2025 Summer Internship in Taiwan:
As part of our ongoing commitment to talent development and community engagement, AECOM has been providing students in Taiwan with diverse, practice-oriented learning experiences since 2015 — supporting them in exploring and shaping their future career paths.
Our Summer Internship Program is jointly delivered by professionals across five business lines (BL) — Buildings+Places (B+P), Environment Impact Assessment & Monitoring (EM), Remediation (RE), Transportation (TRA) and Water (WAT), our Summer Internship Program offers interns cross-disciplinary, hands-on learning experience and a deep understanding of how integrated expertise shapes the built environment.
Reimagining heritage through sustainability and design
After six weeks of immersive learning, collaboration and real-world problem-solving, the 2025 program concluded with interns presenting ideas to transform a historic industrial site into a platform for sustainability, innovation and future use.
This year, students from diverse disciplines — including civil engineering, environmental science, water, urban planning and landscape architecture — took on one of the program’s most ambitious challenges: rethinking the future of the Tai-Gin Refinery’s Thirteen Levels site in Shui-Nan-Dong, Ruifang District, New Taipei City.
From ruins to vision
As part of the program, interns visited northeastern Taiwan to experience the Thirteen Levels firsthand — a striking terraced landmark from Taiwan’s mining era. Rich in cultural significance yet shaped by environmental challenges, the site provided a compelling and complex case study.
1 iconic site
Tai-Gin Refinery’s Thirteen Levels
1 complex brief
balancing heritage preservation, environmental remediation and future development
3 multidisciplinary teams
exploring distinct design approaches
5 integrated disciplines
bridging expertise across business lines
Guided by AECOM mentors, interns examined environmental risks, historical context and development opportunities, transforming a sensitive site into a powerful learning platform.
Three teams, three perspectives
Working from the same brief, each team developed a unique response, showcasing different interpretations of sustainability, heritage and community value.
Collectively, the proposals demonstrated the interns’ ability to translate complexity into thoughtful, interdisciplinary design strategies.
Team A | Focused on enhancing accessibility and spatial connectivity, exploring how industrial heritage can be reintegrated into everyday public life.
Team B | Emphasized ecological restoration and long-term resilience, balancing remediation needs with environmental and community value.
Team C | Adopted a narrative-driven approach, using immersive and sensory design to reinterpret the relationship between people, nature and industrial memory.
Learning through complexity
A central focus of the programme was navigating real‑world complexity. Interns were challenged to synthesize insights from multiple disciplines into a single, coherent vision.
One of the most technically demanding components was site risk mapping, involving analysis across multiple data points and contaminant categories. Despite the scale, interns successfully distilled their findings into clear, compelling presentations — demonstrating both strong analytical capability and effective communication skills.
Hear what our interns say
Top performing interns were recognized with certificates of completion. This year, 12 high potential students from diverse universities and disciplines successfully completed our six week internship programme. Hear directly from them as they reflect on their journey — sharing key experiences, challenges overcome, and the valuable insights gained throughout their time with us.
My journey at AECOM evolved from initial uncertainty to successfully delivering results with my teammates. Beyond extracting value from complex data and enhancing my cross-disciplinary communication, I realized the importance of bridging the gap between theory and practice. I’m truly grateful for the 2025 summer spent with the AECOM team and my fellow interns!
Ariel Lin
Intern, WAT
Bioenvironmental Systems Engineering, National Taiwan University (NTU)
Looking back, interning at AECOM was one of the best decisions of my life. The journey was challenging from learning about some environmental regulations to collaborating on team projects. But overcoming these difficulties helped me grow a lot and see where I needed to improve. I learned much more than I expected. I will pack these invaluable experiences and carry them forward confidently into my future.
Harry Yu
Intern, EM
Public Health, Taipei Medical University (TMU)
During my internship at AECOM, I gained a comprehensive understanding of departmental roles and the internal division of labor. Through cross-departmental knowledge-sharing sessions, I also learned how different teams collaborate to deliver complex projects. This experience has been important in shaping my career trajectory and long-term professional goals.
Mark Wang
Intern, TRA
Geography, National Taiwan University (NTU)
Interning at AECOM wasn’t just about improving my architectural skills; it was about learning from teammates with different backgrounds and understanding their unique perspectives. I also learned how to integrate diverse ideas. This internship experience has made me a more confident person.
Tiffany Liu
Intern, B+P
Architecture, Chung Yuan Christian University (CYCU)
AECOM’s emphasis on interdisciplinary thinking has enabled me to work with people across diverse fields of interest. Exchanging expertise sparked unexpected dialogue and sharper problem-solving, from tackling data, health risk calculation, to the final pitch proposal. Presenting to the review panel and our mentors showed me how AECOM bridges technical rigor with an openness to creative vision.
Jeff Tsai
Intern, EM
Biology & Film Studies, University of Richmond, USA
Mentors team: preparing interns for success
Mentors play a vital role in AECOM’s internship program, guiding interns through their transition into the professional world, and offering practical insights and support. This collaboration help interns develop essential skills and understand industry practices, while also enriching mentors’ professional growth via dynamic knowledge exchange.
More than an internship
Beyond technical learning, the program became a meaningful journey of growth. Through site visits, collaborative workshops and final presentations, interns demonstrated curiosity, resilience and a willingness to engage with the complex challenges shaping Taiwan’s future.
The 2025 AECOM Summer Internship Program once again highlights the value of connecting emerging talent with real-world challenges — creating opportunities not only for learning, but also for meaningful contributions to sustainable development and place-based thinking.
Follow us to learn more about AECOM’s internship opportunities and ongoing projects in Taiwan.