Hardware Engineering at Copper

Overview

I started interning at Copper, an eclectic climate tech startup, in May 2025, and have continued working with the team while I attend California State University, Chico.

• Summer 2025: (Original Internship) Full time, Berkeley.
• Fall 2025: (Very) Part time.
• Spring 2026: (Very) Part time remote.
• Summer 2026: Full time, Berkeley.
• Fall 2026: Part time remote during the current school term.

Show and Tell

(Public-friendly) The cool stuff is yet to be announced. Can't be out here spoiling the fun!

If you're a reader for a particular graduate program, you'll just have to schedule an interview to learn all the details I can't be publishing out in public.

R&D

During my time at Copper, I've worked on an enormous variety of different projects. My job amounts to assisisting my boss in the development of new product and proof-of-concept prototypes. Think the 0-10 unit range. This means I do a bit of everything.

A typical project might involve turning a very rough concept in to a functioning piece of hardware and then iterating on that hardware as we learn things about the project through testing. As a contributor to such an effort, I might be trying to hire a job shop to produce hardware, based on a second or third draft of an idea that may only exist in CAD software. I might be prototyping a sheet metal part myself while I wait for the outsourced components to arrive. Or I could be producing some artifact using data collected from a nest of thermocouples or onboard sensors.

Ambiguity is a non-negotiable element of my job, and I've really focused on improving my ability to make informed guesses about what might be, rather than idling and waiting for clarification. I have an oppurtunity to both continue developing my strongest fundamentals—be it drafting or handling large digital assemblies—and also to experiment with processes that I have little to no exposure to.

Here's a snapshot of what I've had the oppurtunity to during my time at Copper:

• Design my first injection molded part.

• Create tools for a real production line.

• Own the mechanical design of a PoC battery integrated appliance.

  • And even better, more than once!

• Make beautiful, tactile objects, like softwood knobs for Copper's flagship induction range.

• Train my coworkers on manufacturing processes that I developed for in-house prototyping.