A Summer of Innovation
Each summer we look forward to welcoming a new cohort of interns. Over the years our intern program has grown from a couple of engineering students to include interns from a wider range of interests. We now partner with local high schools and organizations to offer internships for high school students. We have also expanded our internships for college students to include roles not just in Engineering but also in IT, HR, Accounting, Supply Chain, and Production.
This year we added several Lunch and Learn events geared towards helping our interns understand the role they are playing in our company, as well as helping them prepare for the next step after graduation when they are job seekers.
Intern Expo
At our intern expo – where each intern gives a presentation on what he or she learned, I got to sit down with each intern and ask them a little bit about their time here.
Hannah Berscheid
School/Degree: University of Minnesota – Duluth, Electrical Engineering.
Internship: Engineering Intern
Favorite Thing About Internship: Hannah said her favorite part of her internship was how hands on it was and being able to build jigs -overall, she loved making things.
Favorite Thing About Design Ready Controls: Her favorite part was the atmosphere – especially the intern atmosphere. All of the interns are friends and they have a lot of fun together.
Key Takeaway: Hannah learned she likes more about engineering than she thought – she knew she liked bio medical engineering, but she now knows she also likes controls and making things.
Dan Clark
School/Degree: Dunwoody, Computer System Analyst
Internship: Software Development
Favorite Thing About Internship: Dan’s favorite part about his internship was programming and learning in a real world scenario.
Favorite Thing About Design Ready Controls: He said everyone is really friendly and helpful just by asking questions – overall everything!
Key Takeaway: His key takeaway was learning how to build an API.
Andrea Duvall
School/Degree: University of Wisconsin La Crosse, Accounting
Internship: Accounting
Favorite Thing About Internship: One thing I really liked about this internship was that I got the opportunity to learn about all aspects of the business through the Lunch-and-Learns. They were beneficial for me to see because it all related back to accounting.
Favorite Thing About Design Ready Controls: Design Ready Controls really seems to have a team approach to everything they do and care about all their employees! The stand-up meetings keep everyone informed with the same information whether they work in the office or on the production floor. I constantly see people in the conference rooms working with other people in their department, or someone from a different department. Some examples of how Design Ready Controls cares for their employees are by giving an ice cream treat to those who donated blood, celebrating employee monthly birthdays with a treat, and bringing the InBody machine into the office for everyone to evaluate their fitness/health.
Key Takeaway: I learned a lot from completing the cash tracker and sales tracker each morning. Not only did it allow me to basically create a balance sheet and income statement, but I got to see where all those numbers come from and got more comfortable with Excel.
Jacob Fine
School/Degree: University of Minnesota, Manufacturing Operations and Supply Chain.
Internship: Purchasing
Favorite Thing About Internship: His favorite things was how his major works in the real world and to see what keeps a business like this running. Also, how purchasing can be somewhat of a backbone of a company.
Favorite Thing About Design Ready Controls: Jacob’s favorite thing about Design Ready Controls was the culture and how friendly it is.
Key Takeaway: His key takeaway was how to analyze and improve efficiencies.
Ben Helgeson
School/Degree: University of Wisconsin – Madison, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
Internship: Electrical Engineering with a software focus
Favorite Thing About Internship: That I got to work on both hardware and software and see how they interact.
Favorite Thing About Design Ready Controls: I loved the sense of community that Design Ready Controls has. With very little experience coming in, it was very nice to work around such generous people who were willing to lend me their tools and their time to help me with what I was working on.
Key Takeaway: One key takeaway from my experience here was learning that the manufacturing industry requires a lot of moving parts, good communication and relationships between the departments of the company.
Charlie Hicks
School/Degree: University of Vermont, Mechanical Engineering
Internship: 5S
Favorite Thing About Internship: Charlie’s favorite thing was that he got to know the production floor well.
Favorite Thing About Design Ready Controls: His favorite thing was how Design Ready Controls takes care of its employees.
Key Takeaway: His key takeaway was that he learned good organizational skills from 5S.
Dylan Janssen
School/Degree: University of Minnesota – Duluth, Marketing
Internship: Wire Harness Assembler Intern
Favorite Thing About Internship: His favorite thing overall all of the experience he gained while being here.
Favorite Thing About Design Ready Controls: His favorite thing about Design Ready Controls was how organized it is.
Key Takeaway: Dylan’s key takeaway was how all of the different stations and areas work together and make something together.
Sam Omokodhe
School/Degree: Minnesota State University – Mankato, Electrical Engineering
Internship: Electrical Controls Engineer
Favorite Thing About Internship: His favorite thing was working with different professionals and career paths, diversity, and hanging out with 5S intern Charlie.
Favorite Thing About Design Ready Controls: His favorite thing about Design Ready Controls was the innovative side – it is impressive working with Research and Development (R&D).
Key Takeaway: This internship helped me figure out my career path and what I want to do in the next few years.
Jonah Schoenfelder
School/Degree: University of St. Thomas, Electrical Controls Engineering
Internship: Electrical Controls Engineer
Favorite Thing About Internship and Design Ready Controls: Jonah’s favorite thing about both his internship and Design Ready Controls was his mentor, Paul Anson.
Key Takeaway: Manufacturing requires communication and understanding both engineering and production – it was great being able to see that process.
Chao Xiong
School/Degree: Minnesota State University – Mankato, Manufacturing Engineering Technician
Internship: Manufacturing Engineering
Favorite Thing About Internship: That everything was hands on and being able to build and work with machines.
Favorite Thing About Design Ready Controls: The people I was surrounded by were all are helpful and nice.
Key Takeaway: His key takeaways were how to use Solidworks, 3D printing, and using terminologies.
Interns not available for interview:
Spencer Holgate, Mechanical Engineering Intern
Paige Janssen, 5S intern
Peter Lecy, Mechanical Engineering intern
Kate Rogers, Warehouse intern
Saihou Sissoho, Manufacturing Engineering Intern
Paul DelVecchio, Manufacturing Intern
Patrick Munro, Manufacturing Intern
Planning for Launch. Innovate. 2020 has already started. We are looking for even more ways to invest in our future workforce, more ways to launch innovative careers.
