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Kick‑start your plastics career by working on real automotive interior programs, supporting material selection, processing trials, launch support, and continuous improvement. This role is hands‑on: you’ll run trials, build DOE plans, analyze results, and partner with plants and product engineering to solve quality issues and reduce cost. It’s a strong match for grads with a plastics‑focused education grounded in processing, testing, and product development.
What you’ll do (you’ll use what you learned in plastics school)
- Support development and implementation of polymer materials (resins, additives, colorants, coatings) for IAC components.
- Plan and execute trials/DOEs (processing windows, shrink/warp, appearance, performance) and summarize results in clear technical reports.
- Partner with manufacturing plants to analyze process + quality data, identify root causes, and recommend corrective actions.
- Provide hands‑on support for launches, warranty/quality topics, and cost‑saving initiatives (VAVE/Kaizen).
- Work with suppliers to gather material data and help evaluate new materials/technologies.
- Interface with customers (OEM materials/engineering teams) by presenting material concepts and performance data.
- Support sustainability initiatives, including material opportunities and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) activities.
What you’ll learn
- How automotive programs move from concept → launch (and how materials decisions affect quality, cost, and timing).
- How to write strong test plans/test requests, coordinate lab work, and communicate results to engineering and manufacturing.
- How to connect processing conditions to part performance (shrinkage, appearance, mechanical properties) and drive fixes quickly.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree (or graduating soon) in Engineering/Science with a plastics focus preferred (Materials, Chemical, Chemistry, Plastics/Polymer/Manufacturing disciplines or equivalent experience).
- Comfort with hands‑on technical work: trials, data collection, analysis, and reporting.
- Willingness to travel up to 25% (plants, suppliers, customer support).
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