Co-op program details

Embedded%20Systems%20Development%20(Optional%20Co-op)

Program details

Credential: 2-Year Ontario College Graduate Certificate

This 16-month graduate certificate program builds on prior education to prepare students with the specialised knowledge and skills to design, develop and implement hardware and software for state-of-the-art embedded systems.

With a strong emphasis on project-based learning, students learn practical skills in embedded system design and development in addition to associated underlying principles. Topics include: embedded firmware development, embedded board design and layout, interfacing, embedded operating system software development and software engineering.

Students are exposed to a wide range of high-performance development tools, platforms and equipment during practical lab and the project development sessions to hone their expertise. The hands-on practical approach includes a capstone project opportunity for students to design custom hardware/software solutions.

Graduates are well prepared for careers in the expanding and evolving fields of embedded systems development.

Student availability & wage data

Conestoga College facilitates recruitment on an ongoing basis - there are no hard deadlines. Typical time frames for work terms are listed below.

Postings are accepted beginning four months before the start of a term until all students have secured employment provided the minimum 12 consecutive weeks of full-time work is met.

Work/Study Sequence

Year Semester Semester Semester
Year 1 Classes Classes Work Term*: $17-27
Year 2 Classes

*Note: students are available for work term each semester: fall (September to the end of December); winter (January to the end of April); spring (May to the end of August).

Conestoga College collects data on hourly wages of co-operative education students and offers suggested ranges as a service to employers for the purpose of establishing fair and competitive compensation.

Our experience has been that employers increase wages as skills increase, particularly when employing students for more advanced work terms. The Co-operative Education Office can provide assistance to employers in establishing appropriate wage rates.

Work term capabilities

  • Design and implement firmware for embedded systems
  • Design and implement embedded printed circuit boards for microcontroller-based embedded systems
  • Write embedded software to run on embedded platforms using a variety of development tools
  • Design and implement interfaces for embedded platforms (analog/digital)
  • Test hardware and software implementations to determine faults and corrective actions

Sample job titles

  • Embedded Firmware Developer
  • Embedded Software Developer
  • Embedded Hardware Designer
  • Embedded Hardware Tester
  • Embedded Software Tester
  • Hardware Designer
  • Software Designer
  • Developer - IOT
  • Hardware Test Engineer
  • Software Test Engineer
  • Quality Assurance (QA) Support

Post a co-op job now

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Contact information

Do you need help developing a recruitment plan or job posting, accessing wage information, or connecting with a talented co-op student? Contact:

Hemant Chauhan
Employer Relations Consultant
hchauhan@conestogac.on.ca