What are the responsibilities and job description for the Mechanical Engineer - Advanced Concepts position at Atlas Copco Group?
As a Mechanical Engineer on our Advanced Concepts team, you will be responsible for creating concepts and prototypes for new products in our Auburn Hills Innovation Center. You will combine hands-on technical expertise with materials and process knowledge to create prototypes for new products and features. This role offers a unique opportunity to work with all our dispensing technologies, automation systems, and customer applications while collaborating with engineering, project management, and technical teams. This position reports to the Innovation Hub Manager.
- Create clean-sheet mechanical concepts from ideas generated by the Innovation Hub team
- Create physical prototypes for some of these concepts, utilizing a combination of internal and external fabrication resources
- When required, provide engineering direction to external fabrication resources
- Create and maintain technical and financial documentation for concept projects
- Assemble, test and troubleshoot concept prototypes during initial build
- With direction of our Product and Process experts, assist with the design of experiments to evaluate prototypes
- Author technical test reports for prototypes, including recommendations for improvements.
- When relevant, assist with transition of a project from the concept phase to the product team
- When relevant, assist the Marketing team with creation of promotional materials for a project
- Work with internal Product and Process experts to stay current on emerging dispensing technologies, materials, automation trends, and industry-best practices.
Core Mechanical Engineering
- Strong understanding of mechanics of materials, machine design, and motion dynamics
- Baseline understanding of Design for Manufacturing fundamentals
- Familiarity with thermal effects, vibration, corrosion, and fatigue
- Familiarity with actuators, sensors, motors, and other mechanical components
CAD & Technical Design
- Proficiency in at least one major 3D CAD software (e.g., SolidWorks, Creo, NX, Inventor, ...)
Prototyping & Hands-On Build Support
- Experience fabricating or assembling prototypes using:
- Machined parts, Sheet metal, 3D printed components
- Comfortable working in a lab or shop environment
- Ability to rapidly iterate designs based on test results or failures
Collaboration & Engineering Support
- Ability to analyze systems and make decisions on engineering direction
- Able to design their own experiments to prove or debunk concepts
- Willingness to support testing, debugging, and root-cause analysis
- Able to assist handoff to product development
Advanced Prototyping & Rapid Development
- Experience with rapid iteration cycles and "build-test-learn" development
- Familiarity with DFMA principles for automated assembly
- Ability to suggest design simplifications to improve build speed and robustness
Controls & Mechatronics Awareness
- Basic understanding of: Sensors, I/O concept, Servo motion fundamentals
- Ability to collaborate effectively with controls, electrical, and software engineers
Materials & Manufacturing Knowledge
- Practical knowledge of common engineering materials (steel, aluminum, plastics)
- Familiarity with common manufacturing processes such as Machining, Welding, Injection Molding, Additive (3D printing)
- Practical experience in one or several preferred
Testing, Debugging & Failure Analysis
- Able to design and install simple test fixtures
- Comfortable analyzing failures and proposing corrective actions
- Understanding of risk, margin, and trade-offs in R&D environments
- Able to quantify and effectively communicate test performance from raw data
Mindset & Soft Skills
- Curiosity and willingness to explore unconventional solutions
- Comfort with uncertainty and changing requirements
- Bias toward action and learning through experimentation
- Bachelor's or Associates degree in engineering, manufacturing technology, automation, robotics, industrial technology, or a related technical field.
- Equivalent combination of education and relevant experience will be considered.
- Exposure to:
- Vision-guided assembly concepts
- High-speed automation or precision assembly
- Safety standards related to automated equipment
- Experience supporting technology demonstrators or early-stage prototypes
- Background in internships or co-ops within automation, machinery, or manufacturing environments
An enviroment where our employees...
- Act with Accountability
- Act with Respect
- Act with Curiosity
- Act Experimentality
- Act Collaboratively
Occasional domestic and/or international travel to support customer trials, installations, commissioning activities, demonstrations, training events, and technical development opportunities. Estimated overnight travel requirement is 5% or less.
Atlas Copco North America LLC is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in hiring or employment related decisions because of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, sexual preference, genetic information, protected veteran status or any other protected class. Job promotions at Atlas Copco will be based on such factors as quality of work, prior job performance, attendance, safety record, and ability to work well with others. Accessibility Notice: If you need reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process due to a physical or mental disability, please send an email to: acnacareers.hr@us.atlascopco.com or call 973-397-3400. Reasonable accommodation requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis.