My role at the company was to be the product management intern for the Zurn PEX and Elkay Filtration teams. For both of these teams, I had slightly different roles, but both were a good combination of engineering and business. For PEX, I would look at market sizing and some sales data, along with technical specs of our products to assist the sales team. For Filtration, I dealt more with current performance and how our product stacks up against others. I really enjoyed the business side of engineering, and my managers both did a great job of getting me as wide of an experience as possible.
What I wish was different
The only thing that I would've changed would be traveling to some different locations to see production lines and meet other people on my teams. I was in meetings on most days with a variety of people, but many of them are not in Milwaukee, so it would have been nice to meet them in person. This is a very small change, and it isn't always the most practical since the summer is only 3 months, but it would have been nice. Overall, the work was pretty consistent, which was good. It faded a little bit towards the end, but that was mostly because my managers didn't want my internship to be over when I am halfway through a project.
Advice
Something that one of my managers and I talked about nearly every week is the value that I bring to the team. I would suggest that in any internship, view yourself as a valuable part of the team. I worked really hard to ask questions, push people to explain why things are done a certain way, and above all, bring a new perspective and set of eyes to the job at hand. In order to help the team, you can't be like everyone else, so don't try to be. Use your creativity, lack of experience, lack of knowledge about the ins and outs of the field, and anything else that makes you an intern, to your advantage to help the team.
