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The international board is responsible for arranging internship exchanges; to do this, they rely on national committees from participating countries to do their jobs. Each national committee works independently in its own way while also fulfilling basic objects set by the international board. It is the national committee which represents educational, student, and industrial interests on the national level.

The U.S. national committee does its work with the help of several local committees, which are scattered across the United States tied to certain participating universities. It is the duty of both the national and local committees to raise jobs for incoming IAESTE interns. Each job raised guarantees one student from a local committee to be placed abroad.

A local committee is responsible for searching and arranging new jobs in the region for foreign students and arranging accommodations for arrivals. It helps out with student applications, and informs students and companies about the opportunities offered by IAESTE. Social activities are planned for interns and committee members, and occasionally members attend conferences here in the United States and abroad.

The current list of all local committees in the United States can be found here.

IAESTE Local Committees (LCs) are instrumental in furthering the mission of IAESTE United States: "Developing Global Skills in Tomorrow's Technical Leaders"

All LC activities should relate to this mission.

Purposes of IAESTE Local Committees

IAESTE LCs assist IAESTE United States in its goals and have the following purposes:

• To serve the membership by facilitating experiences and events that develop global skills in tomorrow's technical leaders.
• To exchange students of engineering, computer science, natural and physical sciences, architecture, agricultural sciences or other technical fields who are enrolled at colleges and universities granting degrees of Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Arts, or degrees equivalent to or higher than these, in order to obtain technical experience abroad relative to their studies in the broadest sense.
• To promote and arrange educational activities for United States and international students in order to advance their knowledge of engineering, natural and physical sciences, other technical fields of study and cultural education.
• To further international understanding and goodwill among students, host companies, educational institutions and the community at large.

Local Committee Activities

IAESTE Local Committees participate in the following activities:

• Acting as affiliates of the International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience (IAESTE) United States.
• Cultivating domestic internships with U.S. employers in return for sending LC members overseas for international internships.
• Representing IAESTE United States on campus.
• Executing student organization activities which promote the mission and purposes of IAESTE United States.
• Assisting with locating housing and organizing social events for incoming international IAESTE student interns.
• Attending regional and national student conferences.
• Engaging in fundraising activities that support the mission and purposes of IAESTE United States.

Provide students at institutions of higher education with technical experience abroad relative to their studies in the broadest sense

Promote international understanding and goodwill amongst the students of all nations irrespective of race, color, sex or creed

Operate an exchange program for the benefit of students, academic institutions, industrial, and other organizations offering traineeships

The International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience was founded in 1948 at Imperial College, London.

Imperial College Vacation Work Committee headed by Mr James Newby initiated a meeting with national organizations from 10 European countries in a post war effort to promote better understanding between countries and cultures.

Since 1948, the association has grown to include more than 80 countries world-wide and has exchanged in excess of 300,000 students. This means that yearly IAESTE exchanges around 6000 students playing a key role in the development of technical undergraduates able to make their mark in a global economy.

The IAESTE Association is a confederation of National Committees representing academic, industrial, and student interests. Each national committee is responsible for the administration of the exchange in its own country.

Membership is given after the establishment of a National Committee in accordance with the statutes of IAESTE, together with a responsible permanent secretariat.

The type of secretariat which administers the exchange varies according to each country's national structure, educational system, and funding policies.

The essential requirement is that the national secretariat, whatever its organization and status, should have competent permanent staff.

What does IAESTE offer to employers?

• Sourcing and selection of high calibre technical students according to requirements
• Hands-on service for easy and time-effective administration
• Networking opportunities through foreign students and universities
• Administration of work permit applications for placement students
• Accommodation arrangement for placement students (Open exchange only)
• Provision of pastoral and social care for placements students

What does IAESTE offer to students?

• Provision of paid, technical work experience abroad for skill enhancement
• Safe experience through IAESTE support network
• Support with practical arrangements i.e. work permits / visa, accommodation and travel

The international body of IAESTE is a non-political, independent non-governmental organization maintaining consultative or operational relationship with the following agencies of the United Nations:

UNESCO - UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
ECOSOC - UN Economic and Social Council
UNIDO - UN Industrial Development Organization
ILO - International Labour Office

IAESTE is also in contact with:

EU - European Union
ECA - United Nations Economic Council for Africa
FAO - Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN
OAS - Organization of American States

as well as with many educational non-governmental organizations

Source of information: http://www.iaeste.org & IAESTE US LC Manual

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