

- Description
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Thompson Rivers University, or TRU, is a comprehensive, learner-centered, environmentally responsible institution that serves its regional, national, and international learners and their communities through high quality and flexible education, training, research, and scholarship.
Riipen is centrally organized through the TRU Career and Experiential Learning Department - faculty questions regarding the Riipen platform can be sent to Larry Iles, Senior Faculty CEL liles@tru.ca
Recent experiences
TRU Level UP: Summer 2025
Skilled, motivated students from Thompson Rivers University ready to support your business. Level UP connects you with post-secondary students from across Canada who are eager to apply what they’re learning in the classroom to real-world challenges. These students are motivated, curious, and looking to grow. They bring fresh perspectives and emerging skills to your project. Students work on 60-hour, short-term projects and are paid a $1,400 stipend directly by Riipen, thanks in part to the Government of Canada’s Innovative Work-Integrated Learning (I-WIL) Initiatives program. This means there’s no cost to you. Level UP makes it easy to tackle meaningful tasks, test ideas, or explore new opportunities with the support of engaged, early-career talent—while helping the next generation of professionals grow. Project timeline: Request to match your project: May 12 - June 6, 2025 Program administrators will review all requests and let you know if changes are needed to set the project up for success. Students invited to join: June 16, 2025 Students apply to projects: June 16 - June 27, 2025 Student will apply to projects. You must review applications and accept your team(s) during this period. Max project start date: July 7, 2025 Max project end date: August 29, 2025 For more program details, see our landing page for employers
TRU Co-op Winter 2025: Real-World Innovation in Tourism, Business & Tech
Coop 1000
My Career Management Class at Thompson Rivers University seeks proposals for several 14-week projects from various organizations with project needs in tourism management, event planning, digital marketing, IT programming, finance, sustainability, public relations, and business operations . Organizations need only to present their real-world problems to solve and groups of students or individual students will select the projects to work on for the term of the experiential learning opportunity. Bring one or more students from Thompson Rivers University enrolled in Co-op Education to work with you in a project-based experience. Students are available for 30 hours (throughout the course) for the project experience from (Jan 20th to April 18th).
TRU Business Bootstrap: Entrepreneurial Venture Sprint (with Research Pods)
Co-op 3300
This experience supports students participating in the TRU Business Bootstrap Program and Research to Venture Program by offering them a structured, credit-eligible entrepreneurship sprint. Over the summer, students will develop and present their business ideas in collaborative learning pods using Riipen. Each pod includes a student entrepreneur, 1–2 research assistants, and an employer mentor. Students will document their business development journey, conduct applied research, receive targeted feedback, and prepare for a final showcase presentation. Participants: There are 21 learning pods in total, each with 3–4 members. Entrepreneurs: Domestic students enrolled in Co-op 3300 (Work Term 1) Research Assistants: Domestic students in Research to Venture, contributing ~100 hours Mentors: Provided via TRU Generator, Venture Kamloops, etc. Learning Outcomes Students will: Gain hands-on business and research experience Apply entrepreneurial and analytical thinking Collaborate across disciplines in a real-world business context Practice pitching and presenting their venture Timeline May 14 @ 1:00 PM – Initial coordination meeting June 4 – Orientation & Riipen onboarding July 15 – Mid-term checkpoint / site visit August 31 – Final showcase presentation (poster & pitch) Funding Eligible participants will receive: $1800 Bootstrap Bursary (entrepreneurs only, if domestic) Undergraduate Research Certificate (for Research Assistants) Access to mentorship, workshops , and 100+ hours of research support
Tap into Emerging Tech Talent: Partner with TRU Computer Science Students
Our learners are 2nd and 3rd Diploma and Degree Computer Science and Information Technology International students from Thompson Rivers University. They may have completed core academic coursework in areas such as: Programming (Java, Python, C++) Web development (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) Database management (SQL, MySQL) Systems analysis and design Software engineering principles Networking and cybersecurity foundations UI/UX fundamentals Cloud computing and data structures They bring problem-solving skills, adaptability, and experience working on collaborative, real-world projects through their coursework. Many students have also completed personal, volunteer, or academic projects in GitHub environments.
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