2027 PJWS Summer Engineering Intern Academy
Are you ready to accelerate your engineering career? PJ Wallbank Springs is now accepting applications from graduating high school seniors or undergraduate college engineering students for our 2027 Summer Engineering Intern Academy.
Fortune 500 and flash tech companies look impressive on a resume. But the reality is, those environments often don't challenge or support you in a way that quickly advances your career. Having worked at Bose and Boeing, our VP of Engineering, Brandon Bartneck, has seen this firsthand. Because of it, he is leading our Intern Academy to intentionally prepare you with the capabilities you need to build a career that matters.
Hear from Brandon about how our Intern Academy is not your average internship.
Many internships provide busy work or repetitive tasks that don’t teach real-world engineering skills. Leaving you unsure how to connect classroom learning to meaningful engineering. You deserve better. That is, an internship where your work matters, where you grow your skills quickly, and where you can accelerate your career.
We get it. That's why we call ours an academy. Because this isn't a standard internship. Our Intern Academy is designed to grow future leaders. You'll spend your summer onsite with us in Port Huron, MI gaining hands-on experience across multiple areas of engineering such as Product Design, Equipment Design, Process Engineering, and Industrial Engineering. But aside from engineering projects, you’ll receive one-on-one coaching, feedback from team members across the business, and participate in interactive learning sessions that will accelerate your growth (think - setting expectations, problem solving, etc.).
You'll be part of a culture that values curiosity, reflection, and ownership. This internship isn't about short-term help or task work. By the end of the summer you will have built skills and capabilities that far exceed your peers. Why? Because you'll be trusted and expected to own and solve real engineering problems that have a direct impact on our business.
You'll be given tremendous opportunity, but along the way you'll also be expected to work hard and give it your all, take advantage of our unique coaching and learning environment, and be held to a high standard (one you likely didn't think was possible). Not everyone is up for the challenge. If that's you, it's ok. We just may not be the right fit for you.
Our Intern Academy offers competitive pay, potential housing support, and eligibility for course credits.
Hiring Process
Here's what to do and expect.
- Check out the role. Read through this job description in detail and make sure it sparks your interest.
- Submit your written application. Fill out the fields here to tell us a bit about you.
- Submit your video application. Record and share a quick video (details below and sent to your inbox once you apply) so we can hear more about you, first-hand.
- Meet us for an interview. If your application matches what we're looking for, we'll invite you to an interview. We enjoy hosting candidates onsite so you can meet some of our team and we can learn more about your interests and skills. But if travel is tricky, we can meet virtually.
- Get the call. If we're excited about what you can bring to PJWS, we'll reach out with an offer to join the Intern Academy!
- Kick off the adventure. Our 2027 Intern Academy will run May-August 2027. You'll have some new hiring paperwork to complete. Otherwise, get ready for a summer of real-world engineering, problem solving, and learning.
Who We Are
Simply put, we're a manufacturing company looking to reinvent the industry. Not just to build better products, but to build better lives. Founded by our CEO's grandfather, for over 40 years, PJ Wallbank Springs (PJWS) has been the only company in the world specializing in clutch return spring packs. This laser-sharp focus combined with our relentless pursuit of building better, has positioned us for growth. In 2020, after a period of rapid, triple digit-growth with PJWS, we founded Wallbank Industrial.
Wallbank Industrial is the parent company of PJWS and exists to bring together like-minded manufacturing companies under one vision, one set of values, and shared ways of working. Today, we touch 400 million lives every year, but what drives us most is the impact we create within our own walls: how we grow people, strengthen teams, and build businesses that last. We're here to raise the bar in manufacturing. More than products, we're building futures of resilience, growth, and purpose.
As part of our Intern Academy, you'll work directly on projects at PJWS. But your success will help enable future growth under Wallbank Industrial.
Our Promise
We're not just building product. We're building people.
Our core values of hungry, humble, and smart describe our ideal team player and determine how we operate. If you're hungry to grow, humble enough to keep learning, and motivated to do meaningful yet challenging work, you'll thrive here.
What does this mean to you? We'll raise the bar for your career. We expect a lot: fast learning, clear thinking, and accountability. You'll be seen and challenged. But in return, you'll get something rare: real ownership, high trust, and leaders who want you to realize your potential and are serious about helping you grow. It's more than a job. It's a calling.
We care about people.
We think like owners.
We seek "learners" not "knowers."
We drive for results.
We have passion for impact.
We lead with intention.
We’re building a company that is manufacturing impact through people. If you’re curious to learn more from Brandon and other leaders on what this means, listen to our Manufacturing Impact podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts and follow us on LinkedIn.
What You Will Do
- Collaborate across departments to solve engineering challenges with no clear answer, such as reducing downtime, improving quality, or increasing throughput
- Own projects where you'll need to weigh tradeoffs, think in systems, and use abstract reasoning to understand the core problem
- Reflect on your learning, present takeaways to peers and leaders, and apply what you learn in real-time
- Take on various types of projects within engineering so that you have opportunities for wide growth and learning, ranging from product design to quality, manufacturing engineering, and industrial engineering
- Build problem-solving and communication skills through design, analysis, process improvement, and applied technical work
- Accelerate your growth through coaching with your assigned mentors
- Contribute to a culture that strives to be a net creator of leaders and takes a genuine interest in helping you succeed
What You Will Bring to this Role
- Pursuing a college engineering degree (mechanical or manufacturing preferred)
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with an ability to apply physics, math, and logic. You don't need to know all the answers, but we expect you to be intentional and resourceful in figuring it out
- A natural curiosity and genuine desire to learn quickly
- Comfort working with ambiguity and asking clarifying questions
- Willingness to accept coaching and strive for excellence
- Respect and eagerness to collaborate with others
- Alignment with our values:
- Hungry to learn, be challenged, and pursue better
- Humble by showing up eager to learn, listen, and be coached
- Smart by being capable in what you do and how you work with others
- Bonus points if you have the capabilities above AND have tinkered with robotics, machining, woodworking, coding, CAD and/or understand automotive and manufacturing fundamentals
Hear What Our Past Interns Say
“The stigma around most internships is that you're just going to do a bunch of busy work or grunt work, but that's completely different here. It's great knowing that my work, especially early in my career, will actually have an impact.”
“Overall, my first internship exceeded my expectations of what an internship is. I thoroughly enjoyed collaborating with talented and successful individuals here. This experience was both fun and immensely beneficial for my professional growth.”
“I was lucky to have a diverse range of projects that exposed me to an automotive industry I was unfamiliar with.”
“This internship provides a fantastic balance of challenging, hands-on projects and invaluable professional mentorship in a supportive environment.”
“I was able to play an integral role in many different projects, whether it was market research for future business opportunities, or designing, fabricating, and installing new light mounts for each machine. Each day I was met with a unique challenge that kept me growing and pushing my boundaries.”
“The culture and atmosphere at PJWS made me feel like I was a part of a family.”
Video Application Instructions
Please prepare a short video based on the requirements below and provide a sharable link to your video in the respective application field or send a link to your video directly to Alexa Orr at [email protected] as soon as possible.
In your video, please address the following:
- Intro: Briefly introduce yourself by sharing your name, year in school, what school you currently attend, and your area of study.
- Values: We have 3 core values (see this handout). Please select one of our core values that best resonates with you and briefly describe how you've lived this value.
- A Story about Team-work: What is one word others on your team would use to describe you and why? Tell us about a time when you were part of a team and you helped others succeed. What challenges did you face, what did you do, and what changed because of it?
- Making Progress with Limited Info: Share an example of a time when you had to move forward on something important without having all the details you wanted. How did you approach it? What was the outcome?
- What Excites You about this Internship: In your own words, why are you interested in PJWS and what do you hope to gain from our Intern Academy experience?
- There is no requirement for the length of your video. It's more important that you concisely address all the components above to the best of your ability with stories or examples to support your responses.
- You're welcome to use any video recording software of your choice. If you're in need of a recording tool, Loom is an option that is free and compatible with both PC and Mac.
- Please upload your video to a platform that allows you to share as a link (Google Drive, YouTube, Loom).
- Once your video is ready, please copy and paste a sharable link to the respective field on your application. If you have any issues, you may send a link to your video directly to Alexa Orr at [email protected]. Ensure that the link is accessible to anyone with the URL.
It is the policy of PJ Wallbank Springs, Inc. to provide equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees without regard to any legally protected status such as race, color, ethnic status, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, or veteran status
Skills Required
- Pursuing a college engineering degree, preferably in mechanical or manufacturing engineering
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including the ability to apply physics, math, and logic
- Curiosity and desire to learn quickly
- Comfort working with ambiguity and asking clarifying questions
- Willingness to accept coaching and strive for excellence
- Respect and eagerness to collaborate with others
- Alignment with the company values of being hungry, humble, and smart
- Experience or familiarity with robotics, machining, woodworking, coding, CAD, automotive, or manufacturing fundamentals
What We Do
As the global leader in clutch return technology, we impact millions of lives every day. Our impact, much bigger than any one person could achieve, can be seen in the lives of the people within the following three groups: 🧑🏽🤝🧑🏻INTERNAL IMPACT: OUR PEOPLE🧑🏽🤝🧑🏻 Our employees, through their personal growth and their ability to provide for themselves and their families 🌎 GLOBAL IMPACT 🌎 Our customers around the world, whether they are the manufacturing plants we ship to or the millions of customers in the vehicles using our products 🏠 COMMUNITY IMPACT 🏠 Our community, through the contributions we make both directly and indirectly, to making it a better place PJWS CORE VALUES Our four core values are the foundation of our organization. They are critical when determining who would be the best fit for our team and serve as a guide for every tough decision we make. ☑ Treat Others As You Would Want to Be Treated. ☑ Challenge the Status Quo. ☑ Take Ownership. ☑ Either Win or Learn. OUR PEOPLE We build products critical to our customer's applications. We even build our own manufacturing equipment. But just as important, we are focused on providing our people with the opportunity to build themselves. What does this really mean? It means believing that our people are our most important asset, and then treating them this way. It means providing people with the opportunity to work with other high performers whom they respect and can learn from. It means giving people tough challenges to solve in order to grow personally and professionally. There is a company to be built here, a world class one, and we are looking for those who are excited to be a part of that, but aren't afraid to roll up their sleeves and work hard, take ownership, and ultimately have a direct impact on the lives of many people near and far. INTERESTED IN JOINING OUR TEAM? https://www.pjws.com/careers/
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