Mechanical Engineer Co-op/ Internship

Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM)•Pittsburgh, PA

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The ARM Institute is seeking a Mechanical Engineering Co-op to work alongside its growing engineering team on real-world problems. Co-ops provide an opportunity for the Institute to learn about potential full-time hires while contributing to students’ education and understanding of engineering work practices. This is an on-site, full-time position at 40 hours per week for either the Fall 2026 or Spring 2027 semester. Applicants should demonstrate a strong work ethic, technical knowledge, and involvement in extracurricular activities. The role emphasizes hands-on engineering, including tooling and machine design, rapid prototyping, and seeing projects through to completion. Candidates should be able to explain how they apply foundational engineering principles in their work or coursework and show how they collaborate, build on ideas, and work through challenges with others. The ARM Institute primarily uses SolidWorks; experience with Unigraphics, Creo, Fusion 360, Autodesk Inventor, or similar software is helpful. Applicants must be U.S. citizens.

Requirements

High school diploma or equivalent certificate.
Currently enrolled in a bachelor's or advanced degree program in Mechanical Engineering, Robotics, Electrical Engineering, or an associated field.
Must be a U.S. citizen.
Demonstrated work ethic and technical knowledge base.
Ability to demonstrate understanding of engineering experience or coursework and application of foundational principles.
A hands-on approach to engineering, including tooling and machine design, rapid prototyping, and following projects through to completion.

Nice To Haves

Experience with Unigraphics, Creo, Fusion 360, Autodesk Inventor, or similar CAD software; the ARM Institute primarily uses SolidWorks.
Participation in extracurricular activities or prior work involving teamwork and collaboration, such as First Robotics, Baja SAE, or other activities.

Responsibilities

Contribute to the design of robotic cells.
Design production tooling emphasizing speed, simplicity, and ease of use.
Program collaborative and/or industrial robots.
Participate in customer-facing discussions, design reviews, and system demonstrations.
Design vacuum grippers for material handling and manipulation of complex parts.
Design custom tests for robotic components or subsystems.
Create test fixtures to simulate the motion of industrial robotic tasks.
Test and analyze production performance data related to system build quality and speed.
Perform thermal or structural analysis on industrial robots using hand calculations and simulations.
Analyze test failures and field failures of robot components and propose redesigns.
Create digital twins of systems to evaluate layouts, designs, and efficiencies.
Develop, track, and verify system requirements.
Perform statistical analysis to assess whether tolerance stack-ups are acceptable.
Learn about computer vision camera models and computer vision algorithms.