Program sees impressive growth in its third year as COVE continues to provide students with on-the-job work experience in the thriving ocean technology industry.
5 May 2022 (Dartmouth, Nova Scotia) – Thirty-five university and college students from across Canada are set to gain valuable ocean technology experience and insight through the 2022 COVE Internship Program. The sixteen-week internship program provides a unique opportunity for students to engage in relevant and challenging project-based work-integrated learning while receiving mentorship from industry leaders.
In its third year, the program continues its impressive growth, with more than 450 applicants for the 35 positions compared to 21 positions last year. Additionally, for the first time, the program will be expanding regionally, with five students participating in Newfoundland.
After largely conducting the program virtually over the last two summers due to COVID-19 restrictions, COVE is excited to provide an in-person restriction-free program this year. This will enhance the participant’s ability to network face-to-face and gain invaluable hands-on experience in the ocean sector.
Through the program, the interns will be coached by COVE and receive professional development training from business leaders on topics such as project management, design thinking, leadership, communications, and entrepreneurship which will benefit their academic pursuits, career development, and workplace readiness.
The interns are completing, or have completed, their studies at Dalhousie University, Mount Saint Vincent University (MSVU), University of British Columbia (UBC), Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC), Saint Mary’s University (SMU), Saint Francis Xavier University (STFX), Memorial University (MUN), University of Waterloo, and Harvard University. Their backgrounds range from commerce/finance, public relations, computer science, industrial and mechanical engineering, and ocean sciences.
COVE leads the recruitment process and assures that there is an interdisciplinary approach to projects while keeping diversity at the forefront.
The interaction and mentorship with leading experts in the industry has historically been a highlight of the program. Mentors from 22 organizations are donating their time and resources to consult with the interns weekly.
The 35 interns are working on projects with organizations such as Centre for Marine Applied Research (CMAR), COVE, DeepSense, GeoSpectrum Technologies, J-Squared Technologies Inc., Kraken Robotics, The Launch, MEOPAR, JASCO Applied Sciences, Ocean Technology Council of Nova Scotia (OTCNS), Planetary Technologies, QualiTEAS, RIMOT, Rising Tide BioAcoustics Inc., Sensor Technology Ltd., Sma’knis Maritime Security, SmartICE, SubC Imaging, Ultra Maritime, and Xeos Technologies.
Funding for the COVE Internship Program is provided by the Nova Scotia Department of Labour Skills and Immigration, Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC), SOI Foundation, and Irving Shipbuilding Inc.
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Quotes
“The immense interest we’ve received from students across Canada in finding careers in the ocean sector is impressive. Our internship program supports the growth of the blue economy with a skilled workforce, and we are pleased to see the interns working at globally leading ocean-based companies that are part of COVE’s ecosystem. ” – Melanie Nadeau, Chief Executive Officer at COVE
“Labour, Skills and Immigration is proud to support COVE’s internship program, which helps shine a spotlight on the ocean sector in Nova Scotia. The program focuses on providing valuable work experience to post-secondary students from various educational and diverse backgrounds to an important, growing industry. It also helps Nova Scotian employers identify future talent to grow their businesses, which is vital to retaining young Nova Scotians, and growing our population and workforce.” – Jill Balser, Minister of Labour, Skills and Immigration
“The COVE internship initiative plays an extremely important role in engaging post-secondary students with ocean technology and ocean-tech companies in meaningful work-integrated learning experiences. This program is helping create our next generation of ocean-tech talent and, importantly, helping us retain talent in our region by allowing these students to build enduring relationships with industry partners. ICTC is a proud supporter of the COVE internship initiative through our WIL Digital student wage subsidy program that is funded by the Government of Canada.” – Tim Perron, Atlantic Regional Coordinator at ICTC
“The Students on Ice Foundation is proud to support an expanded cohort of COVE’s Internship Program through our Blue Futures Pathways program and funding from Canada’s Ocean Supercluster. For the second year, our partnership will connect diverse youth from various disciplines with the Sustainable Blue Economy, preparing them for the jobs and careers of the future and helping industry fill key gaps in the labour market.” – Geoff Green, C.M., Founder & President of the Students on Ice Foundation.
“I am an extremely ambitious person with a passion for learning. Upon finding this program, I saw this as an amazing opportunity to greatly develop and challenge myself. This program offers me experience that I would struggle to find anywhere else at this stage of my career. In addition to the personal and career opportunity this offers, I was already extremely interested in the ocean sector and had attempted to land positions through certain connections with no luck. This program allows me to get my foot in the door and experience for myself working in a sector in which I was already quite interested in.” – Ryan Guzzwell, COVE Internship participant
