Alan Yan

Major: Industrial Design ; Certificate: Entrepreneur and Innovation

CMF Design Intern, Tesla

1.) How did you learn about this internship opportunity? 

I learned about my internship opportunity through Linkedin.

2.) How has your internship helped build your skills and clarify your career goals?  How do you apply your Liberal Arts skills to your internship?  

My internship has helped build my skills through the rapid and intense exposure of Tesla's expansive materials library. As a designer at Tesla, it really helped push my ability to juggle multiple projects at once - something I wouldn't have been able to easily pull off if Purdue's Industrial Design program didn't call for similar demands. Additionally, the lessons I learned at Tesla have given me a crucial second perspective about what design could truly mean, and has only reinforced my passion to further perfect my craft. 

3.) What is a piece of advice you would give someone looking for an internship?   

In Liberal Arts, looking for an internship will always be hard and subjective. Standing out in a non-traditional way is usually a great way to appeal to edge-case companies and will really give you a leg up in a specific few companies, vs. being a second choice for many more.

4.) What specific responsibilities have you undertaken during your internship? 

My largest responsibility was studying and documenting the vast CMF Library at Tesla. Successfully reorganizing the library would mean a more efficient working environment for the whole team, while also serving as an excellent introduction to the world of Colors, Materials, and Finishes. While working on that, many other projects would pop up simultaneously for me to tackle; including designing graphics, making functional prototypes, and visualizing automotive concepts.

5.) In what ways has the College of Liberal Arts at Purdue University supported your internship journey? How has your participation in our job-ready program specifically aided your professional development?

The College of Liberal Arts at Purdue University has really helped me support my internship journey through its rigorous and sometimes Spartan-like Industrial Design program. It has cultivated a cohort of very capable and promising young designers, and I'm honored to be a part of it. The job-ready program specifically really aided in my professional development through giving me glimpses of what other designers my age are experiencing professionally. It allowed me to get a good grasp of what the general future of designing full-time entails. 

6.) Could you highlight a standout aspect of your experience in this program that you find particularly noteworthy?

A standout part of my experience in this program was documenting a day in the life as. Sometimes the days just blur and speed past, but taking the time to document a regular day really makes you live in the moment.