Chamberlain Group and the power of co-op
Whenever a garage door goes up in the U.S., there’s a likelihood that the garage door opener and the intuitive technology that powers it are products of the Chamberlain Group, a smart access control company based in Oak Brook, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.
There’s also a likelihood that a University of Cincinnati student had a hand in that Chamberlain Group product.
For over two decades, the company has partnered with UC to provide students majoring in fields such as engineering, computer science and communication design cooperative education experiences that touch on every aspect of Chamberlain Group’s product lines and future product development.
The Chamberlain Group's MyQ app is one of the company's smart access products. Photo/Chamberlain Group.
"Students are not just watching and observing. They are in the weeds, interfacing with our professional staff and solving complex problems,” says Jennifer Hirschorn, university relations program manager at Chamberlain Group.
UC alumnus Claire Zehnal is a product designer at Chamblerlain Group. Zehnal says that spending two co-ops at the company's headqarters in Oak Brook, Illnoise solidified her desire to move to Chicago. Photo provided by Zehnal.
Each fall and spring semester, the company offers six to 10 paid co-op experiences, with approximately 40 to 50 paid internships over the summer. The difference between the co-op and internship is the length of stay: 16 or 12 weeks. “Although the company brings in students from about 20 academic institutions around the country, the majority come from UC for the fall and spring,” says Hirschorn.
“We find that UC students come in with the right skills and the right attitude. That lends itself well to our programs,” which are structured to give students an optimal view of the company’s production strategies and corporate culture, adds Hirschorn.
Straight away, she says, students are onboarded with a company overview (it’s history dating to 1900), assigned a buddy, and a manager in one of several areas such as engineering, product design, or technology. In addition to smart garage door openers, cameras, and accessories, the company produces commercial access control solutions and myQ, an app that allows users to unlock their home with all-in-one access and monitoring. MyQ also delivers seamless, secure access to businesses and communities worldwide.
Benjamin Hunt (left) in 2014 during his co-op at Chamberlain Group. Here, Hunt and two other co-op students took a day trip to Chicago. Hunt graduated from DAAP in 2017. with a bachelors degree in computer science. Photo provided by Hunt.
The students work with their professional mentors and collaborate on interdisciplinary teams on current projects. Students are also tasked with a team project that either attempts to solve an existing problem or proposes an innovation for future products, with scaled prototypes and research to support their ideas.
Additionally, the company offers extracurricular activities, which can include tours of Chicago and trips to Six Flags Great America.
It’s a work-life educational model, Hirschorn says, that led to Chamberlain Group being named one of the Top 100 Internship Programs of 2024 by WayUp. Accolades also come from within the company, from UC alumni employed there, who recount their student experiences fondly.
“They have this huge network of people who are always looking out for you, reviewing your work and giving you feedback,” recalls Claire Zehnal, a product designer who graduated in 2021 from UC’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP) and joined the company shortly after.
Zehnal, who majored in communication design and served on two co-ops at Chamberlain Group, cites location (an hour from Chicago), mentorship and “friendly culture” as the standout aspects that drew her to the company. “I found my niche with design here and wanted to go back,” she says of moving to Chicago right after graduation.
It’s really difficult to beat hands-on experience with other professionals.
Benjamin Hunt UC alum and Chamberlain Group employee
Benjamin Hunt, a software engineer, did two back-to-back co-ops at the company prior to his UC graduation in 2017, earning a bachelor’s degree in computer science. “I’m actually doing a lot of things now that were informed by some of the work I did as a co-op here,” Hunt says, pointing to the company’s exploration of camera technology during that time. Today, he says, camera technology is featured in multiple Chamberlain Group products and is moving into aspects of AI.
“Students today are looking at future technologies in the same way I explored cameras when I was a co-op here,” says Hunt.
What sets Chamberlain Group apart is the company’s “very real willingness to be great mentors,” says Matthew Baer, who graduated from DAAP with a degree in industrial design in 2014.
Baer was among one of the company’s first co-op students and now serves as a student mentor himself.
“What we do now gives students a breadth of experience working cross-functionally across all disciplines, whether it be mechanical engineering or industrial design,” Baer says, with Hunt adding, “It’s really difficult to beat hands-on experience with other professionals.”
Feature image at top 2024 fall semester co-op students and UC alumni who are now employees. Left to right: Sarah Bridge, Morgan Novean, Benjamin Hunt, Sean Linko, Claire Zehnal.
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