Mechanical engineering internships are one of the best ways for students to turn classroom concepts into real engineering experience. For Will, a sophomore mechanical engineering major at KU, those opportunities have shaped both his learning and his future career path.

Finding the right mechanical engineering internship can feel overwhelming, especially for students who are just starting to explore the field. What type of internship is best? How do you stand out? And what does the day-to-day work actually look like? 

Meet Will Benjes: He’s a sophomore mechanical engineering student at KU, and he’s spent the last several years discovering the answers firsthand.

From building Lego Technics as a kid to designing large-scale robotics in high school, Will always knew he wanted a career centered on creating things. That passion motivated him to pursue a mechanical engineering internship early — and led him to Kiewit, a major engineering and construction firm. What started as one internship turned into three, and he has already accepted a fourth with the company.

In this post, Will shares how those internships helped him grow, what he learned on real engineering projects, and why hands-on experience has made him a stronger, more motivated student.

Inside One Student’s Mechanical Engineering Internship Journey

My name is Will, and I’m a sophomore Mechanical Engineering student here at the University of Kansas. From a young age, I’ve had a fascination with learning how things work. 

From building Lego Technics as a kid, to building 120+ pound robots in high school, I knew I wanted to create when I grew up. Engineering was the perfect path for me to follow. Knowing this early on, I sought to learn as much as I could about the field. 

One of the best ways I learn is through experience. So, I sought out an internship to be able to get hands on experience in the field that interests me the most: Mechanical Engineering. The internship that I applied to was as a mechanical engineer intern position at Kiewit. I have now had three internships with the company and have accepted a fourth for the upcoming summer.

Networking Through Mechanical Engineering Internships

Internships are the best way to gain knowledge and experience in a field. They allow you to network with some of the top people in industry, get hands-on experience doing actual work that an engineer does day to day, and apply concepts learned in the classroom in real world problems. 

In my internships I got to connect with people from around the world. In the first internship I had, I was working on a project for the Department of Energy on cutting edge technology to take the harmful emissions out of coal and gas plants. 

In this project, we were working with a partner company on our project that was supplying the turbines for the power plant. This company was Doosan, a Korean based corporation that is a leading manufacturer for turbines. 

Over the course of the week, we looked in depth at systems ensuring there were enough fail safes for the plant to run without a high risk of a major accident. I was able to learn so much and connect with people I never thought I would meet doing an internship. 

Learning Outside the Classroom: What Mechanical Engineering Interns Actually Do

In internships, not only did I exponentially expand my network, but I have gained so much knowledge and experience doing real work. In every summer with my internships, I have been treated as an entry-level full-time hire. 

In my first year, I got to work on routing pipes and help select the type of materials that the pipes would need to be made of to withstand the conditions they were run in. In this I learned so much about material science and what it looked like to be an engineer. In my second summer I worked as a mechanical designer. 

In this role, I created 3D models of power plants as well as 2D schematics of piping and instrumentation diagrams. This helped me learn and get a deeper look at the thousands of extensive systems that go into creating energy. Getting to peel back the complexity and learning how a plant works by designing it helped me to think better about how a plant runs all together. 

This past year I got to peel back the curtain on costs a bit more and take a deeper look into the millions of dollars and the thousands of people that it takes to just turn a power plant on for the first time. Each of these experiences has taught me something different and helped me grow as an engineer.

How Internships Strengthen Your Mechanical Engineering Coursework

In each and every experience I have had, there have been numerous ways I’ve been able to connect back to what I’m learning in school. From looking at pipe specifications and connecting that back to my material science classes, to thinking about the best way a plant can be built and connecting that to my entry level engineering classes, having internships has brought a deeper meaning to the classroom. 

The benefit of being able to learn and see the purpose of the why in the subject at the same time has set me apart from many of my peers. When a class gets hard, many question the reasoning behind the subject. But in having internships and experience to connect back to, my motivation to push through has helped me greatly. 

Overall, this experience has made me a better student, more prepared for my future, and given me priceless experiences I’ll value for the rest of my life.