This summer, junior industrial and systems engineering student Ella Brasten had the opportunity to intern with Harley-Davidson's paint manufacturing engineering co-op during summer 2025. There, she helped optimize the way they use materials and space to make the world-famous motorcycles. Start your engines, because we’re turning it over to Ella! 

This summer I had the opportunity to do a co-op at Harley-Davidson as a manufacturing engineer in the paint department in York, Pennsylvania. I study industrial and systems engineering with a business minor, so this role aligned perfectly with my major. There are three departments in York: fabrication, paint and assembly; within the paint department, we paint fuel tanks, bike frames and fenders for the current model year.   

With a factory setting comes many challenges, but it also brings plenty of rewards. I find it rewarding when I discuss projects, ideas and concepts with operators, because having their expertise in the process improves my engineering mindset. 

I had the opportunity to learn the equipment that makes Harley’s motorcycles unique. The above picture is a striping robot that lays pinstripes and guidelines on fuel tanks and fenders. The robot follows a program for each specific style part. There is a large range of fuel tank styles, fender styles, colors, striping colors and finishes, which creates the infamous 2025 color combinations. Within the paint department, the majority of the painting and striping is done by robots, and operators regulate the robots and load/unload the parts. Learning how to operate the robots was a rewarding experience because each robot has its own quirks, and troubleshooting the issues needed lots of analysis.   

I was also able to do some design projects during my co-op. The engineering process starts with an issue or challenge that someone has experienced and the goal for what is desired at the end. The above shows a design that acts as a plate for the robot to roll off extra paint onto. This challenge for the robot was that it had an excess amount of paint on the roller, so it was causing a warped shape in the stripe. With this in mind, I drafted many ideas and presented my ideas to my supervisor. After he chose the above design, I 3D printed it, tried it on the fixture, adjusted the measurements, re-3D printed it, tested again and then finally had it fabricated in stainless steel. This is a very standard process, but I recognized the challenge of creating an idea from scratch.  

The other project I faced was trial testing. In the above pictures, I diluted a color with three different solvents and hand-striped them on panels. The goal was to find the best solvent out of the three, which is done by analyzing the final panels for the least number of defects. We were trying to prevent dewetting, which is a common defect in stripe paint and what we were trying to avoid. I repeated this process with three more colors and concluded on the best solvent to use. From my experiment, we replaced an old solvent that was being discontinued, and I was able to demonstrate why it needed replacing.  

I also was faced with an optimization project to maximize the capacity of the marketplace, which is where the finished parts go before they get assembled.  I also spent a week logging and counting the density within the marketplace to show how much storage we are using at a given time. From my findings, it showed that we weren’t using our storage to its full capacity. I also calculated the estimated number of each part within the marketplace to help better track inventory capacity.  

Having a co-op or internship is a great way to get experience in your future career. I found great value in the projects, team and overall culture at Harley. Working closely with the engineering team, I developed a strong understanding of standardization practices and the importance of consistency in design. It also taught me to approach challenges with a positive attitude and a critical mindset.