Experience Matters - Grand Valley State University

NextGen Team Developer

Ryan
Major: Computer Engineering I am the lead developer for Cereal City Science's new website. Additionally I supported and rebuilt much of the functionality and content management systems behind cqlcorp.com (the companies website.)

Innotec Co-op

brad
Major: Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering During this last semester at Innotec, my time was split between my cell responsibilities (around 10 hours a week), production time (around 12 hours a week), and project time. My cell responsibilities were shipping, checking in materials, and safety. For shipping I would gather the parts that our customer had ordered for the day via a Hi-Lo. For material ordering, I would check in materials generally twice a week. We receive weekly shipments on most of our materials. The materials we use consist of large steel flat stock reels of 3 different size and thickness, copper flat stock reels, large barrels of 12 gauge and 10 gauge wire, and molded plastic housings. For safety, I would do monthly safety audits in our cell, complete at least 2 safety-related projects a month and inform other cell members of any safety concerns. The largest chunk of my time would go into projects. Most of my larger scale project were tied to Innotec's 8D system. With this system, you move the project through 8 steps: building the team, problem description, interim corrective action, root cause, permanent corrective action, validation, prevention and congratulations. I worked on mostly safety, MTBI (mean time between intervention), and changeover improvement projects.

Minor League Baseball Grounds Crew Intern

Lee
Major: Sport Management Game days I am at the field for about 9 to 14 hours depending on the start of the game. I would either mow, clean and drag the infield, or do clay work in the morning. Set up batting practice, water the infield, fill in divots, other small things to pass the time. After that set up for the game and drag the infield at the end of the 3rd and 6th innings. After the game I patch up the clay areas that get used and do other general clean up.

My Intern Experience in IT & Development

Connor
Major: Information Systems My tasks started with assisting our managed IT clients with basic computer troubleshooting and network installations as well as server management. I was involved in several networking projects. For example, I routed cables in drop ceilings, terminated wire ends with ethernet connections, mounted access points and/or cameras. Later, I was soon thrown into web development projects after I showed work from my senior project and have continued in learning more web development skills.

Benton Harbor/Saint Joseph YMCA

Ryan
Major: Sport Management I Worked in the areas of administration, maintenance, personal training, youth sports, day camp, and worked closely with youth director and sports director. Some of my responsibilities included working on marketing for personal trainers, revising their EAP, working with maintenance to design better cleaning practices, help supervise weight/cardio rooms, and worked at summer day camp as a counselor.

Southview Plant Engineering

Ryan
Major: Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering During my summer co-op I worked in the assembly department at the Southview Plant. Much of my daily responsibilities revolved around what is known as continuous improvements. I had daily HPT meetings which we would discuss possible improvements that could be made to the lines. I would then take these suggestions and work on implementing solutions. I did a lot of different projects over the summer for several different OEM lines. I was involved in developing a screw shroud to be placed over a door panel before operators drive screws. The purpose of the shroud is to prevent dropped screws from becoming loosely stuck in the door panel during assembly. I also helped create new verify matrix for the 2018 model year productions using a provided bill of materials. New features of the new model year required characters to be added to the matrix. Another large project I worked on was creating job set-up doors for a particular lines. Job set-up doors are used at the beginning of each shift to verify that the array of visual, inductive, proximity, and contrast sensors are functioning properly. I also lightly involved in other projects, such as the shutdown and removal of a line and a vinyl adhesion to substrate study using an Instron machine.

JR Summer Co-op

Tom
Major: Mechanical Engineering I started out with detailing and checking print packages. I would take an assembly, create the detail sheets, and add the dimensions and annotations to the sheets, which will end up on the floor for the builders to use. While checking, we make sure that the dimensions are clear, useful, and have the appropriate tolerances. I moved my way into doing design work. From making changes to parts, to making my own small assemblies, I never did the same things twice. I was even able to work on the floor with the builders during my first semester. This allowed me to see how our models becomes real machines.

1st Co-Op at JR Automation

James
Major: Electrical Engineering Over the course of my co-op rotation, I completed a good deal of programming in both HMI (Touchscreen) and PLC (Ladder Logic) formats. I also helped troubleshoot issues with electrical, pneumatic, and mechanical problems on various projects at my business unit.

Engine Research Design and Development

Grant
Major: Mechanical Engineering My tasks for this semester included preparing a test cart that would hold a small 28cc two stroke engine. The engine is used in the ScanEagle UAV and is being researched to increase durability and performance through advanced materials. I oversaw building a test rig that was able to control the throttle remotely and send back all necessary data to be recorded and analyzed later. I also worked on developing a combustor for a Turbo Test Rig that would be able to map a range of small turbocharger compressors and turbines. I designed the combustor along with multiple other components and then redesigned the layout of the cart. My work began with research, then design, conducted design reviews, developed detailed drawings, sourced hardware, ordered raw material, developed travelers for component manufacturing, inspected finished components, and conducted final assembly. I designed the parts and produced prints in Creo that were used in manufacturing.

EGR 290 CO-OP

Joseph
Major: Computer Engineering I had one primary project throughout the semester that consisted of developing a data archival process to maintain a exponentially blooming sales and management database. I also had a brief introduction to PLC control.

Automation Design

Joseph
Major: Electrical Engineering While working at Koops I got to experience first hand the design process of creating automation systems. Some of the projects I was assigned during my time at Koops was working side by side with other engineers to design automated systems. Another project I was assigned to was updating older automated machines. All of these task contained a great deal of engineering work such as design analysis, technical drawings, stress and strain analysis, and etc.

Magna Co-op

Danijel
Major: Mechanical Engineering At the location here at Kraft we do a lot of testing to meet environmental, mechanical, and safety requirements desired by the customers. I would perform many of these tests for the engineers and the projects they have with the customers to directly determine data of the mirrors' characteristics, and whether or not design changes need to happen. I would also do plenty of design work, from designing custom fixtures or adapters for the part I would need to test them, to gathering any other data when viewing designs in CAD.

GE Aviation Systems - Software Co-Op

Chris
Major: Computer Engineering During my rotation, I worked in development quality assurance (DQA) where I was assigned to two main projects. The first half of the summer, I worked on pulling data from a number of sources for the purpose of establishing connections that could be used to link these sources in a common data lake, and ultimately to provide a unified set of metrics and visualizations that would provide a high-level view of the health and status of various projects and processes. The remainder of the summer, I was tasked with finding a new system for managing DQA data, which included researching several software solutions and reporting on their capability.

The Structural Concepts Experience

Joseph
Major: Mechanical Engineering The most common task was changing the bill of materials on part assemblies as well as changing the respective models of these assemblies to represent the changes. Sometimes an entirely new part had to be designed in SolidWorks to satisfy the need of a part on the final product or assembly. For example if the part was made out of sheet metal, the SolidWorks model would be cut out on a CNC laser and then bent to shape.

An Experience to Remember

Sharnell
Major: Integrative Studies During this internship, I was a sales rep for Oakland University. I was responsible for going to 30 or more businesses a day trying to get them to buy some type of advertisement from the company.

Advertising Agency Experience

Megan
Major: Advertising & Public Relations I worked in the Detroit office where I worked closely on kicking off and managing Buick projects, prepared image assets and copy documents for GMC and Buick websites, and researched/generated ideas for a Goodyear case study.

Gentex Co-op 1

Nate
Major: Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering As part of the process engineering team in final assembly, the group I was working with was responsible for designing and building the machines for the production line of the full display mirror. The projects that I worked on included adapter brackets and mounts for displays, bar code scanners and totes. I also hand built conveyors, and flow racks and made design changes to those as they were being built. One of my main projects was a laser distance sensor for a machine that was strategically placed to detect whether a LCD was placed flat within the machine's fixture. Most of my projects required design work with CAD and hands-on work with the machine in the tool room.

Gentex Co-op

Dalton
Major: Mechanical Engineering While at Gentex, I worked along side the process engineers in the final assembly area. Their job is to assemble all of the mirror components to create the final product. When arriving at Gentex, my group was in the process of implementing a new production line for Full Display Mirrors. My first project was to fully assembly and install three conveyor belts for the production line. I had to utilize my hands on skills and knowledge of Solidworks to complete my tasks. As the internship progressed, I received many task for improving the existing machine designs for the line. These improvements included designing and finding locations for brackets and flow racks. I also got some experience with selecting and testing new sensors for improving the build process.

Engineering Co-op at Gill Industries

Jack
Major: Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering The co-op program at Gill Industries involves 6 rotations through various departments. I began my employment operating a welding cell, then worked for the materials department, performing cycle checks and small inventory projects. Next, I was transferred to the press room, where I was not given any tasks/projects, but I observed the presses and stampings and helped my coworkers troubleshoot problems with the 1000 ton press. I then worked in the Quality Engineering department, in which I worked on multiple projects in Microsoft Excel and Plex, involving start-up checklists and quality checks. Finally, I worked with the Product Engineering department, performing various small and large projects, involving design, prototyping, testing and benchmarking. I will spend the last three weeks of co-op working in the Process Engineering department.

Manufacturing Engineering Co-op

Peter
Major: Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering Some of the projects that I have accomplished include equipment implementation, CAD modifications, data measurement analysis, project development, time studies. I felt as though I was able to get a wide range of different projects working in different areas of the manufacturing plant. I really got the feel for what Emerald does and what they are capable of doing. One part of my job that I enjoyed the most was working with equipment (new or old) in project development. Often times when decorating a part, there is more than one way to do it. So determining the best way is crucial to meet quality standards and testing standards.

Controls Intern summer

Brian
Major: Mechanical Engineering Most of the tasks I worked on was data logging. For nearly every project in my business unit I would update the build's schematic which had changes made on paper but had yet to be updated electronically. When I wasn't updating schematics I was programming robots, designing user interface screens, and completing documentation for the company.

Cascade Engineering Co-op I

Landan
Major: Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering Initially, I worked alongside production operators to learn the various products that Cascade manufactures and how the injection molding machines work. This allowed me to make relationships with the operators and support staff so I can be more effective when I am tasked on the factory floor. I also became very familiar with the products since I was constantly touching them and looking for defects which made me valuable to some of the engineers I would later work with since I knew their projects and how they were molded. Later, I worked extensively on plastic dash mat prototypes with a Senior Engineering Technician producing the engineering changes required by the supplier and attaching the fiber to the plastic by sonic welding. Also, I assisted in the testing of the waste containment carts and updating the master list for production date and material. Furthermore, I designed a stand that elevated the cart so that the wheels of the cart can be tested by the same testing machine. Additionally, I conducted mold flow study using short shots from a press and a wall thickness study on a new dash mats that provided useful information to the engineers in their theoretical versus actual comparisons. More, I pursued an independent project that was approved by my supervisor to improve a machine that I had worked on in my first weeks as a production operator. My improvements decluttered the factory floor and saved the operators time in clean up.

Intrepid CS (1st Rotation)

Drew
Major: Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering At Intrepid I handled the design of the housing for these products. I also was involved with ordering parts for the products and seeking out quotes for materials and manufacturing jobs. Other tasks I was involved in were developing testing jigs for the our products and figuring out more effective ways to program more products at once. Also developing custom made ideas to make jobs for others easier for the production team here at the office.

1st Semester Co-op: Gentex

Jensen
Major: Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering I was tasked with designing, fabricating, wiring, and building a target thickness scanner to improve efficiency of cathodes used in the glass coating process. Measurements of the target cathodes were previously done by hand before installation and after their lifespan to measure erosion of the target (ruthenium/chrome). My design utilized a 3D scanning head running along a linear actuator that outputs dimensions and a 3D profile of the 9-foot cathodes. This will decrease the time for measurements and increase the accuracy.

Controls Engineering in Automation

Kyler
Major: Electrical Engineering After working with AutoMatrix for the summer I was able to design, wire, program, and troubleshoot various machines in the automotive industry. AutoMatrix focuses on automating processes that help other businesses improve efficiency and productivity. Although they are a smaller company, they take on some very large projects for very reputable companies. My co-op experience consisted of programming a machine that loaded magnets into a rear-view mirror holder for a new electric car company. I also designed and programmed a laser marking system for the same company. The machine was responsible for providing a VIN number and logo on both front and rear bumpers.