Mechanical/Project Engineer Intern/Co-op

As a Fortune 500 company, Packaging Corporation of America (PCA) is an ideas and solutions company.  Our corrugated packaging business seeks to be the leader in helping our customers — large and small — package, transport and display products of all kinds.  Our white paper business delivers Paper With Purpose by providing the highest level of customer service and operational excellence.  We have approximately 15,000 team members in more than 100 locations in the United States that strive to meet the local needs of our customers.  Our mission is to serve the needs of our customers, today and tomorrow, with products and services that exceed expectations for performance and environmental responsibility.

People • Customers • Trust

Co-op Mechanical Engineer

We have the following openings:

1 Project Engineer, rotation starting spring 2025.

2 Mechanical Reliability Engineers, rotation starting fall 2025.

Co-op Reliability

You will work in Project Engineering (Capital Projects) or Reliability (Maintenance).

Project Engineer Co-Ops:
You will be immersed in a high-energy, innovative culture – doing meaningful work, managing projects, and making decisions from the moment you walk into the Mill.  Your daily interactions with PCA personnel in Engineering and Operations will sharpen your communication skills and strengthen your leadership qualities.

You will work on various Capital projects throughout the mill. Each semester will be different due to mill outages timeframes and the different projects.  You will learn the project process starting from the funding request through completion of the job.  Skills learned or improved will be planning/estimating, introduction to engineering design, contractor field oversight, AutoCAD, PCA’s CMMS program called TRIDENT, Microsoft Office, working with multi-discipline teams, etc.

Reliability Co-Ops:
You will be immersed in a high-energy, innovative culture – doing meaningful work, managing projects, and making decisions from the moment you walk into the Mill.  Your daily interactions with PCA personnel in Maintenance and Operations will sharpen your communication skills and strengthen your leadership qualities.

As a reliability co-op you will be mentored byArea Reliability Engineers as a resource on daily troubleshooting issues.  Work on special project assignments with Reliability Engineers.  This will teach you responsibility and develop communication skills.

You will Focus on predictive and preventive maintenance techniques to improve equipment reliability.  Examples are lubrication techniques, optical alignment and vibration analysis. You will learn best practice maintenance and assist in root cause failure analysis process to resolve equipment failures.

You will have the opportunity to work a variety of equipment and have the to explore a wide range of working environments.

Second and third term students will be assigned additional job duties to further their development.

Basic Qualifications:

Must be currently enrolled at Mississippi State University, The University of Mississippi, Auburn University, University of Alabama, University of Maine, University of North Carolina State, Texas A&M University, University of Miami Ohio, Tennessee Technology University, or any University of TN and majoring in Mechanical Engineering or a related field and have completed the freshman year.  A minimum grade point average of 3.0/4.0 is required and must be a permanent U.S. resident.  

All qualified applicants must apply at Careers.packagingcorp.com to be considered.

PCA is an Equal Opportunity Employer – Veterans/Disabled and other protected categories.