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Industrial Design Intern

Kalamazoo, MI

About Re:Build Manufacturing and Re:Build Tekna:

Tekna was founded in 1988 in the heart of Southwest Michigan where creative vision and hard work laid the foundation for a business that continues to grow in a rapidly evolving industry. The rigor and attention to detail that comes with designing for the medical industry has awarded us success in supporting both major companies and start-ups from early stage development to commercialization. The same principles apply as we've expanded to serve customers in a wide variety of other industries including consumer and industrial goods, electronics, and appliances. Tekna's project portfolio is incredibly diverse covering medical, life science, consumer and industrial product categories. Tekna is largely client focused offering design consulting, contract manufacturing and original equipment manufacturing services. Tekna's cross functional teams include Design Engineering, Industrial Design, CAD, Procurement, Production and Quality which offers a friendly and supportive team atmosphere.

Re:Build Manufacturing is a family of industrial businesses combining cutting-edge enabling technologies, operational superiority, and strategic M&A to build America's next-generation industrial company. Re:Build leverages deep expertise in operations management and technology to supercharge the performance of its subsidiaries by implementing core technologies across industrial platforms in diversified growth markets. Our goal is to help revitalize the U.S. manufacturing base over the coming decades, creating substantial opportunities for our employees and the communities where we operate.

If you like a fast-paced environment where individuals can stretch and be challenged with a diverse set of projects, we offer a great deal of variety and empower our staff to take on as much responsibility as they can handle, offering a helping hand and experienced-based coaching and the support of a highly competent team. Our goal is to enable our employees to achieve their fullest potential, and through our association with Re:Build, provide avenues for personal and professional growth.

 

Who we are looking for

The role of an Industrial Design Intern at Tekna is to help identify problems and provide solutions that focus on improving user experience while maintaining our client’s business objectives. As an Industrial Design Intern, you will develop solutions using a combination of the following tools: Market and user research, sketching, rendering, sketch modeling, computer modeling, and refined prototyping. Tekna understands that as an Industrial Design Intern, you are working on building these skills; collaboration with Design Leads, Engineering Leads, and mentors will help you in this process.

What you'll get to do

Your day-to-day activities will include:

Operate within project framework (work with project lead to understand):

  • Clients’ needs, visual brand language, and market aspirations
  • Project objectives
  • Problem definition 
  • Scope of deliverables

Research:

  • Market trends and the competitive landscape
  • The user and their needs
  • Use environment
  • Use-case scenarios

Sketching and 2D design:

  • Graphic design and visualization support
  • Concept sketch development that illustrates potential solutions to functional requirements, user needs, and aesthetic form
  • Refined sketch development and/or sketch renderings that demonstrate a vision for manufacturing, component packaging, and color/finish/material applications

3D design and prototyping: (form core, clay, foam, wood, etc.)

  • Sketch models, ergonomic and breadboard models to prove out hypotheses
  • Aesthetic mock-ups, 3D form development

CAD modeling to translate sketches and mock-ups to surfacing details

Photorealistic renderings from new or existing CAD data

Client meetings (with assistance from project lead)

  • Attend client team meetings
  • Present concepts to marketing, engineering, and manufacturing groups

What you bring to the team

Working toward or completed: Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Industrial Design or related field. Junior or Senior- level students (completed at least two years to years to the stated degree).

 

  • Must be both self-sufficient and capable of working closely with a supervising mentor.
  • Must be able to work with colleagues and clients with professionalism.

 

We want to work with people that reflect the communities in which we operate

Re:Build Manufacturing is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, veteran status, marital status, parental status, cultural background, organizational level, work styles, tenure and life experiences. Or for any other reason.

Re:Build is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities in our job application procedures. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, you may contact us at accommodations.ta@ReBuildmanufacturing.com or you may call us at 617.909.6275.

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