By partnering with the University of Windsor to provide co-op experiences for students, Rocket Innovation Studio is both preparing the next generation of tech professionals and securing a pipeline of talent for its future workforce.

Rocket Innovation Studio launched in Windsor in 2019, providing customized tech solutions for businesses, including back-end and front-end development, data science, and product development.

The firm hires multiple co-op and internship students from the University of Windsor each term.

“Part of our mission when we opened Rocket Innovation Studio was to establish a tech culture here in Windsor. We believe a way we can achieve that goal is by creating great partnerships with world-class academic institutions like the University of Windsor,” said Agostino Di Pietro, the company’s director of software development. “Students who have come to Rocket Innovation Studio from the University of Windsor have been amazing to work with and we hope to continue expanding this partnership in the years to come.”

Di Pietro says the success of UWindsor co-op students comes from their willingness to learn while at the same time bringing fresh perspectives and new ideas.

“Besides being talented programmers, students, and people, the openness to learning new technology has enabled these students to be successful. They are often faced with learning something new or applying something they learned in school in the real world, and have taken on that challenge in stride,” he says.

When hiring, Rocket Innovation Studio specifically searches for students with an entrepreneurial mindset and an eye for innovation, seeking those who stay on top of trends and can leverage what they learn in the classroom with concepts and resources they learn on their own.

From the day they join Rocket Innovation Studio until the day they leave, co-op students contribute meaningful work to active projects while learning firsthand from experienced developers.

“The co-op students we hire are fully integrated into our software development teams and learn about product development and software development firsthand,” says Di Pietro. “They are treated the same as any other member of the team and can take on work for our high-profile projects.”

One recent co-op student was Aya Madi, a fourth-year University of Windsor business and computer science student who worked as a product owner co-op from May until September, when she returned to her studies. Her role was uniquely positioned to connect technology and business, giving her the opportunity to interact with both the technical team as well as business stakeholders.

“During my work term, I was involved in projects that required collaboration with both internal and external stakeholders, as well as some teams on the Agile Release Train,” she said. “We operated within an Agile framework to develop custom software solutions, with products aimed to help clients achieve their dream of owning a home.”

In other projects, she was exposed to various testing techniques and stages, helping to enhance her ability to communicate effectively with developers.

“My co-op placement at Rocket Innovation Studio helped me gain a solid understanding of the product owner role. I was able to apply classroom skills to real-world projects and learned to think strategically by understanding the company’s product vision,” says Madi. “Getting the opportunity to work cross-functionally improved my communication skills while also expanding my professional network.”

Co-op students at Rocket Innovation Studio are paired with a mentor for the entirety of their work terms to help coach and support them to achieve their goals and meet expectations.

“We encourage our mentors to have paired programming sessions with the students so that they can learn first-hand the best practices and industry standards we follow to create elite software solutions,” says Di Pietro. “Our mentors and team leaders are also tasked with ensuring students have a great experience overall by involving them in any activities or additional learnings offered by Rocket Innovation Studio.”

Rocket Innovation Studio continues to nurture the next generation of talent in its industry through partnership with the University of Windsor, including hiring co-op and internship students, and participating in experiential learning opportunities like the Job Shadow Program, Tech Career Panels, and the WinHacks hackathon.