The automotive industry isn’t typically thought of as a leader in sustainability, but for one Purdue student, an internship at a major automotive company is serving as a springboard for his pursuit of a greener future.
Sam Desai, a junior majoring in Integrated Business and Engineering (IBE), will return to General Motors (GM) this summer for his third internship with the company, where he hopes to use his interest in sustainability to do good in the world.
Raised near Detroit, Michigan, also known as Motor City, Desai grew up with a love for cars. In fact, this passion is what brought him to the IBE major at Purdue. “I never wanted to give up my passion for business and just do engineering,” he says. “But I also never wanted to only be able to do business and not learn technical skills, which I think are the most interesting part of engineering because you can really innovate.”
Going full circle, back to Detroit, to work for General Motors was incredibly meaningful.
Beyond his passion for cars, Desai was interested in GM because of the company’s increasing focus on sustainability. He’s been enthusiastic about sustainability for a long time due to his love of the outdoors and desire to preserve it for future generations. This interest led him to his current position as the executive director of business for Purdue Solar Racing, a student-led organization that designs and races solar-powered cars in competitions around the world.
“GM has completely shifted its focus from being the top selling-company for internal combustion engine vehicles to being a trailblazer in clean electric vehicles,” Desai says. “This is all a part of GM’s mission of having a world with zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion, which is what drew me to the company. I know that working at a company like GM, I will have a great opportunity to be at the forefront of the battle against climate change.”
With passion for the company and its mission, Desai’s success came down to his ability to portray himself well at one of Purdue’s career fairs. Although it’s unusual for a freshman to secure summer internships, let alone one with such a well-known company, Desai didn’t let that stop him from applying.
He attributes his success to the strength of the IBE program. “GM saw me as a really good fit compared to a lot of other applicants at the time, even if they were sophomores and juniors from other engineering or business schools, because I had that balance of both disciplines,” he says.
After sailing through his interviews thanks to his IBE experience, Desai officially received an offer for his first internship with GM as a manufacturing engineering intern on the business planning team. That summer, he worked on organizational documentation, developed audit presentations and served as a point of contact for more than 20 plant managers around the country to answer their budgeting questions.
Desai received a return offer after his first summer, which led him to come back after his sophomore year as an intern on the drive unit assembly team, a much more hands-on role in which he completed on-site equipment run-off for a new assembly line of one of GM’s newest electric vehicles.
During both internships, Desai enjoyed the responsibility and trust that he was given. Despite being an intern, he was often given the work of a full-time employee, which he describes as both challenging and incredibly rewarding. As he prepares for his third internship with the company this summer, he looks forward to building on the sense of efficacy that he has developed at GM.
As Desai has learned, there’s immense potential for him to combine his interests in business, engineering and sustainability to make a difference. “One of my goals with my career and my life in general is to leave something on this Earth that will have an impact that lasts longer than me,” he says. With GM, he’s already well on his way.
