56 Transactions of the Royal Canadian Institute 



Technology, there are optional courses in chemistry and also in electrical 

 engineering, which occupy five years, and lead to a malster's degree. 

 After the first two years spent exclusively, in college, they are carried out 

 in cycles of alternate collegiate and industrial study. In the electrical 

 engineering option, the student's cycle is of eight months duration, four 

 months in college and four months at the Lynn w[orks of the General 

 Electric Cb. During the alternation at college, the studies are of the 

 regular kind. During the alternation at the factory, the work is mainly 

 industrial, along a definite schedule, with certain evening collegiate 

 studies administered by a special member of the college faculty, and also 

 by selected members of the works engineering staff. 



The faculty of the Harvard Engineering School has also recently 

 reported in favour of adopting a co-operative option during the Junior 

 yea;r, including two summers, employing a four-month cycle with two 

 months at college and two months in an industry, alternately. It is 

 expected that this plan will receive the consent of the H'arvard governing 

 boards. 



Iji all these co-operative technical education plans, the advantages to 

 the student are that" his pay under employment goes largely towards 

 paying for his education, and also that he learns by experience during 

 his college years the value of applied science to production. Although 

 he makes no agreement with the works, if he pursues the course success- 

 fully, he is fairly sure of employment there after his degree has been 

 obtained. The advantages to the industries are that they are thus able 

 to obtain more rapid training for the graduate they may come to employ, 

 and, during the formative years, to bring the men into close contact 

 with the work and personnel of the shops. During the student appren- 

 tice period, the shopwork of the men can also be made economically 

 effective; although it might not be worth carrying on, if the men did 

 not elect to join the corporation after graduation. The advantage to 

 the college is that it brings the college into touch with the industry and 

 its problems. This also has an influence on the research work of the 

 college. 



A schedule of the above outlined electrical engineering co-operative 

 course at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is appended to 

 this paper. 



It seems likely that othsr colleges will enter into similar co-operative 

 industrial plans of technical education,* These plans are still young, 

 and it will be some years before the experience gained with them can 

 be definitely determined. So far as is known to the writer, however, no 



*Such plans are in force in the Engineering Departments of Columbia University 

 and the University of Pennsylvania, 



