Operations Manufacturing Design PhD Internships

Imagine what you could do here. At Apple, new ideas have a way of becoming extraordinary products, services, and customer experiences very quickly. The people here at Apple don’t just build products — they build the kind of wonder that’s revolutionized entire industries. It’s the diversity of those people and their ideas that inspires the innovation that runs through everything we do, from amazing technology to industry-leading environmental efforts. Join Apple, and help us leave the world better than we found it.

In this internship, you will have the opportunity to make a significant impact on Apple products and leave a footprint for years to come. Our Operations team ensures that Apple’s groundbreaking designs become industry-leading products, delivered on time and on spec. It is positioned at the junction of Apple’s product teams, the industries that supply core component technologies, and our manufacturing partners who help ensure that products such as iPad, iPhone and Mac can be restocked just as fast as they fly off the shelves!

Description

Areas of expertise within Manufacturing Design include:

• Manufacturing Design Engineer (MDE)
• As an MDE, you will: Lead selection, implementation and optimization of manufacturing processes for mechanical enclosure subassemblies for our legendary products
• Utilize mechanical engineering expertise and work cross functionally with Product Design Engineering and Industrial Design
• Evaluate product features for manufacturability, and recommend the most capable processes and equipment
• Innovate new manufacturing processes to enable future product design and conducting design of experiments to validate process capability
• Partner with global supplier managers to identify and qualify capable suppliers, assess their secondary processes for capacity, quality and cost
• Partner with suppliers to define and refine mechanical tooling, fixtures and establish capability and readiness
• Implement post production quality and cost improvement activity related to fixtures and processes
• Manufacturing Quality Engineer (MQE)
• As an MQE, you will: Utilize engineering, factory management and supply chain skills in developing and implementing high efficiency inspection equipment, groundbreaking quality systems and ultimately the best products available
• Lead the creation of state of the art inspection and measurement equipment for Apple products
• Lead the development of specific product quality plans (PQP) appropriate to program and commodity
• Provide technical direction and mentorship to other quality engineers supporting the implementation of the PQP
• Identify and direct studies to implement improvements in measuring method where appropriate
• Lead quality engineering functions for multiple programs in the product category
• Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to ensure accurate definition of quality expectations and appropriate assurance techniques are used for the product

Partner with supplier quality management through assisting in the supplier selection process for new products and sourcing activities. You will also drive supplier production control and quality programs, identify shortfalls to expectations, and directly secure agreement to correct. Through measurement of production line statistics, company inspections, and audits, you will supervise each supplier’s performance.

Subject Matter Expert (SME)

As an SME, you will:

Act as a technical expert within the Manufacturing Design team. In this very hands-on role, SMEs display deep knowledge in their field while collaborating with their Industrial Design, Product Design, and Manufacturing Design partners to develop manufacturing processes to scale with our suppliers

Leading innovative process development trials, SMEs deliver to challenging cosmetic and functional requirements

Tooling SMEs lead the development of new metal forming and plastic injection tooling projects to meet a wide range of product performance and cosmetic requirements. Work with Apple suppliers to lead tool design and build, tool and process development and tool qualifications at the supplier

Surface Finishing SMEs research new methods for creating cosmetic surface finishes combining mechanical surface preparation (blasting, polishing, texturing, etc) and decorative surface finishing techniques (anodizing, electroplating, etc.) to meet challenging new targets

Coatings SMEs are responsible for driving the development of deposition processes such as painting, printing, physical vapor deposition, and chemical vapor deposition to implement a variety of decorative and functional coatings across Apple’s suppliers

Surface Science SMEs define, develop and scale best-in-class wet cleaning and chemical surface pre-treatment processes that aid in delivering world class cosmetic and functional anodizing, PVD, electroplating, and coatings

Automation SMEs drive automation design, development, and implementation activities with industrial partners for critical enclosure and module manufacturing processes, necessitating a hands-on and innovative approach to mechanical, control, and vision systems in order to deliver unprecedented capabilities and best-in-class performance

Operations Program Manager (OPM)

As an OPM, you will:

Be pivotal to the dynamic development and execution of key strategic projects in the Product Operations team. A successful OPM is a leader and facilitator; is driven, organized, and detail oriented; excels in program/project management; communicates with ease at all levels; and is self-motivated to succeed in ambiguous environments

• Lead the execution of initiatives from inception to completion, ensuring alignment across multiple organizations
• Demonstrate a strong sense of ownership and autonomy in driving projects forward, taking initiative to overcome obstacles and deliver results
• Build and maintain strong relationships with internal and external partners to the Product Operations team
• Expected to go deep into details and processes with complexities and nuances
• Influence teams and outcomes in project areas non-traditional to Product Operations
• Drive quality, cost, and labor initiatives across multiple cost markets and product groups

Minimum Qualifications

• Currently pursuing a PhD in mechanical engineering, material science, or industrial engineering or related field
• Experience in a hands-on manufacturing environment
• Proven capability in developing quality plans, validating test methods and gauges, and driving corrective actions/failure analysis efforts
• Deep knowledge of quality and reliability concepts, supplier management, and general manufacturing operations
• Significant project management experience and a deep understanding of problem solving tools including design of experiments, root cause analysis and statistical process control principles preferred
• At the end of the internship, you must return to school to continue your education or the internship must be the last requirement for you to graduate

Preferred Qualifications

• Technical experience with any of the following: mechanical enclosures, casings, plastic parts, injection molding, tooling, jigs, fixtures, or automotive high volume quality manufacturing engineering
• Experience of geometric dimension and tolerance, as well as statistics
• Experience of mechanical properties of materials as they relate to manufacturing requirements
• Experience of design of experiment principles
• Ability to travel periodically domestic and overseas
• Extraordinary interpersonal skills — verbal, written and executive presentations
• Pay & Benefits
• This posting is not for a specific job opening and by submitting your resume you are expressing interest in being contacted about this type of role at Apple in the future.