Enhanced training through the NSERC CREATE program on New Technologies for Canadian Observatories (NTCO)

The NSERC CREATE training program on New Technologies for Canadian Observatories (NTCO) has been a unique collaboration between academia, government, and industry to advance innovation in astronomical instrumentation while fostering knowledge exchange as part of an advanced student training program. Through strategic partnerships and funding support, NTCO facilitated the creation of industrial internship opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students in physics, astronomy, and engineering, enabling them to gain valuable professional experience while making high impact contributions to cutting-edge research projects. The NTCO program included nearly 200 supervisors (a third in industry) working together to successfully bridge the gaps between academia, government, and industry, through 70 industrial internships (37 graduate, 33 undergraduate) over the seven-year duration of the program. This paper will outline the key activities and outcomes of the NTCO program, ranging from our strategies in recruiting a diverse group of students and matching them with appropriate industrial internship experiences, to the benefits of advanced summer school training, peer support, annual general meetings, and professional skills development courses for our participants.