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Brock Myers

he/him
SFU Student Undergraduate
Applied Sciences › Mechatronic Systems Engineering
Internship

Program:
Co-operative Education › International Co-op
Work Term 4
Organization
Tesla
Position Title
Tesla Energy - Field Quality Engineer Internship
Location:
Palo Alto
California
United States of America
Experience Faculty
Applied Sciences › Mechatronic Systems Engineering
share
Pursuing an international co-op at Tesla was a fun and rewarding experience that I highly recommend to other SFU students.
Experience Details
Semester
Fall
Spring
Year
2022
2023
Application and Interview Tips

Tesla seems to mainly use technical interviews to determine if candidates would be a good fit for engineering positions. Therefore, really try to become knowledgeable about the position you are applying for, by reviewing relevant course material and applying yourself on personal and club projects that require you to apply what you’ve learned.

Introduction + Preparation
Preparation Tips for Future Students

If you plan to seek an international co-op, try to do all the preparation well in advance, preferably while you are still in Canada. The first few weeks at a new job are always going to be chaotic, and trying to find a place, or sort out how you are getting to the office in a completely new country only adds to that.

I was lucky, as my girlfriend also found a co-op at Tesla at the same time, so we were able to split the work of securing a place and setting up transportation, additional work needed for TN visas, etc.

San Francisco
During my Experience
Orientation and First Weeks

My first few weeks were kind of a blur as my organization (Field Quality Engineering) is deeply involved with many other teams at Tesla, and I was introduced to 4-8 new people a day for weeks. After a while though, it was easy to recognize most people and easier to reach out when I had a question or problem relating to my work.

Day to Day

I spend most of my day in the failure analysis laboratory. Here, I run tests and perform failure analysis on failed hardware returning from the field to determine the potential scope and impact of problems. Primarily, I am looking through the circuit schematic while testing the physical circuit board. Sometimes I am also involved in preprocessing or analyzing data from Tesla products to find potential patterns or issues seen in the fleet as a whole. I really enjoy this workplace, as it allows me to talk daily with incredibly smart, hard-working technicians and engineers and learn about the various issues seen in the field.

Cultural and Environmental Observations

There are a couple of differences between Vancouver and Palo Alto, but they are mostly the same. San Jose seems to be more of a suburban sprawl and doesn’t have the same urban density as Vancouver. I also found myself getting lost more often, as I didn’t have the mountains in Vancouver to constantly orient myself to. I was told it was supposed to be sunny here, but so far, we have gotten record rainfall for California, so it actually kind of feels like home.

Reflection & Tips
Most Valuable Aspects of This Experience

Being able to work with some very talented engineers on cool products was a dream come true. I really can’t state enough how much I learned during my 7 months here. The products I worked on generally changed from week to week as well, as failure analysis priorities changed, which allowed me to investigate almost all of Tesla Energy’s current products. I loved the fast-paced, variable work that involved understanding the physics and design behind a lot of Tesla’s products.

Advice for Future Students

Don’t limit your co-op search to companies within Canada. There are a ton of cool and interesting opportunities worldwide that are very possible if you apply yourself.

Tags:
International

Author

Brock Myers

he/him
SFU Student Undergraduate
Applied Sciences › Mechatronic Systems Engineering
Internship
share
visibility  609
Jul 11, 2023

Co-operative Education

Discover more about opportunities available to SFU students by participating in the co-op program. Learn more by visiting the Co-op website.

Explore Co-op on the OLC

International Co-op

Explore the unique opportunities for SFU students to travel the world, while gaining experience in the workplace and serves as professional and personal growth experience by forcing you to adapt to a new cultural environment. Learn more by visiting the International Co-op website.

Explore I-Coop on the OLC