Students learn on-the-job, business gets a boost

BY BRENT FOX

Kings County Register

It helps his company, and provides valuable research and development experience for students.

The province’s new Research and Development Co-operative Employment Program stimulates private sector innovation and provides on-the-job opportunities for Nova Scotia university students.

BioMedica Diagnostics Inc president and CEO Dr. Abdullah Kirumira says the program provides him three skilled employees instead of one for feasibility research into proposed projects.

“I call it a three-for-one kind of program.”

The Windsor company, in operation since 1999, has some 12 employees - but a large number of research ideas.

“We have to do some research in order to find out what may work - and what may not.”

Economic Development Minister Richard Hurlburt was on hand at Acadia University Sept. 25 to announce the $250,000 Research and Development Co-operative Employment Program.

Sara Rafferty is biology honours student with a year-and-a-half left of her undergraduate degree.

“I have had two distinct positions through my co-op work terms, each related to very different aspects of biology,” Rafferty said.

Rafferty’s first co-op work term was in the Wildlife Division at the Department of Natural Resources.

“I participated in plenty of fieldwork and learned about wildlife management and conservation.

“In my more recent co-op position, I worked as a research technician in a lab within the Faculty of Medicine at Dalhousie University, where I studied the protein responsible for Cystic Fibrosis.”

Rafferty said she enjoyed both of positions and learned skills transferable to a variety of real work environments.

Hurlburt noted “matching university students with private sector companies will help increase our competitiveness in the global marketplace. The opportunity for students to contribute their knowledge and to experience the relationship between economic development and innovation, is essential to growing our future work force.”

Acadia University president Gail Dinter-Gottlieb said “Acadia University recognizes the immense value and experiential learning opportunity that co-operative education provides.

“This new funding program will allow Nova Scotia businesses and institutions to provide university students with quality, high-paying research positions and benefit from their emerging expertise.”

University students must be enrolled in co-operative programs through science, business and engineering; private sector companies must be engaged in research and development to participate in this program.