We are control systems integrators. We design and program control systems for wide variety of industrial machines. We’ve programmed machines to paint the car you drive, package the waffles you eat, print the newspaper you read, and create the electrical wiring for your house. We’ve even programmed machines to refurbish nuclear reactors. When companies are looking to automate an industrial process, we are the people they call. To accomplish these tasks we select components from a wide variety of vendors and assemble those components into a custom-designed electrical panel tailored to the application. We then write custom software to leverage all that technology to accomplish whatever it is our customer wants to do.

During your time at Powerhouse, you will be working as part of one of our engineering team alongside a small group of our full-time engineers. You will be doing many of the same tasks that our full time employees do. As a result, you should expect the work to be challenging. However, you should also expect to receive ample support along the way. The fellow members of your team will be happy to teach you anything that is new to you or answer any questions you have.

Culture is important to us. Powerhouse has a dedicated social committee, a friendly atmosphere, and a team of knowledgeable peers and mentors for you to learn from. All of our projects are different so each co-op experience is unique. However, each of our students is provided a real opportunity to make significant, meaningful contributions to the projects they are part of. We firmly believe this is why so many of our co-op students return for multiple terms. Previous high performing co-op students left their placements with job offers for when they graduate, many of which are now in senior engineering, management and VP roles within the company.

Engineering co-ops will get exposure to:

• Programming and troubleshooting of PLCs (machine/safety logic)
• Programming and troubleshooting of HMIs (user interface)
• Programming and troubleshooting of VFDs (motor control)
• Hardware design (component selection and creation of schematics)
• Factory acceptance testing (verifying functionality before we ship to the customer)
• Commissioning (final testing at the customer’s facility)
• Various other tasks (as assigned by your Team Lead)