MakerBot Is Kicking Off A Brand New Paid Internship Program

MakerBot, the heavyweight 3D printing company that merged with Stratasys last year, will be kicking off a brand new summer internship program.

These are paid internships open to undergraduate and graduate students. The program will enable participants to "attend special lectures and participate in programs on 3D printing within their area of expertise, as well as interact with senior leadership."

We caught up with Lisa Grant, MakerBot's Director of Recruiting, to learn more. She told us that if accepted applicants don't come from an especially crafty background, they will complete the program as full-blown "makers" for certain.

The program sounds tremendous. She explained that each intern will have a MakerBot employee serve as mentor to work on special projects with them. There will be a group outing ("most likely to the Barclay Center," says Grant). "We also want them to participate in MakerBot activities, like our employee reward program, movie night, and birthdays."

This sounds like quite the internship. Grant elaborated for us.

BUSINESS INSIDER: How many interns will MakerBot hire and how long will an internship last?

LISA GRANT: Based on the needs of the participating departments, we at MakerBot are looking at bringing in about 25 interns this Summer. The internships runs from the end of May to mid-August.

BI: Should potential interns have a maker background, or will they be okay to come at this without experience?

LG: A maker background is not required, although helpful especially for our research & development and engineering areas. If an intern isn't a maker when they arrive, they will certainly be once they leave!

BI: What else is MakerBot looking for in interns?

LG: In addition to the skill set for the particular position (engineering student, marketing student), we are looking for interns who possess a natural curiosity about the ins and outs of our products, our community, and our approach to making/engineering and who want to be part of the next industrial revolution.

BG: What will they be doing each day?

LG: Interns will be treated like members of the MakerBot team they are on. For instance, engineering interns will assist the team in the development of new products, everything from organizing the lab, to designing, testing and improving upon our MakerBot Replicator 3D printers and MakerBot Digitizer Desktop 3D scanner. Legal interns will assist in matters of intellectual property and patent law. Software interns will be involved in software development. Manufacturing Engineer interns will, among other things, design, prototype and finalize assembly tools and jigs. They will also be accountable and have goals to obtain just like any other MakerBot employee.

BI: Will the internship program serve as something of an immediate hiring pool as the company grows?

LG: We have hired interns upon their graduation and definitely recognize the value of the program for MakerBot, as well as the interns.

If you're in college or graduate school, you can apply to the internship right here.