July 13, 2026
Christian Boyles is leveraging the knowledge and skills he has acquired at Mizzou Engineering for his summer internship with Tesla.
The knowledge and hands-on skills students acquire at Mizzou Engineering set them up for success in the world’s most innovative industries. This summer, mechanical engineering senior Christian Boyles is proving himself at electric automobile manufacturer Tesla’s factory outside Reno, Nevada.
Boyles chose to major in mechanical engineering to satisfy his curiosity about how things work.
“I love taking things apart to figure them out and then putting them back together,” he said. “I love being able to design, fabricate and implement any idea that I have.”
Boyles enjoys the challenging and fast-paced environment at Tesla.
“Everything is changing, moving and improving all the time,” he said. “It often feels like they’re speaking an entirely different language, but they are extremely welcoming when I ask questions and for clarification.”
As a process engineering intern for the Powerwall 3 production team at Tesla, Boyles evaluates materials that fail testing or quality inspection.
“Some of my projects have been to optimize efficiency and design and implement new testing methods to increase the percentage of parts that are returned to the line,” he said. “Improving this will help prevent wasting time running a unit we know will fail and hopefully bring down the money spent on scrap.”
Boyles enjoys the independence and responsibility he has at Tesla.
“Nobody is babysitting me or holding my hand, but they are very supportive when I do ask for help,” he said. “They intentionally give me projects or put me in situations that will expose me to new areas and teams of the plant where I can learn and network.”
Boyles credits Mizzou Engineering for teaching him the foundation of critical thinking and problem solving.
“Mizzou gave me the foundation and theory,” he said. “This internship has bridged the gap between theory and application.”
Boyles encourages other students to be persistent when pursuing internships and to research the companies they want to join.
“Internships are about growing both personally and professionally,” he said. “Aim high and apply for positions and locations outside your comfort zone.”
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