About Alliant Castings:
When Alliant Castings inc., a Winona-based abrasion and impact casting manufacturer, had an employee leave in the midst of a quality assurance project, they decided to hire an intern, their first intern, to help pick up the slack.
“This is a new adventure for us, to say the least,” said Julie Tenner, Alliant’s HR and Accounting Manager. “We wanted to treat our interns just like any other employee, they have just as much impact to contribute as anyone. You don’t know what they could offer you, but it could be huge.”
By finding and hiring Christian Renk through the SciTech Internship Program, Tenner could rest assured that they would be working with some of the state’s top STEM talent. Offering Renk competitive pay would also be easier, as the program helps support its small business partners by reimbursing them for half of what they pay their interns (up to $2,500 per student hired) so they can hire the help that they need.
Meet the intern:
Renk is a chemical engineering major from the University of Minnesota, Duluth. Although this was his first internship, he came to Alliant with some previous engineering experience, having been exposed to it working with his dad.
Renk was assigned to the quality assurance team, where he helped appraise and approve client-facing products to ensure each one met Alliant’s standards.
“That was really interesting and fun to work with,” Renk recalled. “Being able to get in there and get my hands dirty has been more eye opening than anything else. Coming into college, I thought professional engineering would be a lot of being in an office, very hands off. Here I’ve learned that if you can bridge the gap between engineering and production, that’s the best place to be.”
Of all the tasks he worked on that summer, Renk said that his favorite moments were anytime he was able to help out if someone needed assistance.
“Just knowing that I was helping, and that I made a difference, felt amazing […] I really appreciated all the work that the SciTech program did to help me get this job.”
Get involved
Make an impact on a future STEM professional’s life and strengthen your talent pipeline. Start planning your internship today at scitechmn.org. At least 120 wage matches are available on a first come, first hire basis between now and August 2021.
Are you a returning student? The new program year is underway! Reactivate your account and start applying for internships today.