Undergraduate Industrial Design Intern - Safety & Industrial Business Group

Job Description:

Internship - 2027 Undergraduate 3M Industrial Design Intern - Safety & Industrial Business Group (SIBG)

The role of Undergraduate Design Intern is intended to start in Summer 2027.

Collaborate with Innovative 3Mers Around the World

Choosing where to start and grow your career has a major impact on your professional and personal life, so it’s equally important you know that the company that you choose to work at, and its leaders, will support and guide you. With a wide variety of people, global locations, technologies and products, 3M is a place where you can collaborate with other curious, creative 3Mers.

An internship is a temporary position within 3M. Interns typically work a full-time schedule throughout a 10-12 week assignment. This position is limited to working 899 hours per service credit year.

This position provides an opportunity to transition from other private, public, government or military experience to a 3M career.

About the Safety & Industrial Business Group:

The Safety and Industrial Business Group (SIBG) at 3M offers a diverse range of products designed to enhance safety, productivity, and efficiency across various industries. Key product categories include personal safety (respiratory, hearing, eye, and fall protection), abrasives (coated, bonded, and non-woven), adhesives and tapes (industrial adhesives and various tapes), electrical markets (electrical tapes, wire connectors, and cable management), automotive aftermarket (collision repair and automotive tapes and adhesives), and industrial and safety markets (safety solutions and industrial maintenance products).

About 3M Design

Inside 3M’s Safety and Industrial Business Group, 3M Design operates as a multidisciplinary internal creative team supporting brand, product, packaging, digital experience, and design research across industrial, safety, and professional-use markets. As a 3M SIBG Design Intern, you will apply your design skills to real business challenges

while collaborating with experienced designers and cross-functional partners across business, marketing, engineering, product, and technical teams. Interns gain exposure to a human-centered design process, translating customer insights and business needs into brand-aligned solutions across physical products, digital experiences, packaging, and visual systems. Project work may include brand design, visual asset development, packaging systems, design research, product design, UX/UI design, industrial design, prototyping, testing, brand audits, and system refinement. Through onboarding, coaching, and hands-on project experience, the internship is designed to help you build foundational design skills, gain exposure to global design challenges, and explore a meaningful career path in design.

The Impact You’ll Make in this Role

As an Undergraduate Industrial Design Intern in the Safety & Industrial Business Group (SIBG) team, you will help create user-centered products and experience solutions that support industrial safety, productivity, and performance. You’ll contribute to the design and development of products used in industrial, safety, manufacturing, and workplace environments, with a focus on usability, ergonomics, customer value, and practical application.

You’ll work closely with Industrial Designers, Engineers, Marketers, Product Managers, and other cross-functional partners to understand user needs, develop concepts, build prototypes, and support design solutions that address real-world challenges for 3M customers. You’ll receive mentorship, structured onboarding, and hands-on opportunities to strengthen your skills in product design, research, prototyping, and cross-functional collaboration.

Key Expectations for an Undergraduate Industrial Design Intern:

Be Motivated You’ll take ownership of your work and bring curiosity, initiative, and creativity to each assignment. While support and guidance are available, we’re looking for someone who is organized, reliable, and eager to contribute to meaningful design projects.

· Contribute to product design and concept development for physical products, tools, equipment, packaging, or safety-related solutions.

· Develop sketches, CAD models, renderings, mockups, and prototypes to communicate design ideas.

· Build your skills through project work, design feedback, and mentorship from experienced designers and cross-functional partners.

· Support innovation efforts by helping identify new product opportunities and improvements to existing solutions.

Be User-Centered and Collaborative

You’ll help translate customer and end-user needs into practical design solutions that improve comfort, usability, safety, and performance in industrial environments. We value openness, strong communication, and a willingness to learn new ways of working. Our projects rely on teamwork and the ability to partner effectively across design, technical, and business functions.

· Assist with user research to better understand worker, customer, and end-user needs.

· Apply ergonomic and usability principles to improve product comfort, fit, ease of use, and productivity.

· Synthesize research findings and translate insights into actionable design recommendations.

· Consider material, manufacturing, durability, cost, and performance requirements when developing design concepts.

· Collaborate with engineering, marketing, product management, manufacturing, and customer-facing teams.

· Participate in design reviews, critiques, workshops, and cross-functional project discussions.

· Communicate design concepts clearly through visuals, prototypes, presentations, and documentation.

· Help ensure design solutions align with 3M’s innovation, quality, brand, and customer experience standards.

Your Skills and Expertise

To set you up for success in this role from day one, 3M requires (at a minimum) the following qualifications:

· Currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree, or higher, in Industrial Design from an accredited institution.

· Experience using 3D CAD software

Additional qualifications that could help you succeed even further in this role include:

· Experience using SolidWorks, Sketchbook Pro, or similar design software to develop sketches, renderings, CAD models, or product concepts.

· Experience participating in ideation sessions, design workshops, or concept development activities informed by customer needs or user insights.

· Interest in conducting customer and user research, including potential travel to observe users, gather insights, and better understand industrial work environments.

· Currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree or higher in Graphic Design, Brand Design, Design Communication, Industrial Design, UX/UI Design, or a related field from an accredited institution.

· Experience designing physical products, tools, equipment, PPE, packaging, or industrial solutions.

· Strong portfolio demonstrating concept development, user-centered design, prototyping, and design execution.

· Proficiency in design tools such as SolidWorks, Rhino, KeyShot, Adobe Creative Suite, Figma, or similar platforms.

· Experience conducting user research, usability testing, ergonomic assessments, or customer discovery.

· Ability to translate customer needs and business requirements into practical product design solutions.

· Understanding of materials, manufacturing processes, design for manufacturability, and cost considerations.

· Strong collaboration skills with cross-functional teams such as engineering, marketing, product management, manufacturing, and sales.

· Excellent visual, verbal, and written communication skills, including storytelling and presentation of design concepts.

· Interest in safety, industrial, manufacturing, construction, transportation, or other B2B end markets.

Work location:

· This Role has an on-site working model, with the employees working at least four (4) days a week in the office at 3M Center, located in Maplewood, MN

Travel: May include up to 10% domestic travel

3M provides eligible interns with a housing and transportation stipend in accordance with current policy.

Must be legally authorized to work in country of employment without sponsorship for employment visa status (e.g., H1B status).

Supporting Your Well-being

3M offers many programs to help you live your best life – both physically and financially. To ensure competitive pay and benefits, 3M regularly benchmarks with other companies that are comparable in size and scope.

Chat with Max

For assistance with searching through our current job openings or for more information about all things 3M, visit Max, our virtual recruiting assistant on 3M.com/careers.

All US-based 3M full time employees will need to sign an employee agreement as a condition of employment with 3M. This agreement lays out key terms on using 3M Confidential Information and Trade Secrets. It also has provisions discussing conflicts of interest and how inventions are assigned. Employees that are Job Grade 7 or equivalent and above may also have obligations to not compete against 3M or solicit its employees or customers, both during their employment, and for a period after they leave 3M.Learn more about 3M’s creative solutions to the world’s problems at www.3M.com or on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn @3M.Responsibilities of this position include that corporate policies, procedures and security standards are complied with while performing assigned duties.Safety is a core value at 3M. All employees are expected to contribute to a strong Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) culture by following safety policies, identifying hazards, and engaging in continuous improvement.Pay & Benefits Overview: https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/careers-us/working-at-3m/benefits/3M does not discriminate in hiring or employment on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

Please note: your application may not be considered if you do not provide your education and work history, either by: 1) uploading a resume, or 2) entering the information into the application fields directly.

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