About the role
Job Description & Application
This position is for:
- Spring and/or Summer 2027 (if possible, we do encourage double blocks).
- Students who intend to graduate by December 2028.
- Students in any STEM major (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics); Mechanical, Mechatronics, Electrical or Software Engineering related majors are ideal, but not required.
- Pay range is $28.50-$33/hr, depending upon academic semesters completed and previous work experience.
Overview
What is an Applications Engineer?
Because it's such a critical role, Applications Engineers (AEs) are employed by virtually all high-tech companies worldwide. An Applications Engineer is someone who is trained to become an expert on all of the technical background of his/her company's products. At Teknic, AEs specialize in the field of robotics and motion control and are fast-tracked to become engineering consultants who provide invaluable technical advice to customers and new prospects.
Teknic's motion control products combine software, electrical, and mechanical engineering, and with the technical training we provide, Applications Engineers develop expertise in all three of these engineering disciplines. Our AEs are continuously learning as the technology in this field evolves. Applications Engineers become technical product specialists who provide a great deal of technical support to customers throughout the product lifecycle. This job involves a significant amount of customer interaction because AEs directly support customers throughout the integration, programming, testing, and troubleshooting stages of new automated machine designs and retrofits.
Applications Engineers (AEs) work as part of a team (with other AEs, Sales Engineers, and product development engineers) to make Teknic customers successful throughout their machine development process. Because of their technical expertise, AEs also help Teknic design engineers with new product development, system design, testing, and documentation. Acting as a primary liaison between external customers and internal Teknic engineering team members, Applications Engineers also develop strong oral and written communications skills.
This job does not require previous knowledge or experience in motion control or customer support. If you like engineering and robotics, enjoy helping others, and are passionate about constantly learning, read on!
Job Description/Daily Activities
What does an Applications Engineer at Teknic do? An Applications Engineer at Teknic:
- Discusses technical applications with customers (via email, phone, video conferences, and occasional on-site visits) to determine motion control goals and requirements (such as settling time, accuracy, smoothness, control protocol, software architecture, type of control.
- Trains and supports internal and external customers on Teknic's products and the application of those products.
- Tunes, troubleshoots, and runs tests for customer machine performance and optimization. This includes mechanical, electrical, and software audits/consultation.
- Provides value engineering services (e.g. recommendations to improve a machine or subsystem) to improve or maintain performance and/or reduce overall cost.
- Supports Teknic sales engineers on deeper technical topics, product features, and application features - especially those that are software based.
- Develops and maintains product documentation for both hardware and software products, as well as customer-facing white papers and application notes addressing deeper technical topics.
- Uses internal simulation software tools to optimize product selection based on the customer's application requirements.
- Occasionally travels to customer sites, almost always within the U.S. and Canada, to provide firsthand support to customers who have particularly challenging engineering projects. These trips usually last between one and five days, and overall travel time per year is less than 10%.
- Assists Teknic design engineers with:
- New product testing, specifications, and feature improvement.
- C++ and C# example code, code structure, software libraries, and validation testing.
- Development of electro-mechanical subsystems for use in Teknic's manufacturing facility.
Desired Skill Set
What type of person is a good fit for a Teknic Applications Engineer position? Someone who:
- Studied engineering or another technical major, but wants to engage in and explore other areas outside of or in addition to that focused major.
- Enjoys learning and practicing a variety of engineering disciplines, especially mechanical, electrical, software, and controls.
- Enjoys troubleshooting and being presented with tasks that require open-ended problem solving.
- Likes working with and helping people (both internal and external to the company). They enjoy teaching others and are interested in working with people for a majority of the day (this includes regular interactions with customer and internal employees e.g. face-to-face meetings, video conference calls, email).
- Desires to learn and understand the application of motion control as a whole, rather than solely work on one area of product design.
- Has an interest in learning more about the business side of a company. They have a strong technical background in engineering and would like to have a very technical job, but they also enjoy learning about topics such as marketing, qualifying ROI, supply chain, and technical writing.
- Has great communication skills and/or is interested in improving their communication skills (both written and verbal).
- Seeks out and incorporates feedback well.
- Wants to work in a fast-paced environment and work on many different types of tasks and projects.
- Has the desire to work in a flat management organization - we're not big on titles or tenure, rather we value performance and demonstrated competence within a particular field.
- Would enjoy an open-office environment. No o