Engineering students
Supporting engineering students with industry placements.
UQ offers two key industry placements to ensure our engineering students gain the practical experience they need to best prepare for their future careers:
1. BE (Hons)/ME 6-month industry placement
A structured full-time 6-month placement where students work on real projects aligned with your organisation’s needs.
2. Engineering Professional Practice (EPP)
A flexible placement arrangement providing valuable hands-on experience in a professional engineering environment.
BE (Hons)/ME 6-month industry placement
The University of Queensland has responded to the ever-evolving landscape of engineering by pioneering Australia’s first five-year integrated Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)/Master of Engineering (BE (Hons)/ME) program.
Students who meet the eligibility requirements to join the 5-year BE (Hons)/ME Program undertake a 6-month, full-time (9 am – 5 pm, 5 days a week) placement, immersing themselves in industry or research environments.
Placement structure
The BE (Hons)/ME placement program runs twice a year, in Semester 1 and Semester 2. The placement consists of a major investigation, research project or design task that is proposed by the industry partner.
During the placement, students are required to produce:
- A project scoping report
- A progress report
- A final project report
- A formal presentation.
The industry placement takes place during second semester of the fourth year, or the first semester of the fifth year depending on the student’s engineering discipline.
Why partner with us?
As a BE (Hons)/ME placement partner you’ll benefit from:
- Involvement in the student selection process – ensuring the right fit for your team
- Early access to future talent and potential graduate recruits
- A high-achieving engineering student working on real projects or challenges facing your business
- structured placement program with ongoing support from a dedicated UQ academic supervisor and industry placement representative.
- Opportunity to attend the student’s final oral presentation and connect with other industry partners.
What costs are involved?
Students are supported via an industry-funded bursary to support general living expenses such as travel and accommodation during their placement.
$17,000 ex GST per student
- Student bursary amount: $14,000 plus GST
- Industry program fee: $3,000 plus GST contributes to the promotion and administration of the program; engagement with the industry placement coordinator throughout the placement and the student selection process.
Industry partners will be invoiced by UQ at the beginning of the placement, and UQ will manage all bursary payments to the student on placement.
How to get involved?
We invite industry partners to submit projects for eligible engineering disciplines. The EAIT Employability team will work closely with you to coordinate placements, allowing enough time for project advertising, student applications, recruitment, and onboarding.
We know it can be challenging to have a fully detailed project ready this far in advance — no worries! You can submit a high-level project proposal which can be scoped out closer to the placement start.
Explore a range of sample projects here.
Semester 1: Eligible engineering disciplines
- Electrical, Electrical/Biomedical, Electrical/Computer
- Mechanical, Mechanical/Aerospace, Mechanical/Materials
- Mechatronic
- Software
Key dates
August: Project Submissions (portal opening soon)
September: Students apply for projects, shortlisting by industry
October/November: Student interviews and placement offers
Janurary - June: 6 Month placement
Semester 2: Eligible Disciplines
Chemical, Chemical/Biomedical, Chemical/Bioprocess, Chemical/Environmental, Chemical/Materials, Chemical/Metallurgical
- Civil
- Civil/Environmental
- Urban Water
Key dates
February: Project submission open (link to Vision6)
March: Students apply for projects, shortlisting by industry
April/May: Student interviews and placement offers
June - December: 6-month placement
Engineering Professional Practice (EPP)
The engineering accrediting body Engineers Australia, states that 'exposure to professional engineering practice is a key element in differentiating a professional engineering degree from an applied science degree' and requires engineering graduates to have exposure to professional practice.
To support this standard, All UQ engineering students must complete 430 hours of Engineering Professional Practice (EPP) before graduating. At least 225 of these hours need to be in an engineering environment and supervised by a degree-qualified engineer.
How can industry support?
You can play a key role by offering quality engineering work experience opportunities – providing a supervised, engineering environment that helps students gain valuable skills and meet their graduation requirements.
EPP placements are flexible and self-sourced by students. These experiences can be completed at any time during a student’s degree – most commonly over university breaks. Simply advertise your opportunity and liaise directly with the student on timing and expectations.
What makes an EPP placement successful?
The student must be supervised by a degree qualified engineer and working in an engineering environment.
The host organisation provides a broad mix of activities and tasks as it provides students with a greater insight into the breadth of skills and work required in engineering. This can include office, site and field work, consulting and project work, customer relations, administrative tasks, networking events, and observe practices such as organisation team meetings, design of review meetings and tender selection.
We recommend you work closely with the student to understand their assessment requirements and assist in aligning tasks to support these requirements.
Download our EPP placement guide.
Contact
Keen to discuss further?
Reach out to discuss how your organisation can support engineering students through placements
Contact:
Madelynn Jenkins
Industry Relationships Coordinator
Email: employability@eait.uq.edu.au
Phone: +61 7 3365 8534
Ready to promote an opportunity?
Advertise jobs, internships, and work experience roles directly to students via CareerHub, UQ's free online platform for employers.