Rivian

Power Electronics Manufacturing Engineering Intern: June 2021 - September 2021

I had the incredible opportunity to intern at Rivian during the summer of 2021. Rivian is on a mission to Keep the World Adventurous Forever. The company makes Electric Adventure Vehicles, such as the R1T and R1S, and is also making 100,000 electric delivery vans for Amazon. Rivian will also build out a nation-wide charging network, called the Rivian Adventure Network, which is mostly what I worked on. As a Power Electronic Manufacturing Intern, my main role was to support the development of the manufacturing process for Rivian’s DC fast charger (DCFC) products. Due to confidentiality reasons, I am limited in what I can disclose here, but my main project was to design, procure, and build high voltage, low voltage, and coolant pigtail connections for the DCFC End-Of-Line (EOL) tester stations. These pigtials connect the EOL testers to the actual DCFC products. By looking for affordable, easy-to-source components, as well as working with and onboarding new suppliers, I was able to lower the cost of the pigtails by $90,000/quarter from initial estimates. I also worked on various other side projects to improve process efficiencies, such as reordering assembly steps to decrease cycle times, designing material travel carts to reduce the time needed to walk across the manufacturing line, and developing custom build fixtures and alignment jigs to simplify complicated operations. Overall, it was an incredible experience to work with such a talented team while also learning so much about high voltage cable and connector design, how DCFC products are made, general manufacturing processes, cross-functional collaboration, and much more.