Charlotte Engineering Grad Davey Sides Converts Internship At Bosch Into A Full-Time Position
Davey Sides is on the cusp of a new beginning. While looking forward to his new career, he keeps an eye on the people and moments that encouraged him while earning a Master of Science in Construction and Facilities Engineering. Soon, he would walk across the stage with a master’s degree in hand, a testament to years of dedication and, more profoundly, to the unwavering influence of his family.
From a young age, Sides was captivated by the hum of machinery and the intricate dance of manufacturing systems. “My father is a quality engineer. He’s been engineering all his life, and I think that’s what piqued my interest in the field,” Sides reflected.
His childhood was filled with visits to manufacturing plants in Charlotte and Lincolnton. “I’ve always had this industrial and technical mindset and wanted to work in manufacturing and with the different systems,” he said.
Charlotte, with its burgeoning industrial landscape, became a natural magnet for his ambitions. “Charlotte really opened my eyes and motivated me to push myself and further my education as far as I can.”
The most impactful step in his job search came not from a career fair, but a local newspaper. It was his grandmother, vigilant for opportunities, who spotted an advertisement and knew it would be a fit for her grandson. “The first company that called me was Bosch Tools in Lincolnton,” he said, “which is where I’ve lived all my life.”
This led to an internship in facilities management, a field he hadn’t known existed. “I didn’t even know that was a thing … I’d never heard of facility engineering before. So I worked there as an intern for two years, and that opened a whole new world of engineering to me.” The fast-paced, multidisciplinary nature of facilities engineering, dealing with everything from HVAC to electrical systems, suited his problem-solving spirit.
A seamless advancement
Sides’ internship evolved into a full-time job offer with Bosch. “I had been interning through the undergraduate program at William States Lee College of Engineering,” he recalled. “In 2023, right before I completed that degree, a permanent position came open at Bosch. I was hired full-time into the same department where I’d already interned as a facility engineer.”