Equipment Engineer – Summer Intern

Littelfuse is one of America’s Best Mid-Sized Companies (Forbes) and has been named one of the Best Places to Work in Illinois (Best Companies Group) for 11 consecutive years. With its global headquarters in Chicago, Illinois, USA, Littelfuse is a leading, global manufacturer of electronic components serving more than 100,000 end customers across industrial, transportation, and electronics end markets. We have more than 17,000 employees with operations in 15 countries. From semiconductors to sensors… switches to fuses and more… we produce billions of electronic components that help our customers empower a sustainable, connected, and safer world. In 2021, Littelfuse had net sales of $2.1 billion.

We are seeking a motivated Equipment Engineer Intern to join our semiconductor equipment team for the summer. In this hands-on role, you’ll support equipment performance, reliability, and process stability across high‑volume semiconductor fabrication tools. You will work alongside experienced equipment and process engineers to diagnose equipment issues, improve tool uptime, execute engineering experiments, and contribute to real manufacturing improvements.

This internship is ideal for students interested in semiconductor manufacturing, equipment reliability, automation, or engineering operations.

About Your Role:

• Assist with preventive and corrective maintenance activities on semiconductor manufacturing tools (e.g., etch, deposition, lithography, metrology, CMP, ion implantation).
• Perform equipment diagnostics, collect tool data, analyze trends, and propose solutions.
• Support root‑cause analysis (RCA) for equipment downtime or yield-impacting issues.
• Help implement equipment upgrades and modifications to improve performance, safety, or reliability.
• Work with senior engineers to conduct DOE experiments, gather data, and summarize results.
• Develop or refine standard operating procedures (SOPs) and technical documentation.
• Partner with manufacturing and process engineering teams to improve tool uptime, wafer output, and process consistency.
• Present project progress and final results to the engineering leadership team.

 About You:

 Required Qualifications

• Assist with preventive and corrective maintenance activities on semiconductor manufacturing tools (e.g., etch, deposition, lithography, metrology, CMP, ion implantation).
• Perform equipment diagnostics, collect tool data, analyze trends, and propose solutions.
• Support root‑cause analysis (RCA) for equipment downtime or yield-impacting issues.
• Help implement equipment upgrades and modifications to improve performance, safety, or reliability.
• Work with senior engineers to conduct DOE experiments, gather data, and summarize results.
• Develop or refine standard operating procedures (SOPs) and technical documentation.
• Partner with manufacturing and process engineering teams to improve tool uptime, wafer output, and process consistency.
• Present project progress and final results to the engineering leadership team.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with laboratory equipment, hands‑on mechanical/electrical work, or engineering project teams.
• Exposure to data analysis tools (Excel, Python).
• Prior military maintenance training
• Knowledge of semiconductor fabrication concepts is a plus.

Possible Intern Projects

Below are example projects aligned with typical equipment engineering challenges in semiconductor fabs. These can be tailored depending on tool set and department:

1. Tool Uptime Improvement Project

• Analyze historical downtime data for a specific toolset.
• Identify top failure modes and propose corrective actions.
• Implement pilot improvements (e.g., PM optimization, sensor replacement, part lifetime tracking).

2. Preventive Maintenance (PM) Optimization

• Review PM procedures and compare actual vs. expected durations.
• Develop updated PM workflows or checklists to reduce tool downtime.
• Validate procedure changes during live PM events.

3. Spare Parts Life Tracking and Predictive Maintenance

• Build a database or dashboard of part lifetimes and failure intervals.
• Use real tool data to model predictive replacement intervals.
• Help reduce unexpected failures and unplanned downtime.

4. Safety & Ergonomics Improvement Project

• Identify risk areas or ergonomic challenges in maintenance activities.
• Design simple mechanical fixtures, lifting tools, or PPE enhancements.
• Validate improvements with technician feedback.

What You’ll Gain

• Hands‑on experience working with advanced semiconductor manufacturing tools.
• Exposure to high‑volume manufacturing, reliability engineering, and root‑cause analysis.
• Opportunity to contribute to meaningful productivity and yield improvements.
• Mentorship from experienced engineers and cross-functional collaboration.
• A final project portfolio piece demonstrating measurable factory impact.

DOE Pay Range $21 - $27 per hour

Littelfuse is an equal opportunity employer committed to empowering every associate to make a difference — everywhere, every day.