[kmandevi]

From one of the other threads on this site I noticed that there are a lot of Mechanical Engineers here. I'm just about to start my 3rd of 4 years for my BS in Mechanical Engineering. I am going to start researching interships for next summer now. So where have you guys interned that you really liked? Any ME's in the bicycle industry read these forums. Anything else you think will help me out would be greatly apprechiated.

Thanks,
Ken

Oh, by the way I go to school at FL Tech in Melbourne, FL. I have pleanty of other places I could go for the summer.

 

[AMessy]

I did three summers on internship at Kimberly-Clark. It was ok but not really what i wanted to do full time so after graduation i passed up an offer with them for a job at a small Marine
Engineering firm. I would say it was a very good experience and the experience made finding a job easier when i graduated.

 

[crashomatic]

internship

chris king sometimes hires interns. now wouldnt that be sweet.

 

[Jet-Mech]

G'day Kmandevi . I thought you were located in Melbourne Australia! It seems that the requirements for internships (work experience ) is less stringent in Australia. We were only required to do 60 days of work placement for our degree. Most of my mates found placements in small manufacturing companies. Many of these people were offered continuing employment after their initial placement, and they are thus working at the same time as completing their final year of study.

I personally worked for 7 years as an Aircraft Mechanic before I started university. I thus used this experience as the basis for my work experience requirements. Perhaps you should ring some of the airlines at your local airport and ask for a placement with their engineering department? You are sure to enjoy being around these machines given the degree you are currently studying.

 

[Clutch]

Try Disney

Other than that call career services at your school.

 

[Tracerboy]

Unless you got a stacked resume, get what you can for your first internship. Don't be picky otherwise you may pass up opportunities. It's very important to get that first internship to show future employers you have experience. It gets easier after that. I am currently going to start my last year of school in ME and have done an internship and co-op. I would find it very difficult to find a job once out of school without the experience of internships. Good luck!

 

[psunuc]

HAHA, obviously you didn't graduate from Penn State. We are getting jobs within the first week of graduation without co-ops or internships. Pretty much every engineer graduating from here is able to get a job within the first month of graduation. I'm a senior and I have two years left but that is because I am a dual-major. NucE/ME with a minor in EnvE!

 

[baldy]

Good website

This website proved useful for many of my students:

http://www.tech-interns.com/

Good luck!

 

[Tracerboy]

HAHA, obviously you didn't graduate from Penn State. We are getting jobs within the first week of graduation without co-ops or internships. Pretty much every engineer graduating from here is able to get a job within the first month of graduation. I'm a senior and I have two years left but that is because I am a dual-major. NucE/ME with a minor in EnvE!

I sense a bit of ego in that statement. I havent graduated yet but doing my last year at university of wisconsin. Yes you could get whatever job you can, but having previous experience certainly helps in finding the job you want. And why wouldnt you get a internship or co-op, it pays a hellva alot better than most summer jobs, its a win win situation. I hope your over confidence doesn't get to you once you graduate and can't find a job, cuz its not a gurantee no matter where you graduate from.

 

[sac02]

I sense a bit of ego in that statement.

no kidding...
if you want to gloat...
I read recently (can't remember where for the life of me) that Penn has some of the worst grade inflation in the country. No wonder you have such great placement rates when the grade distribution is 70 or 80% A's in certain colleges. My brother who just completed his MS in Systems Engineering at Penn supports the stats i saw with anecdotal evidence.

To the OP, I interned only one summer and would highly recommend it. I cannot comment on how/if it helped me land a job, as I am pursuing my masters at the moment.

Mac

 

[psunuc]

Clearly I can see where your confusing could be seen as me gloating. Once you read the thread before mine you will see it was stated: "I would find it very difficult to find a job once out of school without the experience of internships." So I had a good chuckle, hence the "HAHA". Then I stated the fact that Penn State Engineers have no problem finding jobs, clearly pointing out the fact that it ISN'T "very difficult to find a job once out of school without the experience of internships."

Start with the reading and stop with the finger-pointing.

Also, Penn is in Philadelphia, Penn State is in State College; two completely different schools. Penn State is actually known for their level of difficulty (not letting the retake of a course substitute previous grade, world-class professors, etc.).

I'm sure you didn't read the previous statement though, no hostility. We are all engineers together, not one better than the other; only united to solve problems.

 

[b12yan88]

Clearly I can see where your confusing could be seen as me gloating.

it looked like gloating to me too, so maybe it was just you. Upenn is a top tier school that is highly recruited, so i dont think that's a fair comparison. Anyways, you should stop gloating =P

 

[uktrailmonster]

While I was studying mech eng at uni I worked 2 summers for Ford at their European research centre and 1 summer for Rolls Royce Aero in the UK. Got both these jobs by just writing off to as many companies as possible and as early as possible. By the time I graduated I had already built up a reasonable amount of work experience which made a big difference when it came to job hunting.

 

[psunuc]

Yes, UPenn is top tier in Pre-Med, not so much in engineering. I wouldn't choose to go there for engineering when PSU is about 3 hours away. Obviously UPenn was brought up for engineering reasons.