Brian Jones (ME) wins 2007 Lou Takacs Co-op Award

Brian Jones was awarded UK's Lou Takacs Engineering Cooperative Education Award at the College of Engineering's 2007 Awards Banquet on April 17, 2007. Brian was honored for his work at Osram-Sylvania.  After graduating this May, Brian will be a trainee in Osram-Sylvania's Associate Development Program. Initially, he will be working at Osram Sylvania in Versailles, KY.

Below is Brian's statement on the difference, co-op has made for him:

"I can honestly say that obtaining a co-op with Osram Sylvania was a blessing. The co-op experience that I have gained has made a huge difference in my academic life as well as my personal life. The co-op experience has also directed me to a career path.

First off, the experience I gained as a co-op has made a drastic impact on my education. Prior to beginning the co-op, I was very disheartened and did not know if engineering was the career path I wanted to follow. The final semester before I began working was my worst, and at the time I was certain that I was going to change majors.

...I was thankful to have obtained a co-op, so that I could have a break from school. However, that semester something changed. Through co-op, and working in the industry I began to understand why we were learning what we had, and why engineers were so important. Everything seemed to "click" and made sense. At work, I began using things that I had learned in class, and I could see how the knowledge we were gaining at school was actually applicable to real life and to engineering problems. Since beginning my coop
experience I have ...brought my cumulative GPA up significantly. I was also awarded a scholarship for the first time in my college career. Because of my co-op experience I was much more focused on what I had to learn and what I needed to accomplish to become an engineer.

Finally, the co-op experience has made a drastic change in my personal life and my career path. As far as for my personal life, through cooping I was able to save some money which allowed me to persevere on through school. I don't come from a family with a lot of money, so I have had to pay for school on my own. Up until I received a coop position, I thought that I was going to have to take a semester or two off from school so that I could save up money to pay for school. My co-op experience allowed me to save up enough to continue my education. It also is the reason I am now happily engaged and am going to be married in September!

As far as my career path, the experience I gained through my co-op was a key role in obtaining a job after graduation. Last fall I was able to meet with the director of the Associate Development Program for Osram Sylvania. This is a two year, professional training program which is geared for fast paced learning, and is primarily responsible for developing young talent into engineers and managers with in the company. I was fortunate enough to be selected as one of two individuals from 6 different universities for the position.  Because of my co-op experience, I was able to secure a highly competitive position within the company that I cooped for. Through my co-op I was able to better focus on school, ascertain the means to continue my education, and obtain a prestigious position within one of the world's leading lighting industries. It has no doubt, changed my life!"

Read more about Brian's co-op at Osram Sylvania