Fontys University of Applied Sciences

School of Engineering

Internship brochure
Mechanical Engineering

Study year : 2019 - 2020

Course : Mechanical Engineering
Semester : 5
Date : September, 2020

Semester coordinator
Name : M. van Amelsvoort
Room number : 0.17
E-mail address : internshipmechanicalengineering@fontys.nl

Student administration office

Main building ER room 0.47
De Rondom 1, 5612 AP Eindhoven
P.O. Box 347, 5600 AH Eindhoven
Phone: 08850 77333

E-mail: engineeringeindhoven@fontys.nl
Table of Contents

Summary
Introduction ...................................................................................................... 3
1. General information .................................................................................... 4
2. Objectives and requirements ...................................................................... 5
3. Permission .................................................................................................. 6
4. Study load ................................................................................................... 7
5. Internship abroad ........................................................................................ 7
6. Preparation ................................................................................................. 8
7. Internship Agreement ................................................................................ 11
8. Confidentiality ........................................................................................... 11
9. Implementation ......................................................................................... 12
10. Assessment and closure ......................................................................... 15
11. Conflict handling ..................................................................................... 16
Key concepts ................................................................................................. 16
Appendix I Quality requirements internship...................................... 18
Appendix II Competence development ............................................. 19
Appendix III General insurance .......................................................... 20
 Summary
Information regarding the internship, such as application, preparation, internship possibilities,
required forms, agenda’s and overviews are to be found on the website of Engineering
(FHEng). See website Fontys Hogeschool Engineering and follow International Students
– Mechanical Engineering – Internship & Graduation. See Link
Hereafter, in this guide, referred to as website.

Make sure that you have all important agreements on paper (mail) and save these carefully.
After all, in case of an argument pertaining to certain arrangements or precedents, the
burden of proof is with the student.

The internship agreement, including signature of both student and company (internship
taker and provider), should be sent to the internship coordinator before the start of the
internship.

If the activities are confidential, the student will procure a fully signed version of the
confidentiality agreement (see website). Submit this to the internship coordinator,
preferably digitally, at latest 1 month after starting the internship.

All reports have to be mailed to the school supervisor. You are responsible for saving a
digital version as well as a hardcopy yourself.

Completion of the internship

1. Deliverables to upload in GradeWork:

• The final report : pdf-file
The name of the PDF-file is prescribed as follows:
“Internshipreport_college year_surname_given name_ studentnumber_EW.pdf”
For example: InternshipReport_2018-2019_Jones_Edward_1111222_EW.pdf
Reports with deviating names will not be processed.
The final report always has to be signed for “seen and release outside of company” by
the company supervisor! This is necessary in order to avoid disagreements regarding
the content of the final report!

 Form “day declaration” : pdf-file

The name of the file is prescribed as follows:
“Day declaration_college year_surname_given name_studentnumber_EW.pdf”
 Form “company assessment” : pdf-file
The name of the file is prescribed as follows:
“Company assessment_college year_surname_given name_studentnumber_EW.pdf”
 Your “Internship agreement” : pdf-file
The name of the file is prescribed as follows:
“Internship agreement_college year_surname_given name_studentnumber_EW.pdf”
 If needed a “Confidentiality agreement” : pdf-file
The name of the file is prescribed as follows:
“Confidentiality agreement_college year_surname_given
name_studentnumber_EW.pdf”

2. Filling in an internship survey through a link that will be send to your Fontys-mail.
Introduction
This document indicates which conditions and rules an intern will have to meet, as well as
providing an overview of a broad range of important information pertaining to the practical
part of your study at Fontys School of Engineering.

Information regarding the internship, such as application, preparation, internship

possibilities, required forms, agenda’s and overviews are to be found on the website.
Home – International students – Mechanical Engineering - Internship and Graduation

The norms, used by the study route of Mechanical Engineering, will be explained in this
internship brochure. Moreover, it will be clear how the internship will be assessed and
closed.

Every semester will have an information meeting provided by the internship coordinator.

The 5th semester will be the internship period. Due to possible delays, exemptions,
different minors or exceptional circumstances, it may occur that a student follows a
different timeline. This means that you might have the internship in a different period than
usual (semester 5). The information in this guide may therefore not be entirely valid for
some of these cases.

The final responsibility for this study phase, is with the managing board of the University of
Applied Sciences Engineering. The internship-coordinator is responsible for the
organization of this study phase. The coordinator is mandated by the managing board to
make decisions. The Student administration office is responsible for administrative
processing of the internship. The school supervisor guides the intern from school. The
company supervisor will fulfil this task from the internship company.

Compiling a manual is done by human beings, thus subject to error. If you therefore have
any comments, or feel like there are subjects that are missing, we would highly appreciate
it if you would let us know.

All that remains now is to wish you all the very best of luck on your internship.

The staff of Fontys School of Engineering

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1. General information
Annual agenda (year schedule)

The internship regulations are subject to change. Rules as indicated on the website.
Important data and milestones are indicated in the annual agenda, which you can also find
on the website School of Engineering.
Home – International students – Engineering – Annual agenda – select school year

See Link

Curriculum structure

You can also find this on the website.

Home – International students – Mechanical Engineering – Semester Information

See Link

Documents

During the preparation and execution of your internship, various documents must be
submitted. Hand-in dates are on the website.
Engineering – International students – Internship and Graduation – Internship

See Link

GradeWork

GradeWork is being used at Fontys to hand-in and asses summative tests. At the
Engineering institute the application is currently being implemented.

You can find the online tool on the website;

Home - International students – Mechanical Engineering – Gradework

See Link

You'll find the manual and a video on how to use GradeWork in the next Link.

If you have any questions concerning the use of GradeWork, e-mail to;
fheng-inleveren@fontys.nl

If you have any questions concerning the test or assessment, ask your teacher.

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2. Objectives and requirements
The objectives of the internship, which is preferably done in the business world, are:
 Introduction to the working environment of a mechanical engineering engineer;
 Gaining experience with integrated application of professional knowledge to
concrete problems;
 Broadening and deepening of professional knowledge;
 Training in written and verbal reporting;
 Enhancement of social skills;
 Gaining insight into the economic aspects of business operations;
 Orientation of the "dream job" and choice of studies (graduation profile)
 Taking responsibility by independently performing mechanical engineering tasks,
where the acquired knowledge and skills of the study Mechanical Engineering can
be applied.

Addition:
After two years of theoretical, practical and project work with a broad view, the student has
gained sufficient knowledge and skills to apply in solving concrete problems in the
mechanical engineering business. Topics can range from purely technical mechanical or
basic research to technical commercial or policy projects. For many students, this will be
the first professional introduction to the business world.

Goals:
 Introduction with Mechanical Engineering in a business setting and to test and
further develop competences.
 Learning to take responsibility for one or multiple assignments.

As an assistant of an employee (the company supervisor), the student will carry out a
variety of mechanical work. It may be desirable to start as an employee in the production
or for a short training period with an employee in the development department. It is
intended that the student is given a part of responsibility in at least the second half of the
internship. Although it gives great satisfaction, it is not necessary to complete the
project(s) during the internship.

The quality requirements of an internship are described in Appendix I.

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3. Permission
Whether the student will receive a ‘go’ for the internship, will be partly based on the
following conditions, considering admission to the BA phase.
A provisional ‘go’ will be decided during a placement meeting, approximately halfway
through the semester prior to the internship. The final permission will be granted by the
internship-coordinator just before the start of the internship, based on the admission
criteria and whether the student has sufficiently prepared (see chapter 5).

The conditions for admission to the internship (W5) during autumn are:

> 80 ECTS (propaedeutic not required but advised)

And > 25 ECTS in S3

The conditions for admission to the internship (W5) during spring are:

> 80 ECTS (propaedeutic not required but advised)

And > 25 ECTS in S4 (in case S5 and S6 are switched)

If there are good reasons to deviate from the above, the student has to submit an
application to the examination committee. The main part of the decision is based on the
desire to not have the student start the internship period with obligations regarding
previous parts of the study.

The provisional go will be announced on the website. The student will then start to attain
an internship (see figure 1). Depending on the route, you will send a company form or an
abroad form to the coordinator for approval.
After approval of your internship, you will procure a signed internship agreement and send
this to the internship coordinator to sign as well.

Note!
The internship agreement can be terminated by Fontys Engineering up until 1 month
after the internship has started, if you have failed to meet the conditions regarding
admission.

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4. Study load
The internship consists of 100 days, of which 90 have to be accounted as fulltime working
days in the company.
The study load is 30 ECTS (840 hours) and consists of: hours
 Preparation, procuring spot 10
 Internship (100 days) 800
of which
- a minimum of 90 business days 720
- conventions, seminars, refresher days, writing report 80
(Account for hours in the timesheet, the “day declaration” form)
 Academic counseling 30

It is not permitted to either cut short or prolong the internship by working more/less hours
in a business day than is usual in the company.
Furthermore, we assume a 5-day workweek in the Dutch situation. If circumstances occur
causing a workweek to be longer during a short period (calamities in a project, booth at
convention etc.) then this time also qualifies for the internship. It does, however, ask for
explicit permission of your school supervisor or the coordinator (e.g. by adding a mail to
your timesheets).

Extra study load in the case of binding agreements

During the internship there will be no tests relating to this period. However, it is possible
that an agreement is reached with the study advisor regarding supplementary work in
order to clear deficiencies from previous semesters. If such a binding agreement has been
made, the study advisor or internship coordinator will mention this on the
study advice-form, and this will be regarded as an extra study load.
The examination committee can also impose extra study load, using a binding agreement
(e.g. answer to a request).

In the case of a binding agreement, this will be seen as a part of the internship, and the
internship cannot be completed before the owner of this agreement has given its consent.

5. Internship abroad
Fontys College of Engineering stimulates the fulfilling of at least one extracurricular study
phase abroad. However, not every student is suitable for this. The student needs to apply
for permission to the internship coordinator, through the Form Abroad (see website).
Essential to this application is that staying abroad will not lead to a study delay, unless the
student explicitly opts for this delay. In this last case, the consequences will naturally be
completely on the part of the student.
Therefore, one of the conditions is that the student has (almost) no outstanding study
duties over the course of the semesters prior to the semester in which he wants to perform
his internship activities abroad. The internship coordinator decides this per individual case,
mostly after consulting the study advisor for advice.
The common procedure for an internship abroad is that the student, after having granted a
written permission, takes care of an internship assignment for a company on his own. A
written prepared assignment description should be submitted for approval, by the
internship coordinator of the study Mechanical Engineering, within one working month
before starting the activities.

Prior to going abroad, the student needs to take care of a lot of affairs:

7
 - Acting Mechanical Engineering student to take care of affairs at Fontys and who
will be kept up to date with the most important affairs;
- Several insurances;
- Reporting to the Student Service Desk to set up an emergency plan;
- Valid passport, visa, immunizations;
- Subletting room in Eindhoven;
- Subsidies (mostly applicable for European countries);
- Money, tickets, etc.;
- Fontys International Office of Fontys Colleges might be of service for these affairs
(Internationaloffice-eindhoven@fontys.nl).

School supervisor usually do not visit companies abroad. The intern is responsible for
keeping in contact with his school supervisor. This mainly happens through Fontys e-mails
and by phone (Skype is also an option).
The final report for an internship abroad needs to be written in a suitable language for both
supervisors, namely English.

Interdisciplinary practically targeted assignments in a developing country are also a

possibility. Interdisciplinary groups can be comprised out of graduates and interns of a
wide range of studies of several colleges and universities. For example, think of a team
consisting of two students of economics, three technical students and one lawyer
cooperating on projects like water management, deforestation and erosion, sustainable
development, climate change and biodiversity.

In some foreign countries, a 6-day working week might be in effect. In those cases, the
student is free to take use of this, as far as Engineering goes.

6. Preparation
In the semester before the internship the student will work on the preparation of the
internship. If your internship happens to be abroad, you will probably need more time for
preparation.
The procedure regarding the acquirement of an internship is shown in figure 1.

Signing up
The preparation starts by signing up for the internship through the website. Not signed up
= no internship!

Provisional go
The provisional go is decided during a placement meeting. The student will fill in the study
advice-form and arrange an appointment with the study advisor. During the appointment
will be established whether the student is able to go on internship. The study advisor will
then present the advice that has been given during the placement meeting, after which
either a positive or negative decision will be taken, regarding the provisional go.
The provisional go will be announced by the internship coordinator on the website.
When communicating with different companies, the student should always mention that
they thus far only have a provisional go.

8
 Study advice form

Appointment study
advisor

Figure 1 Procedure acquiring internship

Acquiring an internship
Acquiring an internship takes time. Therefore, it is wise to start looking for a suitable
internship well in advance. It is important to start orientating for internships that you find
interesting even before the provisional permission is granted. It is of course possible to
start setting orientation meetings with companies, if you are positive that you will meet the
admission conditions for an internship.

9
Internships are formally approved by the internship coordinator. The quality requirements
for internships are described in appendix I.

If you would like an internship abroad, you have to speak to your study advisor for advice
and you need to use the Form Abroad.

To acquire an internship in The Netherlands, you can select an internship from a range of
options on the website or through a business contact of your own.
The student contacts the company (company supervisor or contact). As a rule, the meeting
will take place with the company supervisor. In this preliminary talk, the following items
need to be addressed:
- Internship period, starting date and duration;
- Internship activities;
- Quality of the internship; Discuss your competence development and the
possibilities to work on this.
- Filling in the company form. This fully filled in form needs to be handed over to the
internship coordinator.
- Working hours and company policies, vacations and insurances;
- Possible internship allowances can also be discussed during this first meeting. It is
important to make good and above all, clear arrangements! Fontys Engineering is
not involved in setting an internship allowance. Fontys will also not charge the
internship company in any way.

For approval, the student submits the chosen internship in writing (through the destined
“Company form” on the website) to the internship coordinator.
The time to apply for an internship is limited. The final date is stated on the website.

If an intern is not close to acquiring an internship on the final date, the coordinator will
contact the student by e-mail, in which the student gets a “no-go” for the coming
internship period. The student needs to respond to this e-mail within 5 working days what
his alternative will be.

Beware!
It is not desirable that the internship and your later final project are set in the same
company environment. Take this into account when you choose your internship.

Insurance
Students who are in The Netherlands solely for the purpose of studying (and do not have a
part-time job or a paid graduation activity) are exempt from the general requirement to take
out Dutch public healthcare insurance. Students have to make alternative arrangements
for healthcare insurance. However, during your graduation semester (paid or unpaid); you
might need to take out a Dutch health insurance. Therefore, it is important to contact the
Sociale Verzekeringsbank (SVB) to request for an investigation of your insurance situation
under the Wlz scheme.

See Link

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7. Internship Agreement
After the internship is approved, the internship agreement can be signed by the company
and student.
You can find the internship agreement of Fontys Engineering on the website.

This agreement describes the rights and duties of Fontys, the intern and the internship
company. This internship agreement is essential since the insurances of Fontys only apply
when there is a fully signed internship agreement.

All work-related laws and CLA (Collective Labour Agreement) articles – when relevant – of
the company in which the student operates, applies to the intern as well. When the intern
does not handle in accordance with these, the intern will be responsible for the possible
consequences and insurances could possibly rely on safeguard clauses.

You should fill out the “Internship Agreement” (blank copy available on our website).
This agreement should be signed by the three parties involved in your internship (you,
your internship company and Fontys).
The agreement, signed by you and the company must be mailed to the internship
coordinator. See deadline on the website.
A Dutch public healthcare insurance might be obligatory during your internship period, for
more information concerning this issue please refer Appendix III of this brochure.

The “Internship Agreement” is very essential because the Fontys liability insurance is only
applicable if this document, signed by all parties, is in our possession at the start of your
internship period.

Cancellation clause
The internship agreement contains a cancellation clause. When the previously stated
criteria for internship admission (see chapter 3) are not met, Fontys Engineering will
declare the agreement invalid and the student will not be able to follow an internship.

Signing
The internship agreement will be signed by company and student, after approval of the
internship. Sending a filled and signed agreement (apart from the Fontys signature) as a
PDF-file to the internship coordinator (by e-mail) is mandatory. The coordinator will then
take care of the signature of Fontys and will send you a PDF-copy of the fully signed
version. Thereby taking into account the conditions for admission.

Agreement with the company

In a lot of cases, the intern will be requested to sign an agreement of the company. An
agreement like this will not be signed by Fontys, since it is not party to this agreement.
In many cases, an agreement like this will not be a burden on the intern, but it is possible
that it contains provisions that can influence the career of the candidate-engineer. It is up
to the student to be alert of these provisions and to deal with them appropriately. In case of
doubt, it is recommended to contact the internship coordinator.

8. Confidentiality
It occurs that internship activities are confidential. Fontys Engineering does not advocate
this: education and personal development should, in principle, be public, so that everyone
can learn from everyone. On top of that, there could be a question of a non-competition
obligation, which would result in the student not being free to choose where to work after
his studies.
11
There can, however, be several reasons to agree with certain forms of confidentiality.
The following procedure will be used for this:
 The intern will submit the confidentiality agreement of Fontys Engineering to the
company and makes sure it is signed by the company, the internship supervisor
and the intern. The intern then sends this confidentiality agreement to the
internship coordinator.
 The fully signed confidentiality agreement needs be handed over to the internship
coordinator within one month after starting the internship. The internship
coordinator will sign the confidentiality agreement. The student receives a copy of
this agreement and sends it to the company.
 The internship coordinator lets the student administration office know that the final
report needs to be handled in confidentiality.

A confidentiality agreement does not prevent your school supervisor and Fontys
employees, who were given permission by the internship coordinator, in accordance with
the confidentiality agreement, to see reports when reviewing the intern.

Confidentiality agreements from companies

The internship coordinator is not authorized to sign confidentiality agreements from third
parties. These will be submitted to Fontys Legal Affairs, which will take a considerable time
delay.

9. Implementation
Internship period
The internship is part of the third year of studies and covers one semester (see annual
agenda), starting in the first week of lessons. In consultation with your company supervisor
and the internship coordinator, it is possible to diverge several weeks. The (possible)
consequences are, however, at the cost of the student. Before starting the semester after
the internship, the student needs to fulfill all internship requirements; therefore, every
report and corresponding form need to have been submitted.

Timesheets
The company allowed or mandatory free days, collective holidays, sick days and free days
for special purposes, such as a marriage, do not count as days for your internship.
However, mandatory ATV- or ADV-days set by the company, do count as worked days for
your internship, with a maximum of 2 days.
The student may decide to take a temporary study leave for re-sits for instance, of course
in close consultation with the internship company. These are clearly not internship days.
An internship covers 100 days, to be registered with the form; Day declaration.
The internship includes a minimum of 90 company days (working days for/at the
company) and at most 10 study days registered as visits to exhibitions, courses, return
days, writing on internship reports, etc.
This is all documented through the form “Day declaration”, see website.

Internship guidance
An school supervisor is appointed, latest at the start of the internship period. The school
supervisor keeps in touch with the student during the course of the internship and keeps
track of progress.

The intern is responsible for the internship to go well. When problems arise, the intern
takes initiative to talk through these issues with representatives from the internship
company. Also, the intern is expected to think about and cooperate with possible solutions.
As a first step, the intern always goes to the day to day supervisor, the company
supervisor.
12
Apart from the company visit, there should be a short moment of contact between the
intern and the school supervisor every 14 days. This could be, among other options, a
phone call or e-mail.

The intern governs and sees over the progress made in the internship. The school
supervisor is a guide in this process. In this process, it is the responsibility of the intern to
maintain contact. During the internship, the intern writes several partial reports and one
final report. Shortly after submitting a partial report, the intern contacts the school
supervisor. In this meeting or e-mail, the final partial report and progress is discussed.
During the internship, the school supervisor visits the company at least once.
Other moments of contact (phone or e-mail) take place on the initiative of the student.

The school supervisor watches over the level of the internship and might advise to adjust
the level when needed. Letting the intern initiate adjustments/solve problems himself or
bring them up for discussion is something that should be strived for. After all, dealing with
such situations is part of the learning process that a future engineer should be able to deal
with independently. Therefore, the intention should not be to involve the school supervisor
right away. He is there predominantly as an advisor and as a guide in the process.
The school supervisor is the most important contact for a student in this phase of the
studies. However, for issues concerning general study progress, you can always contact
your study advisor. If problems arise during your internship, it is important to ask yourself
whether these concern the company or if they concern the relation student/school. In the
first case, try to solve the problem with your company supervisor and/or HR contact. If this
fails, the school supervisor, or in some personal cases, the teaching team will come into
view.

In all cases, it applies that the internship coordinator has been mandated by the
management to represent the school. Therefore, he/she is the person you can talk to when
the previous suggestions did not lead to a solution.

In case of special agreements or special arrangements, you would be wise to get these in
writing or to confirm a summary of the conversation in writing. When a special
arrangement is made, it is mandatory to send a copy of this arrangement to the internship
coordinator.

Prevent misunderstandings
The intern writes a short report of every relevant meeting and every relevant phone call
(less than 200 words) and e-mails this to the school supervisor and the company
supervisor.

Internship visit
When your internship takes place in The Netherlands or near the border, the school
supervisor will visit you at your internship company at least once.
The intern contacts the school supervisor several weeks after starting the internship by
phone and plans the company visit in consultancy with the company supervisor. During
this visit, the contents of your internship assignment(s) as well as how you function in the
company, need to be discussed. The visit can also be used to discuss partial reports that
were already submitted. The intern initiates this visit, compiles an agenda and writes a
small report. During the visit, the student gives an introduction on his assignment(s),
approach, problems, results, supervision, etc. This role should not be taken over by the
company supervisor. On top of this, the intern, company supervisor and school supervisor,
discuss the progress of internship activities and make decisions concerning the final
report. After this, there is an extensive discussion with the student and the company
supervisor regarding the functioning of the intern and possible problems that have arisen.

13
The intern needs to be well prepared for these conversations. A tour through the company
is possible.

When your internship is abroad, a meeting like this is often not possible. It is then up to the
intern to think of a situation that meets the goals of the aforementioned company visit as
much as possible.

Reports
During your internship, you need to hand in partial reports digitally to your school
supervisor, at the latest on the times set on the website. A compilation of these partial
reports forms the final report, which will be submitted in GradeWork.
Every report needs to fulfil the guidelines as described in:
Andeweg B. and Elling R., Reporting technique. 5th ed. Groningen: Noordhoff

The partial reports are the basis for the final report. Around every 5 weeks, a partial report
is made, which gives insight into the progress of the internship activities or which deals a
certain theme, if this is arranged earlier. These partial reports are e-mailed to the school
supervisor and discussed (through phone or e-mail), so that the school supervisor can get
a good idea of the activities of the student.

Guidelines for partial and final reports are to be found on the website.
Home – International students – Mechanical Engineering – Internship and graduation –
Important documents - Internship; select Requirements and Guidelines

See Link

Completion of the internship

The intern hands in the following, no later than the last internship day (according the
agreement) :

1. Deliverables to upload in GradeWork:

• The final report : pdf-file
The name of the PDF-file is prescribed as follows:
“Internshipreport_college year_surname_given name_ studentnumber_EW.pdf”
For example: InternshipReport_2018-2019_Jones_Edward_1111222_EW.pdf
Reports with deviating names will not be processed.
The final report always has to be signed for “seen and release outside of company” by the
company supervisor! This is necessary in order to avoid disagreements regarding the
content of the final report!

• Form “day declaration” : pdf-file

The name of the file is prescribed as follows:
“Day declaration_college year_surname_given name_studentnumber_EW.pdf”
• Form “company assessment” : pdf-file
The name of the file is prescribed as follows:
“Company assessment_college year_surname_given name_studentnumber_EW.pdf”
• Your “Internship agreement” : pdf-file
The name of the file is prescribed as follows:
“Internship agreement_college year_surname_given name_studentnumber_EW.pdf”
• If needed a “Confidentiality agreement” : pdf-file
The name of the file is prescribed as follows:
“Confidentiality agreement_college year_surname_given name_studentnumber_EW.pdf”

14
Exceedance submitting term
When an intern foresees that reports and/or documents cannot be handed in within the set
terms, this has to be discussed with the school supervisor.
When delaying the final report, the intern will inform both the student administration office
as the school supervisor in writing (e-mail). Always do this by stating:
- Reason of delay;
- Date on which the documents will be submitted (decision school supervisor in
consultation with coordinator).
The initiative and the responsibility in this matter lies completely with the intern.

The internship coordinator remains authorized to decide whether to accept the reason for
delay. If the cause of the delay, directly or indirectly, lies with the internship company, the
company also needs to sign the majeure letter.
The untimely submission of documents, without aforementioned arrangements in writing,
could have severe consequences concerning the progression of the studies.

Return days and special internship days

There are no regular return days. However, it might be, that the school finds it important to
organize a special day (awareness, exhibition visit, job application training, excursion). The
intern will be timely informed. Whether these days are mandatory, will also be indicated.
When participation is mandatory and if the student is not possible to attend, the intern
needs to e-mail the intern coordinator. This message will also contain a motivation and, in
case of company interest, further support from the responsible company supervisor.
These special internship days may be declared as normal internship time.

10. Assessment and closure

To complete the internship, the school supervisor will judge the internship period. The
company will hereby advice the school supervisor in writing (company assessment: see
website). The school supervisor will also judge/check whether the student has fulfilled the
90-day criterion. If small shortcomings are found, extra assignments will be given. In case
of large gaps, the school supervisor will discuss the problem with the coordinator and an
extra internship or assignment will be assigned.

The internship is completed with a conversation (in school) with the school supervisor in
the first 3 weeks of the semester following the internship, unless the school supervisor
indicates a deviating term in advance. This deviance will need to be approved by the
internship coordinator.

The internship will be assessed through a company assessment and an assessment of the
reports.
The company assessment is the assessment of the execution of the internship, by the
company supervisor. The company supervisor will give an assessment advice through a
filled in assessment form and a preposition for a grade for the execution. The school
supervisor will give the final grade for the execution. This grade will count for 50% in the
final assessment.
The reports will be assessed based on technical contents and reporting technique.
Technical content will count for 30% and reporting technique counts for 20% of the final
assessment.
The assessment forms can be found on the website.

The internship coordinator and by extension the examination commission are ultimately
responsible for the assessment.

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The final assessment contains the following components:
 Fulltime-internship: a minimum of 100 working days; Day declaration form
 Company assessment; graded with a minimum of 5.5
 Reporting; both components graded with a minimum of 5.5
The final assessment is the average of the Company assessment and the Reporting.

Reflection report (optional)

It is also wise to evaluate your internship period with your study advisor afterwards.
However, this is not mandatory.
Based on your intentions in regards to competence development, as discussed with the
study advisor before following the internship, a reflection report can be send to the study
advisor. Afterwards, this can be further discussed if either the study advisor or yourself
finds a need to do this. Naturally, this reflection contains both your intentions as well as
achieved results.

Evaluation (mandatory survey)

You will fill in an internship evaluation (survey), which will be send to your Fontys e-mail
account in the form of a link. Through this evaluation you will give your opinion, which you
encountered during your internship, in particular the guidance by your company supervisor
and school supervisor.
It is mandatory to fill in the survey that you receive at the end of your internship period as
well as you can.

11. Conflict handling

When a student disagrees with, for example, the lack of permission to follow an internship,
the appointment or rejection of an internship, the results of a request for confidentiality or
with the final assessment of the internship work or reports, the intern will need to firstly
discuss this with the person involved.
If this does not lead to a satisfying resolution, consultation with the internship coordinator
will take place.
If this consultation does not lead to a satisfying resolution, the internship can make an
objection in writing to the examination commission of the study Mechanical Engineering.

Key concepts
Company supervisor
Appeal-objection right
Competence development
ECTS
A by the internship company designated person who
is responsible for the daily supervision of the intern.
The right of the student, who is directly damaged in
his interest by actions or decisions made by
employees, to object or appeal this.
Development of knowledge, skills, and attitudes,
which as a whole lead to an excellent functioning of
the engineer in the future business practice.
The European system for the transferring and
accumulation of study credits. (European Credit
Transfer System, abbreviated: ECTS) is a European
system to grant credits to components of a study or
education.

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E-mail address Only Fontys E-mail account
(yourname@student.fontys.nl). So, check your
Fontys E-mail on a regular basis. Remember, you
can only derive rights through the Fontys E-mail.
Examination Commission Commission comprised of employees of Fontys
College of Engineering, who are jointly responsible
for the mode of operation and assessment of the
study Mechanical Engineering
Semester guide Document which describes all rights, duties and
obligations of a student of a certain study and of a
certain generation.
Internship Practical component of the study.
Study advisor A teacher appointed by the school, who advises a
student during his study career (progress).
Internship company Company or organization, in which the student
performs activities needed for the internship; this
could also be Fontys Engineering
Student administration Takes care of the administrative processing of the
office company information and the documents submitted
by the student
School supervisor A teacher appointed by the school, who manages
contacts with both the intern and the internship
company and who assesses the intern
Internship coordinator Employee of the study Mechanical Engineering, who
has the responsibility for every internship affair. The
internship coordinator is member of the core team
and the examination commission.
Intern Student which has been placed in a
company/institution in which to complete the
internship activities by the school.
Graduation profile Specialization in the graduation phase (W5 – W8)
Working days Days in which the trainee works an entire day at the
company (that is to say, the amount of hours as per
usual in the relevant company), or spends an entire
day (idem ditto) on other activities organized by the
company. ADV-days of the company can account for
a maximum of 2 working days. Days in which the
trainee has to take an exam (or re-sit), holidays as
per the company or sick-days will not count as
working days.
Self-reflection Description of your own functioning and operating
within the competences and competence
development. Critical view on self.

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Appendix I Quality requirements internship
An internship has to meet the quality requirements set by the study. The study Mechanical
Engineering offers a wide range of internships. These may be long-term relationships, but
also incidental or new relationships. The internships are offered on the website. These
internships have not necessarily been approved yet. There must always be a company
form handed in to the internship coordinator.

An internship must meet certain requirements pertaining to the work, the company, the
timespan and the coaching/mentoring from the company. These requirements are:

- The internship work must be performed at a technical-based company or institution.

Banks, social services, insurances, etc. are non-technical companies and often
unsuitable for a Mechanical Engineering internship;
- The work to perform during the internship must have a ‘HBO-technical’ level.
- The internship activities must consist of one large or two to three fairly large partial
assignments. This means that job shadowing is out of question!
The intern needs to get his own responsibility over his own work while performing his
internship. The work may be part of a larger project for which a team of employees is
responsible. It is self-evident that an apprentice will also carry out some smaller
ancillary activities in addition to his work.
- The company has to be able to provide substantive guidance to the student. This
means that someone with sufficient technical knowledge (HBO+ level) in the company
must be appointed as a supervisor to guide the student;
- The company where the internship is carried out must have a certain minimum size and
preferably have sufficient staff who are qualified to supervise interns. Assignments at
home (own business) or a very small company (one to two employees) are therefore
unsuitable.
- Applying acquired knowledge and an introduction to the business world are important
aspects of the internship period.
- The learning effect for the student must not be too limited, which means that the
internship needs to have a relatively wide scope and needs to be challenging.
- There must be a decent learning environment. This means that there must be sufficient
space to discuss work experiences.
- The intern will have the opportunity to participate in formal discussions such as team
meetings, client discussions and consultations with the manager.
- The internship work should be sufficient to achieve the mandatory minimum of 100 days
(minimum 90 days with the company).
- No conflict of interests may occur. For example, if family members work at the
company, the student has to declare this in advance, so that the internship coordinator
can include this in his assessment prior to the examination of the assignment.
- If multiple students work together on one task, it is imperative that they are assessed on
their work, reports and competence development individually. Everyone writes their own
reports and carries individual responsibility.

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 Appendix II Competence development
During the internship, all students will work on their own competence development in a
different company.
Each student will therefore be subject to a specific, and probably different, competence. It
is important, especially during the internship, that you accommodate your personal
development plan to the company, and the assignments they have to offer. However, you
should not have your personal development be fully dependent on the assignments you
are given by the company. After all, you are in school and are largely responsible for your
own development. Correctly adjusting your personal interests to that of the company will
be necessary here. It is a ‘game’ that you need to learn how to play. It is also important
that you already begin to realize that during application procedures, businesses are not
solely interested in your curriculum, but above all in your personal competence profile and
how you present and provide proof for this. Being able to refer to the positive impression
you have left at your internship company, may help to achieve this. The given tasks makes
all of this possible.

To realize the importance of this phase of your study, we ask that you get yourself
acquainted with the requirements pertaining to your internship set by Fontys Engineering
in advance. The personal development and the internship information gatherings will help
you do this. Moreover, we ask you to think about what you want to get out of your
internship with regard to the incorporation of your interests. Think for instance about your
‘dream job’, and how you see yourself in 10 years. The study advisor can help you in this
process. Together this can be seen as a form of desired competence development.

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Appendix III General insurance
Make sure that you are properly informed on the relevant insurance!

General
Every student needs to get personal liability insurance. Fontys University of Applied
Sciences also has liability insurance.

The intern is secondarily covered via the WA-business insurance of Fontys.

That is to say that firstly the internship provider, based on chapter 6: 170 of the Civil Code
is responsible for subordinates, including the intern. If the WA-insurance of the internship
provider does not – or does not sufficiently – cover, then the intern should first and
foremost try to sort things out through their own insurance.
If both cases yield no results, then the WA-business insurance of Fontys will serve as a
safety net for actions of third parties in terms of legal liability, in which, among others,
damages with or to (motor-) vehicles are excluded.
The area of coverage is global. The coverage of internships in the USA and Canada are
subject to exceptions.
Note!
For every internship, the insurance is only valid if there is an internship agreement signed
by Fontys.

Accident insurance including travel expenses

There is a collective accident insurance that covers damages resulting from accidents
happening during school-hours, excursions and activities. Expenses as a result from
dental or medical treatment are covered (supplementing the personal medical insurance
policy and up until a maximum amount), as well as handouts in the case of permanent
disability or death. This policy insures, among others, students, employees and interns.

More information is on the website of Fontys Juridische zaken:

https://connect.fontys.nl/diensten/OenO/juridische-zaken
Use the email address stated on this page.

Medical Insurance
In the Netherlands, it is mandatory to have a basic medical insurance policy.

Foreign students who are in The Netherlands solely for the purpose of studying (and do
not have a part-time job or a paid graduation activity) are exempt from the general
requirement to take out Dutch public healthcare insurance. Students have to make
alternative arrangements for healthcare insurance. However, during your internship or
graduation semester (paid or unpaid); you might need to take out a Dutch health
insurance. Therefore, it is important to contact the Sociale Verzekeringsbank (SVB) to
request for an investigation of your insurance situation under the Wlz scheme.

See Link

Social laws (the Netherlands):

When following an internship in a company or institution, the intern is usually subject to
normal provisions of the employment contract, which counts for all employees. Inform
yourself on this at the relevant company. Usually not only the normal duties, such as
working hours etc. are written down, but also the rights of the employees.

The company will have to satisfy the contribution following the social insurance laws. The
mandatory payroll taxes will be held by the company. In the case of there being no
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obligations concerning payroll taxes, the company still needs to report it to the business
association, because of the disability insurance (WAO) coverage.

The social laws are applicable to make sure that, as a rule, the intern is covered against
the consequences of disease, accidents, disability, etc.

If the student is rewarded or paid during the internship, then it depends on the relevant
company whether the payment persists through sickness.

Insurance in the case of following an internship abroad

The insurance that you are required to have (at the bare minimum) according to Fontys!

 Liability insurance (global coverage up to € 1.250.000,-).

You also need to be properly insured against the liability for damages that you
bring on others (people or goods).
Most insurance companies offer different amounts of coverage (ranging anywhere
from € 1 million to € 2,5 million). If your coverage happens to be too low, the judge
may obligate the insured to pay for the residual part. Case law shows that judges
set the limit at € 1,25 million.
 Health insurance.
Ask your insurance company if your basic health insurance offers sufficient
coverage regarding the cost of medical treatment in the relevant country. If this is
not the case, then you will need full foreign insurance supplementing your basic
health insurance. If this is the case, and if you are going to a country within the EU,
then you should ask your insurance company for an EU Health Insurance Card. If
you are not going to a country that is a member of the EU, then you will, again,
need full foreign insurance supplementing your basic health insurance.
 Repatriation insurance.
and finally: if something terrible happens to you while abroad, then you will want
your parents to be able to come over, or be able to have yourself transported to the
Netherlands for treatment.

For more information consult the website “Fontys Study Abroad”.

See Fontys Onderwijs en Onderzoek•O&O - samenwerking - Studyabroad

Website: see Link

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