go elsewhere for the summer.</p>
<p>Note…if you have enough AP credits to have junior standing by the end of frosh year, that is a big help for REUs.</p>