Mechanical Engineering Intern | Summer 2027

Location: Des Moines, Iowa, United States; Omaha, Nebraska, United States Department: Mechanical

DLR Group is an integrated design firm with a promise to elevate the human experience through design. This fuels the work we do around the world and inspires our mission to improve the lives of our clients, our communities, and our planet. If this sparks your interest, you’re in the right place.

DLR Group's Central region has an opening for a Mechanical Engineering Summer Intern. This role could be based in the following studios:

Des Moines, Iowa

Omaha, Nebraska

We have multiple positions and locations available; please refer to all openings posted and apply to the locations that are most suitable for your living situation during the course of your internship. This is not a remote position.

About EPX at DLR Group

As an intern at DLR Group, you’ll be part of our Emerging Professional Experience (EPX) Program, designed to give you a meaningful introduction to life within an integrated design firm and a strong foundation for your career in the AEC industry.

Each person at DLR Group has a design voice, and EPX gives you opportunities to develop and share yours. Through hands-on project work, mentorship, and learning experiences, you’ll gain exposure to the people, disciplines, and ideas that shape the built environment. You may participate in design discussions, project meetings, site visits, business development efforts, office activities, and other experiences that broaden your understanding of the design profession.

The program combines three core components: mentorship, project work, and weekly learning sessions. Topics may include design culture, sustainability, design technology, communication, marketing and business development, project and resource management, research, equity, career development, and more. Along the way, you’ll hear from leaders and integrated designers across DLR Group and build connections with fellow emerging professionals.

Position Summary

As a Mechanical Engineering Intern at DLR Group, you will be an important part of our integrated design team, contributing to the design of mechanical systems for buildings of various types, sizes, and complexities. Working alongside mechanical engineers and professionals across architecture, engineering, interiors, and other disciplines, you will gain hands-on experience with the design process from early concepts and system development through documentation and construction administration.

Our Summer Internship Program is a paid, full-time opportunity running May 18 through August 6, 2027, and interns are expected to participate for the duration of the program. This is an opportunity to apply what you’ve learned in the classroom, build your technical and professional skills, and contribute your perspective to design solutions that support our brand promise of Elevating the Human Experience through design.

What you will do

Work with a licensed engineer designing mechanical systems for new construction and/or building renovation projects

Attend design team meetings with a mechanical engineer and observe the coordination that occurs among the team members of a multi-disciplinary design team

Assist a mechanical engineer with the design and development of construction documents primarily using Revit

Visit an active construction site (contingent on the status of local construction projects)

Develop HVAC, plumbing, and fire protection designs from concept through completion

Required Qualifications

Completed at least one year at an ABET-accredited Mechanical Engineering or Architectural Engineering program

Experience or interest in BIM (e.g. Autodesk Revit MEP) workflow

Preferred Qualifications

Passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam

Interest in architectural building design

A third-year student in an accredited engineering program

Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of a school/employment or any other visa, regardless of expiration date, now or in the future.

#LI-

DLR Group is an integrated design firm delivering architecture, engineering, interiors, planning, and building optimization for new builds, renovations, and adaptive reuse projects.

We are 100% employee-owned: every employee is literally invested in our clients’ success. At the core of our firm are interdisciplinary teams engaged in every step of project lifecycles. Our teams champion true collaboration, open information sharing, shared risk and reward, value-based decision making, and proficient use of technology to deliver exceptional design. We are pursuing the goals of the 2030 Challenge, the ME2040, and the SE2050, and are an initial signatory of the China Accord and the AIA 2030 Commitment.

Through our values – commitment, creativity, environmental stewardship, fun, integrity, ownership, sharing, teamwork – we elevate the human experience through design, together.

DLR Group follows a four-day in-office work model, with employees having the flexibility to work somewhere other than the office on Fridays.

We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action/M/F/Veteran/Disabled employer.