The Heavy Duty Manufacturers Association (HDMA) has announced the sixth successful year of the HDMA/Northwood University Internship Program held during Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week (HDAW), Jan. 27-31 in Las Vegas. Twenty-six of the brightest students from Northwood University were hand-selected to take part in this year’s program. Each of the students completed the week with job offers and/or internships from distributors and suppliers at the conference.
The HDMA Internship Program provides opportunities to bring students to various HDMA events including HDAW, where pre-screened, ambitious students are paired with executives in the commercial vehicle industry. Interested students selected are paired with sponsoring companies based on the student’s academic achievements, Northwood University department head recommendations, interests and strengths, as well as the sponsoring company’s needs and culture.
The HDMA Internship Program at HDAW 2019 contained the largest and most diverse group of students thus far. Of the 26 students, five were sponsored by and worked the week with distributor companies, 19 with supplier companies, and two with buying or program groups. Twenty of the students attended HDAW for the first time. The group included one freshman, four sophomores, nine juniors, 11 seniors and one graduate student – all currently study a broad range of majors including aftermarket, finance, accounting, marketing, and supply chain management.
Each of the HDMA/Northwood University students in the 2019 program were sponsored by an exhibitor or distributor firm. The 2019 sponsors included: Action Truck Parts, Bergstrom Inc., Carlisle Brake & Friction, CRW Parts, CVSN, Dayton Parts, LLC, DENSO, Dorman Products, Eaton, Grote Industries, Haldex, HDA Truck Pride, Hendrickson, MAHLE, Meritor, MGM Brakes, Midwest Heavy Duty, Minimizer, Phillips Industries, Pressure Systems International, SAF-HOLLAND, SKF, Total Truck Parts, Inc., TRICO, VanderHaags and VIPAR Heavy Duty.
Since 2014, HDMA has facilitated 70 qualified student introductions to the commercial vehicle industry through HDAW. All the students have received internships or job offers in the industry, and 23 of the 42 graduating students have accepted job offers with HDMA member companies upon graduation.
