Associate mechanical engineers typically work along side a senior engineer and help them out on projects. Most of the work will be "grunt work" at first (e.g. documentation, testing in the lab). If you perform well, eventually you will be able to start taking ownership of more detailed projects (...
Day in the Life
Mechanical Engineering
Associate
Philips
Philips likes to hire their interns, however it all depends if they have the budget to hire another employee. When you are approaching graduation and applying for full-time jobs, reach out to your manager during the internship and see if he/she expects anything to be available
Make sure to have a solid elevator pitch about who you are, what you've accomplished, and why you are interested in Philips. The actual content of this pitch will depend on the role you are applying for. A good GPA and industry experience helps too.