I am an engineering student, my second year Mechanical. I know a few people on here are in the industry, i want to go into design and i was wondering if anyone would consider having me intern, I am in the easter US, PM me if you can help me out or any tips on who and how to contact companies.

did you ever have any luck with this? I am also pursuing the bicycle engineering design industry and so far have had no luck.

No such luck. I work in Aerospace. I applied to specialized for a few positions and got a phone interview after I had started my job.

Getting into the Industry is really tough, namely because everyone wants in.

SBC is hiring all the time. That can be seen as a good thing... or a bad thing, if there is such high turnover. I've often seen a position available once every two years, other positions would be available every year (meaning the person they hired is only there for a year or less, and these are not seasonal jobs).

That said, once you are 'in' the industry it will be easier to jump around from one company to another. I suggest looking into smaller companies, not the big giants, and going from there. Also seek out opportunities in areas that aren't necessarily your absolute passion. For example you may be an avid roadie racer or Tri person and want to design Race bikes... but you're more likely to have a strong position for a company producing folding commuter bikes, or BMX bikes. Don't ignore those opportunities, take them. I've known a number of people who started in one area that wasn't their passion, grew the company and their skill set, learned a lot about manufacturing and how the industry works, and later made moves to other companies after strong recommendations among peers.

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I have found a few people at my company that left the cycling industry, something about wanting to make money. I could see moving from aerospace into the industry later. A dream job is a dream job whenever you get it. I know I could get exposure to manufacturing in my current company. I could also learn about composite design, various metals. Skills do transfer and you never know who you are going to meet. I know there are workers from Cannondale that go on group rides near there HQ.

Getting your resume in front of actual eyes seems to be the hardest part of getting any job.

very good points. The topic just caught my attention and i was curious how other people have gone about getting in the industry.

I am just trying to find some kind of internship for this summer. so far no luck.

Former engineeing student here. I'm not in the cycling industry, however, I think the way you'd want to get in is to go work at a company and DEVELOP A SKILL that bike companies will want- e.g. composites manufacturing, FEA, CFD. this makes you much more desirable to bike companies.

in my opinion engineering internships aren't very useful. the two I went for I really could not contribute much to the company because the level of training needed was such that I wold have needed months to get up there (CNC precision machining and Emergency Healthcare). I highly doubt bike companies will take interns ( except maybe in marketing, HR, ec kind of positions) because most of the time, they don't have the budget or the time to train a young engineer.

it would be handy too if you are especially good with your hands and can do machining, etc. I did some basic machining of my own bike parts in school. a senior went for a serotta bike building course and is just starting out his own frame building business. there is alot of money for bike companies in the commuter market as well, so if you've done projects on alternative transport, etc, it may be useful as well. I built a working prototype electric foldable trike for my 3rd year project, it was good fun. as mentioned, try for the smaller companies. if you have an impressive CV in bike-related projects they just might take you.

if you know Mark Cote ( Specialized aero engineer ) story, he was pretty lucky. MIT aero studnt with great grades, raced on his schools cycling team. they did alot of testing in their schools wind tunnel. when he graduated, the aero bug as just starting to hit the cycling world and he landed a job at specialized. but his ample preparation allowed him o make use of this piece of luck.

wish you all the best, but I think it's pretty difficult to get into the industry straight out as a graduate. Like I said, you're going to need to find a set of skills that will make them want you.