At CONMED, we believe in the power of engaged talent at all stages of an employee’s career, including interns and new college graduates. In this spirit, we interviewed Ben T., former intern and now R&D Mechanical Engineer for the Advanced Surgical Division. We talked about his experience interning at CONMED and transitioning to full-time!

Starting as an intern, how did CONMED’s internship program prepare you for your role today?
The internship program gave me a great introduction to CONMED. We had an intern project that allowed me to understand how different processes work at CONMED, while giving us creative freedom. The transition from that experience into actual project work as a mechanical engineer went smoothly. The internship built the foundation for me to be able to grow and dive headfirst into several projects.

What is it like working in mechanical engineering at CONMED? Any differences now than when you started as an intern?
Working as a mechanical engineer at CONMED in R&D gives the opportunity to take an initial idea of a product through the process of releasing it to market. The internship provided me with experience in several of the different phases in the product life cycle. This experience was crucial in my ability to understand where a project is at and help in each phase. The work is similar, but there is more responsibility for each task now that I am working full-time.

What do you like most about your career in engineering and working at CONMED?
I really enjoy the creative freedom and responsibility that each project offers. Since I get to take the product through idea creation to production, I can work on the project in each area, which may not be true at other companies. While this comes with a lot of responsibility, it has always been a motivating factor for me.

What accomplishment(s) are you most proud of during your time at CONMED?
I am very proud of having the opportunity to progress the development of three of our multiple new products, which are all in different phases of the development cycle, as well as currently learning about leading projects and actually starting to lead one myself!

What advice would you give to someone starting their career in engineering?
1.) Ask questions 2.) Do not be afraid to share your opinion even if it is contrary to everyone else’s 3.) Be comfortable knowing that your ideas will fail, and it’s most important how you move forward when they do.

Any fun facts that you would like to share?
I recently got married this year in June, and in my free time, I enjoy swimming, climbing, hiking, lifting, and fly fishing!

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

For those interested in learning more about working in engineering at CONMED, be sure to check out other articles on our career blog and join our talent community to stay up to date with engineering opportunities!