Foxconn Technology Group and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee have created an international co-op program that will give UWM engineering students the opportunity to study at Chung Yuan Christian University in Taiwan and work at a Foxconn facility there.
Foxconn, UWM and Chung Yuan Christian University signed an agreement Thursday for the program. The co-op is designed to introduce engineering students to the Taiwan-based manufacturer’s liquid crystal display fabrication technology and processes. The company’s LCD panels are used in various high-tech consumer electronics products, including smartphones.
“We are delighted to host Foxconn’s first international co-op program in Wisconsin and be a model for other universities in the state,” UWM Chancellor Dr. Mark Mone said. “Many of us in higher education have talked for years about the need to collaborate more closely with each other and with our business partners, and Foxconn has encouraged us to accelerate that work to benefit our students and our state.”
UWM plans to send five students from its College of Engineering & Applied Science to Taiwan in February 2019. Before the first cohort leaves for Taiwan, they will spend time in the new Foxconn facility in Mount Pleasant. After arriving in Taiwan, they will take classes in culture and language at Chung Yuan Christian University, work on applied research projects in preparation for their co-op with Foxconn and meet with Foxconn employees. They will continue work on their projects at one of the Foxconn facilities in Taiwan through June 2019.
“This program will give students in Wisconsin a valuable hands-on international working experience and apply their learning in a real-world, global environment,” said Louis Woo, special assistant to Foxconn founder and CEO Terry Gou. “We are committed to supporting Wisconsin in expanding the existing strong talent pool and nurturing knowledge workers in the state. This will not only make Wisconsin more attractive to other companies but also contribute to its transformation as a global technology hub.”
The new program is the second international internship/co-op program at the UWM College of Engineering & Applied Science. Rockwell Automation established an internship program with the college in 2016 in which engineering students work at its facility in Shanghai, China, in partnership with Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
The program eventually could be expanded to other colleges and universities in Wisconsin and the Midwest, officials said.
