Mechanical Engineer Co-op/ Internship

ARM Institute; Pittsburgh (Allegheny County); On-site; USD 18,000 - 28,000; Full time

Job summary

The ARM Institute is seeking a Mechanical Engineering Co-op for an on-site, full-time opportunity (40 hrs/week). Open for Fall 2026 or Spring 2027 semesters. Ideal candidates bring hands-on engineering experience through coursework or activities and a strong teamwork ethic.

As part of a growing engineering team, you will work on tooling, robotic cells, and real-world projects using SolidWorks and related software. US citizenship is required for eligibility.

Qualifications

• High School Diploma or equivalent certificate.
• Currently enrolled in a Bachelor's or advanced degree program in Mechanical Engineering, Robotics, or Electrical Engineering.
• Candidate must be a US citizen.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to the design of robotic cells.
• Design production tooling for speed and usability.
• 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.
• Create test fixtures to simulate the motion of an industrial robotic task.
• Test and analyze production performance data on a system build quality and speed.
• Perform thermal or structural analysis on an industrial robot, hand calculations and simulations.
• Analyze test failures and field failures of robot components and proposed redesigns.
• Create digital twins of systems to evaluate layouts, designs, efficiencies, etc.
• System requirements development, tracking, and verification.
• Performing statistical analysis to assess whether tolerance stack-ups are acceptable.
• Learning about computer vision camera models and computer vision algorithms

Skills

Teamwork

Work ethic

Collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering

Bachelor’s in Robotics or Electrical Engineering

Tools

SolidWorks

Unigraphics

Creo

Fusion 360

Autodesk Inventor

Job description

Company Description

The ARM Institute leverages a robust consortium of 500+ consortium members and partners across industry, academia, and government to strengthen and grow US manufacturing. The ARM Institutedoes this by catalyzing solutions that drive the adoption of robotics and physical AI. With a forward-looking focus on innovative, yet practical, technology and workforce development solutions and leveraging the nation’s largest consortium of automation experts, the ARM Institute asserts the United States as a leading nation in manufacturing output through the adoption of robotics and AI. As a Manufacturing Innovation Institute (MII) and part of the Manufacturing USA® network, the ARM Institute team plays a critical, national role in driving the innovations needed to grow US manufacturing.

Must be a US citizen

Must be a US citizen

Position Overview

The ARM Institute is seeking outstanding applicants for a Mechanical Engineering Co-op position. We view Co-ops as excellent opportunities for us to learn about potential full-time hires while also contributing to students' education and their understanding of work practices in an engineering setting. Please note that this is an on-site and full-time position (40 hrs./week) for either Fall 2026 or the Spring 2027 semesters. We are looking for candidates with a demonstrated work ethic, technical knowledge base, and participation in extracurricular activities.

The ARM Institute requires a hands-on approach to engineering including tooling and machine design, rapid prototyping, and the curiosity to see a project through to completion. Prior work experience, participation in a club or activity where teamwork and collaboration are emphasized - whether it’s First Robotics in High School, Baja SAE, or a non-engineering interest; we’re interested in how you interact and engage with others, build upon ideas, collaborate, and work through challenges as a team. Successful candidates must demonstrate a thorough understanding of their engineering experience or coursework applying foundational principles to their everyday work. Although ARM primarily uses SolidWorks, experience in Unigraphics, Creo, Fusion 360, Autodesk Inventor, or similar is helpful. As a Mechanical Engineering Co-op at the ARM Institute, you will work alongside a growing engineering team and solve real-world problems.

Responsibilities

Work assigned depends largely on business needs at the time of the Co-op as well as the experience of the candidate, some examples of work areas include:

• Contributing to the design of robotic cells
• Designing of production tooling emphasizing speed, simplicity and ease-of-use
• Programming collaborative and/or industrial robots
• Participating in customer-facing discussions, design reviews and system demonstrations
• Designing vacuum grippers for material handling and manipulation of complex parts
• Designing a custom test for a robotic component or subsystem
• Creating test fixtures to simulate the motion of an industrial robotic task
• Testing and analyzing production performance data on a system build quality and speed
• Performing thermal or structural analysis on an industrial robot, hand calculations and simulations
• Analyzing test failures and field failures of robot components and proposed redesigns
• Creating digital twins of systems to evaluate layouts, designs, efficiencies, etc.
• System requirements development, tracking, and verification
• Performing statistical analysis to assess whether tolerance stack-ups are acceptable.
• Learning about computer vision camera models and computer vision algorithms

Qualifications

• High School Diploma or equivalent certificate.
• Currently enrolled in a Bachelor’s or advanced degree program: Mechanical Engineering, Robotics, Electrical Engineering, or associated field will be considered.
• Candidate must be a US citizen.