Co-op: Mechanical or industrial Engineer - Focus Manufacturing

Mechanical or industrial Engineer - Focus Manufacturing: For this role, we are looking for students with experience fabricating things. If you are in FSAE, solar car, robotics club, or have experience fabricating components, this is the job for you. The core project for this student will be Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DFMA) and streamlining our manufacturing processes. This will include CAD design, part fabrication, visits to supplier factories, process redesign, and testing. This student needs great communication skills as they will have the opportunity to present to our contract manufacturers and assist with training their assembly techs. This student’s contributions will help us scale from small scale production to large scale manufacturing.

Skills that will be utilized and developed during this co-op: Process design, Design for Manufacturing and Assembly, hands-on assembly and part modification, CAD design, engineering drawings, free body diagrams, stress analysis, Matlab, Python, data analysis, component fabrication/manufacturing, supplier interaction, documentation and presentation skills.

ESTAT has a preference for Juniors and Seniors, but can consider lower classman with exceptional hands on experience. ESTAT has a strong preference for students who are considering two 6 month rotations.

**ESTAT partners with large corporations. We are exploring the possibility of a co-op exchange program in which co-ops learn about electroadhesives at ESTAT and then spend their second rotation helping our partners implement them in their systems and products.** FAQ

What does a day at ESTAT look like?

It is easier to talk about what a week looks like. Every Monday, leadership agrees on priorities for the week and discusses upcoming milestones with the team. Each team member loads up their schedule for the week with the tasks needed to meet those milestones and discusses the support they need from other team mates. We hold Scrum where we all get on the same page on what is happening this week, take feedback, and make adjustments. The rest of the week is execution. Wednesdays are typically one-on-one meetings with managers where we discuss 1) progress towards weekly goals 2) present progress metrics 3) Discuss roadblocks 4) review the schedule for major projects that span more than a week. On Friday we have a quick team touch base where we all state what critical items need to be completed to stay on schedule and enjoy the weekend without worry. Throughout the week you may: test the newest electroadhesive clutch, assist with patent drafting, machine parts in our machine shop, perform statistical analysis, program a robotic test stand, perform test-to-failure, visit a supplier’s factory, draft CAD models, perform FEA, represent the company at a major conference, or sometimes even visit an Air Force Base for acceleration sled testing (January 2025).

What does ESTAT look for in co-op students?

We believe our heart is in our work and passion is in the details. We look for self motivated students who love making things happen. We look for students with experience working with a team towards a goal who can share stories of trial and error, failure and victory. Working on the cutting edge also requires a good bit of technical know how. We expect our students to have mastered the basics of their field and be ready to learn more on the job. We have three company mantras: 1) we tell it as it is, not as we wish it to be 2) we let the data do the talking and drive our decisions with facts 3) we give credit and share blame. We look for these behaviors in all of our staff.

What kind of company is ESTAT?

ESTAT is a university startup that spun out of Carnegie Mellon right here in Pittsburgh. We have translated basic research on electro adhesives into useful robotics components such as clutches, brakes, locks and latches that are 10x lighter, 10x more compact and 1000x more efficient than traditional options. Our products promise to redefine what is possible in robotic design. We are at our hockey stick moment. This is an extremely exciting time for us as a company as we have been offering off-the-shelf products for sale for over a year and have recently started making sales in large enough volumes to allow us to transition some of our manufacturing to a roll-to-roll process. At ESTAT we sell: catalog electroadhesive clutches and brakes, custom clutches and brakes, and R&D services for large companies and the government. We move at a fast pace as sales ramp up and innovation continues.