Division of Engineering Programs

Workforce Development

Hiring Interns

  1. Why should I hire an intern? If you have a need for full or part-time assistance, this is a great way to get to know a student with no long-term commitment.  If an intern does transition to full-time employee, you have just hired someone with significant experience at your company.
  2. What engineering programs are at New Paltz? We have mechanical, electrical and computer engineering. 
  3. Why hire a New Paltz engineering student? Our students are very capable.  We successfully compete with Clarkson, RPI and Binghamton for engineering students.  Our program is rigorous and our students are well-prepared.  The majority of our students are also local to the Mid-Hudson region and many of them want to stay here after graduation. 
  4. When should I hire an intern or recent grad? Internships are typically full-time over the summer and/or part time during the academic year.  During the academic year, it’s hard for a student to work more than 15-20 hours/week.  For summer internships, it’s best to start the hiring process in February or March. 
  5. Are engineering interns paid? How much?  It’s very rare for science and engineering interns to work unpaid.  A typical salary is $15-20/hr. 
  6. How do I hire an intern or recent grad?  Please see the Guide to Recruiting SUNY New Paltz Students at our Career Resources Center (http://www.newpaltz.edu/careers/employers.html).  We strongly encourage employers to develop a position description and distribute it through Career Resources.   This will result in a larger and more diverse pool of students.  We also recommend that you send the position description to Ms. Judy Depuy, Admin Aide for the Division of Engineering Programs at depuyj@newpaltz.edu.  In the School of Science and Engineering, we have the ability to communicate with recent graduates, and the broader engineering community in the region, and would be happy to distribute job postings.  Any questions can be directed to Dan Freedman, Dean of the School Science and Engineering at freedmad@newpaltz.edu or Julio Gonzalez, Chair of the Division of Engineering Programs at gonzalej@newpaltz.edu.

Hiring Full-time - FAQ

  1. When should I start recruiting? It is always better to start early.  Many students are already employed by the time they graduate.  We graduate students in both December and May. Please see the Employee Guide to Recruiting SUNY New Paltz Students at our Career Resources Center (http://www.newpaltz.edu/careers/employers.html) for more details.
  2. What’s the best way to meet students and get a sense of their abilities? We hold an Engineering Expo (http://www.newpaltz.edu/engineering/senior-design-expo/) every May, which is open to the public, where the graduating seniors present their engineering senior design projects.  This is an ideal recruiting opportunity.  Please email lavaller@newpaltz.edu to get on the Engineering Expo mailing list. 


 Industry Sponsored Senior Design – FAQ

  1. What is Senior Design? Senior Design is a two-semester capstone experience for all three of the engineering programs.  Students work in interdisciplinary teams to design and build a functioning physical prototype and/or a model.  Projects can be either hardware or software based, but are often a combination of both.  Students must complete a prototype by the end of the first semester and iterate the design with refinements by the end of the second semester.  This is the culmination of their undergraduate engineering experience and it is expected that not only will they use many of the skills they have learned in their courses, but they must be prepared to learn new skills in order to complete the project.  The primary expectation is that the students will have a positive, academic experience. 
  2. Where do the projects come from? The projects can come from students or faculty, but we prefer to collaborate with industry on real-world projects. 
  3. What type of project makes for a good Senior Design? The project needs to have a fairly concrete and specific outcome.  One absolute requirement is that the students must design and fabricate a device.  Since the timeline is nine months, this should not be a project with a short timeline.  Good industry projects are usually ideas that are of interest long-term, but never quite make it on to anybody’s plate because of more pressing projects.
  4. What areas of engineering can a senior design encompass? We prefer projects that combine aspects of mechanical, electrical and computer engineering or some combination thereof. 
  5. What do you expect of participating companies? We would like to have one of your engineering staff be co-advisors for the students, in addition to one of our faculty.  This would mean regular (biweekly) updates for feedback, which can happen in person or electronically.  If the project involves expensive components, we would require that to be funded by the participating business. 
  6. What about IP? We have a simple contract between the college and the participating business that leaves all IP with the business.  The students also sign a contract giving up IP rights.
  7. Can a student be an intern in my business and work on a Senior Design Project as part of that internship? Yes. 


 Research – FAQ

  1. Do SUNY New Paltz faculty do research? Although we are a teaching-focused institution, it is expected that all faculty will maintain an active research program.  Many of them hold external grants and publish regularly in peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings. 
  2. What expertise is available? A list of each faculty’s expertise is available at: http://www.newpaltz.edu/engineering/directory.html. 
  3. Is there funding available? Projects of this type are expected to be funded by industry. We can explore collaborating on writing proposals for SBIR or STTR funding or similar public or private funding sources.  We do have funding for projects related to 3D printing through the NYS AMRINT center.