Engineering Firm RETTEW Partners with New U. of Del. Co-op Program

Online, April 26, 2013 (Newswire.com) - RETTEW is proud to announce its participation as a founding member in a new co-op program with the University of Delaware.

A collaboration of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department and the University's Career Services Center, the program aims to fulfill the department's mission to educate students to their fullest potential. Launching in 2013, students can apply through the university. With the required course credits and major, they can be accepted and search for an internship within the co-op's partner companies.

As a partner business, RETTEW will employ two students in paid, full-time positions within its environmental and transportation engineering groups. During the 26-week internship, the selected students will be exposed to the daily responsibilities of a civil or environmental engineer, including working in the field, in-office procedures, task preparation and project closeout duties. During this time, the student also takes one or two evening classes for his or her degree.

Following the internship period from June through December of the student's senior year, he or she will return to the university for the last semester before graduation. The intent is for businesses participating to consider hiring the students upon graduation, provided the match is a good fit and the position is needed at the partnering company at that time.

The benefits of the co-op for students are many: enhancing their educational experience, providing some on-the-job training and a possible position of employment upon graduation.

For RETTEW, the program offers an opportunity to instruct the next generation of the workforce on the skills they will utilize every day in the workplace. It also supports the company's ability to attract and hire top civil and environmental engineering students, while benefitting from the early qualifying process via the university. RETTEW can also provide feedback directly to the college on how curriculum might be improved or tailored.

"We're always on the lookout for opportunities to improve our communities, and being part of an educational program such as this is an excellent way to do so," said Mark Lauriello, president of RETTEW and alumnus of the University of Delaware.

RETTEW will likely focus the internship opportunities in its Lancaster, Mechanicsburg, or Lehigh Valley offices, all within a short drive from the school's campus.

RETTEW, ranked 166 on Engineering News-Record's 2012 list of top 500 design firms, began providing civil engineering and surveying services in 1969. Today RETTEW has more than 400 employees and 11 total offices located in Athens, Lancaster, Lehigh Valley, Mechanicsburg, Pittsburgh, Schuylkill Haven and Williamsport, Pa; Canton, Ohio; Delhi and Liberty, N.Y.; and Denver, Colo. For more information on any of RETTEW's services, please call 1-800-RETTEW-5 (1-800-738-8395) or visit www.rettew.com.

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