Northwestern engineering has been one of those that have gone out of their way to infuse real world experience into the education. The “Engineering First” curriculum require freshmen to design prototypes for real world clients. The students can then leverage this first-year experience for their subsequent internships, research, service learning, and/or co-op program. One thing they like to emphasize is engineering design and there are plenty of opportunities for that. As far as the co-op program goes, it is one of the most well-established in the country. Since 1989, two BME majors from Northwestern have won the “co-op student of the year” award.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-power-of-unsolvable-problems-1456255158?tesla=y
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21914600
http://www.spinalcordinjuryzone.com/news/1981/student-innovations-benefit-patients
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-met-northwestern-penguins-20130329-story.html
http://www.mccormick.northwestern.edu/academics/undergraduate/core-curriculum/engineering-first.html
http://www.mccormick.northwestern.edu/career-development/index.html
http://ceed.asee.org/coop_past_winners.html
http://designforamerica.com/about/