Get a student from Automation Engineering as an intern

New ideas | New angles | New knowledge

Energise the development and optimisation of your automated facilities

An intern is a wonderful opportunity to resolve concrete tasks and at the same time meet an almost educated automation engineer who is able to look at the company’s areas of work with a different set of eyes. Internships are in the fourth semester, after 1 ½ years of study.

With an internship you get:

more energy to resolve development and optimisation tasks within complex automation
the opportunity to try out a prospective employee in practice
the opportunity to provide a student with valuable practical experience.

Most automation engineers write their main exam project for the company during their internship. The exam project is a good opportunity for the company to clarify a particular area e.g., implement a specific analysis or get extra resources for a current development task.

What type of work can you expect an intern to carry out?

Here are some examples of internship assignments and main exam projects:

optimisation of existing facilities
innovation within project tasks
setting-up of automation networks
construction of PLC/Scada applications
construction of and implementation of robots
set-up and data logging for databases
preparation of electrical documentation
set-up of solutions for prototype work

In addition to this, the intern can help with other miscellaneous tasks and should be included in the department’s regular daily routines.

Planning of the internship period

The cooperative relationship between the student and the company will of course vary from company to company. What is important is a positive and ambitious attitude towards the cooperation from both parties.

We have compiled some good advice that will help you as well as the student to benefit as much as possible from the internship.

Student and company adjust expectations prior to the internship period. This involves tasks to be performed, working hours and other expectations to ensure mutually satisfactory cooperation.
Always feel free to contact the student’s internship counsellor at the Academy for inspiration, information or advice concerning the internship. The student is completing an internship in order to learn. Make sure you provide a good mixture of tasks of both a challenging and also a more routine-based nature. Some are able to handle a lot of responsibility from day one, others need a more careful dosage.
It is recommended to link the student to one or more contacts throughout the internship, individuals who can help guide, inspire and motivate the student.
Think about and discuss what a good subject could be for the student’s final exam project. Some agree on the subject at an early stage, whereas others wait until they know each other a little better.
Introduce the student to the entire company, look at the intern as a ‘fully accepted’ member of the team.
Be proactive – talk to the student or the Academy if something is not quite as expected.

The student, the company and Business Academy Aarhus will sign an internship agreement prior to the internship.

To ensure the right match between students and companies, we have compiled a list of requirements to internship companies (pdf)

When and for how long?

Get an intern for free

As the internship is a part of an educational programme, your company is not obliged to pay a salary to the intern.

The company is allowed to give the student a ‘token’ payment of up to 3375 DKK per month.

Subsidies for transport, rent and a phone, which the student can document are related to the internship, can be given without affecting the student's educational grant (SU).

Declaration of secrecy

A student who becomes aware of trade secrets during his/her internship may not share or use this information without prior approval as stipulated in the Commercial Secrets Act, §4.

Business Academy Aarhus employees and external co-examiners who are involved with internships are also covered by §4 of the Commercial Secrets Act, just as they have a duty of confidentiality pursuant to Chapter 8, Section §27 of the Public Administration Act.

Insurance

If the internship takes place in a company in Denmark, the student is covered by the act on worker's compensation (lov om arbejdsskadesikring), cf. Ministerial Order no.185 from 23 February 2017, and by the act on liability for damages (lov om erstatningsansvar).

It is therefore the internship company’s responsibility to insure the intern, just as all other employees are insured. Associations and sole proprietors are also covered by the duty to insure, even if you don’t have any other employees.

If the internship takes place in a company outside of Denmark, then it is the student's responsibility to examine and assess whether he or she can be covered by the company's insurance policies. In cases where the student is not covered by the company's insurance, the student must ensure that they have any necessary insurance.

Facts about the programme

Automation Engineering is a 2-year AP degree programme, where students learn about automated facilities, programming of robots and servo and PLC systems.

As an automation engineer, you help with the development of automated facilities. You are able to interpret the appropriate documentation from the concept/requirements specification, and you can prepare documentation for an automated facility/system in consultation with a customer and suppliers. You can independently or in cooperation with designers/engineers understand the development and installation. The development will be at the system level, which means that you can select the optimal hardware solution and develop software – ranging from PLC to PC to robots and servo systems.

The programme is offered in cooperation with the Aarhus School of Marine and Technical Engineering.

Read more about the programme (only in Danish)

How to get an intern

You can find an intern by placing an advert in our job portal

It’s free, and your advert will be available to all students who are looking for an internship company.

In the advert, explain what tasks you want solved and what expectations you have to the student’s competencies and personal profile.

If you have any questions, you are always welcome to contact us.

Contact

Daniel Kolind Katborg

Mail: dkk@aams.dk

Telefon: 4122 7113