Every career starts somewhere.
For many employees at Gentherm, that journey began with an internship. What started as a summer role became an opportunity to solve real business challenges, contribute to meaningful projects and build the foundation for a long-term career.
We caught up with four team members who made the transition from an intern to a full-time employee at Gentherm. Their stories showcase what happens when curiosity meets opportunity and how real projects can lead to real careers.
Meet the Professionals Behind the Stories
Alexa Dudash
Regional Marketing Lead for North America
Ben Sinko
Project Lead, Engineering Management
Mary Bocks
Senior Financial Analyst
Pallavi Badanahatti
Software Engineer
Real Projects
Meaningful Work from Day One
Internships are often viewed as learning experiences, but at Gentherm, interns contribute to projects that make a difference across the business.
Alexa
As a Quality Intern, Alexa developed a global customer scorecard and customer-specific requirements matrix. The project focused on creating a standardized approach to tracking customer ratings and documenting customer requirements across regions.
Ben
As a Software Engineering Intern, Ben worked on ClimateSense® modeling in Simulink using model-based software design. His work centered on developing and refining software models that support thermal comfort technologies.
Mary
As an Internal Audit Intern, Mary conducted a global audit of company travel and entertainment expenses. Using established audit controls, she analyzed T&E activity across the organization.
Pallavi
As a Software Engineer Intern, Pallavi worked on developing and integrating an in-cabin comfort experience. Partnering with the Thermophysiology team, she used thermal comfort data to help design a new experience catered towards women and developed software that combined heating, ventilation and massage technologies into a single demonstration application.
Real Influence
Turning Ideas into Impact
At Gentherm, internship projects don’t end when the summer does. These employees saw their work contribute to business decisions, customer solutions, process improvements and product innovations that continue to make an impact today.
Alexa
Alexa’s work provided leadership with greater visibility into customer feedback by creating a consistent way to measure and compare customer ratings across regions. Her customer-specific requirements matrix also strengthened compliance efforts by ensuring customer requirements were documented, tracked and addressed in alignment with IATF 16949:2016 standards.
Ben
Ben’s ClimateSense modeling work helped transform engineering concepts into software solutions that were ultimately delivered to customers. Through model-based development, he contributed to technology that moved beyond the design phase and into real-world applications.
Mary
Mary successfully completed Gentherm’s global travel and entertainment audit and presented her findings directly to senior leadership, including the CEO. The insights from her audit led to process improvements and changes that enhanced how T&E expenses were managed moving forward.
Pallavi
Pallavi’s in-cabin comfort experience continued to evolve long after her internship ended. The concept was adopted and expanded by the Thermophysiology team and became part of the FemmeCare Warm and FemmeCare Cool features now available in many WellSense™-equipped seats.
Real Growth
From Internship to Career
An internship is often the first step in a much longer journey. For these employees, the projects they worked on helped build the skills, relationships and confidence that shaped their careers at Gentherm.
Alexa
Career Journey
Quality Intern → Quality Administrator → Global Quality Systems Specialist → Advanced Quality Engineer → North America Quality Management System Lead → Chief of Staff to the SVP & GM of North America Automotive → Regional Marketing Lead for North America
Advice for Future Talent
“Talk to people and get to know them! You never know what you can learn from someone or what opportunities can come from building those connections. Some of the most valuable parts of my career have come from the relationships I’ve built along the way.”
Ben
Career Journey
Software / Systems Engineering Intern → Systems Verification Engineer → Technical Assistant to the CTO → Project Lead
Advice for Future Talent
“Take ownership of your work, follow through on your commitments and understand how your work supports the business. Don’t wait until you feel fully ready to take on a challenge. That’s often where you learn the most.”
Mary
Career Journey
Internal Audit Intern → Chief of Staff to the Senior VP of Sales, Marketing and Corporate Communications → Finance Analyst in FP&A → Senior Finance Analyst, FP&A
Advice for Future Talent
“Try new things and don’t be afraid to step outside your comfort zone. Every experience can be a learning opportunity and a chance to expand your skill set.”
Pallavi
Career Journey
Software Engineering Intern → Software Engineer
Advice for Future Talent
“Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Chances are someone else is wondering the same thing, and five minutes of asking questions can save you hours of trying to figure things out on your own.”
Why Gentherm
While each employee’s journey has been unique, several common themes emerged when reflecting on what made their internship experience meaningful and why they chose to continue building their careers at Gentherm.
Meaningful Work
From leading a global audit to developing software features now available in production products, these employees were given opportunities to contribute to projects with real business impact. Many cited the ability to take ownership of meaningful work as one of the most valuable parts of their internship experience.
“From day one, I was placed directly into the active, innovative project and was able to contribute to codebases.”
— Pallavi
Supportive People
Whether it was mentors who answered questions, teammates who offered support or colleagues who became lifelong friends, the people of Gentherm made a lasting impression.
“This was my first corporate internship, and everyone was so friendly and helpful. I learned so much in a short amount of time, and I think a big part of that was because of the people I worked with.”
— Alexa
Learning and Growth
Several employees highlighted the opportunity to continuously learn, take on new challenges and gain exposure to different areas of the business.
“I have been able to witness and be involved in some major changes within Gentherm, and I’ve learned so much about strategic business thinking and people management because of it.”
— Mary
Global Impact
Gentherm’s global footprint gives employees the opportunity to gain new perspectives, learn from colleagues with diverse experiences and contribute to projects that extend beyond a single region or market.
“What stands out most to me is the opportunity to work with colleagues from all around the world and come together to turn ideas into reality.”
— Ben
Where Your Journey Could Begin
Every career starts somewhere.
For Alexa, Ben, Mary and Pallavi, that starting point was an internship at Gentherm. What began as an opportunity to learn and gain experience became a chance to make meaningful contributions, build lasting relationships and grow into rewarding careers.
While each of their paths has been unique, their stories show that an internship can be more than a stepping stone. It can be the beginning of a career filled with opportunities to learn, make an impact and grow alongside a team that’s invested in your success.
Ready to Start Your Journey?
Explore our current internship and early career opportunities and discover where a career at Gentherm can take you.
