Due to the COVID pandemic, MCUT’s Overseas Internship Program had been halted for two years before it restarted in September, 2022. Subsidized by the MOE’s sponsorship programs for students--“Soaring High” (學海飛颺), “Treasured Pearls” (學海惜珠) and “Dream Building” (學海築夢), a total of 14 students from the Departments of Mechanical, Electrical, Environmental and Chemical Engineering have been selected for this year’s program, where the students will undergo a one-year internship at Inteplast Group in Texas, USA, with a monthly wage of USD 1,680, and experience American lifestyle at the same time.

MCUT’s Overseas Internship Program was launched in 2010 and has continued for 12 years, except for two years since then when the program had been cancelled because of the COVID pandemic. As the pandemic has begun to abate and many countries around the world have reopened their borders, MCUT has then decided to restart its Overseas Internship Program, continuing to provide students with the great opportunities to gain unique and significant internship experiences abroad. The cooperative program between MCUT and Inteplast Group has run for more than 10 years and has always been the first choice for students seeking overseas internship opportunities. So far, there have been six intern students returning to Inteplast after graduation to join its full-time staff. Alternatively, students could also apply for the joint master’s degree program between MCUT and the University of Cincinnati after their overseas internship and directly get hired by Inteplast once they obtain their dual degree. Or they could first work here in Taiwan for Formosa Plastics Group and then wait for future arrangement to transfer them to the US branch.

Inteplast Group belongs to the plastics downstream industry, manufacturing a wide range of everyday or industrial goods, such as plastic film, bags and compounds. Its huge production aims mainly at the North American market. The factories, located at Lolita, Texas, occupy an area of 525 acres.

The most special thing about this overseas internship program is that the company provides a guest house and has a shuttle bus to facilitate the students to commute to and from work safely. In addition, in order to help students adapt to the local life as soon as possible, the Taiwanese community group in Port Lavaca arranges for them to be taken care of by host parents. These host moms and dads not only care about the students’ adaption, they also take the students to experience local festivals and culture on weekends or holidays. Most of the members of the community group are employees of Inteplast Group. Through good community resources, they have helped students adapt well to the local life in the US.

Professor Kuei-Chih Feng, Director of the Industry-University Collaboration Center at MCUT, who led the team to the US said that MCUT’s Overseas Internship Program gives junior students the opportunity to experience local life of the US, increase different life experiences and shape their ideas of future career planning. The program not only enriches the life experience of the students, but also opens up their unique global perspectives.

Traditional Chinese Edition: 美國我來了 明志科大 後疫情海外工讀實務實習啟航