As computer engineering student Alexander Segarra’25 looked at how he wanted to build his career, he decided it would be a good idea to consider a co-op position. While internships allow a student to have a part-time or summer experience at a company in their field, the College of Engineering and Computer Science’s signature co-op program gives a student an extended, full-time opportunity to experience working with a company on more advanced projects.

“Work experience is pretty important when you go out into the workforce,” says Segarra. “It is very valuable learning the work environment, especially if you want to go down a certain route.”

Working with the career services team in the College of Engineering and Computer Science, Segarra was accepted for a co-op position with Novelis, a global leader in aluminum products, at their Oswego location about 45 minutes north of Syracuse.

“The career services team was very helpful,” says Segarra. “They helped set everything up and had the right contacts. If you aren’t sure how to start, they are a great resource.”

Novelis is a premier partner with the College of Engineering and Computer Science’s Employer Partnership Program and the company’s engineers appreciate the chance to bring Syracuse University students in to work on meaningful projects.

“You actually give them a real project, something they can take to completion,” says Rick Fiumara, a principal engineer at Novelis. “The best way to find out if you like your field is to do a co-op.”

For Segarra, his co-op opportunity showed him how he can apply the skills he was learning in classes to real world situations.

“Some of the people don’t even know I’m a co-op, they see me as a real employee,” said Segarra.

“With co-ops, they have more time to grow. It gives us more time to develop an individual,” says Stephen Dahar, engineering manager for Novelis. “It gives us a good look at who you are and can in some situations lead to full time employment.”

Novelis liked what they saw of Segarra and Segarra liked what he saw in the company’s culture and flexibility. He was offered a full-time position and will go back to Novelis right after graduation.

“Once I start my full time job it will be like picking up where I left off,” says Segarra.