Experience Matters - Grand Valley State University

Gaining Automation Experience

Matthew
Major: Electrical Engineering Throughout this second co-op rotation, I was tasked with many new responsibilities that I didn't get to do on my first rotation. These responsibilities included designing and implementing a Human Machine Interface (HMI), establishing communication to the machine's components via various communication protocols, setting up the machine's diagnostic settings, and programming the machine. I was also involved enough in a project to leave the plant and help out with the installation and debug process on the customer site.

GVSU Intern

Bryce
Major: Mechanical Engineering At Magna Mirrors, I worked this semester alongside several engineers in the outside mirrors group at the Kentwood location. During my internship I was involved in a large amount of projects including disassembling parts for benchmarking, finding the output torque both manually and electrically of glass actuators, finding current draws of power fold actuators in different humidity and temperature settings, taking mirrors out for a drive in different test vehicles with accelerometers attached for vibration data, and creating special wire harnesses to allow serial control of a mirror to emulate a car control module. I also operated CNC mills to rework parts, did draft analysis of several mirror assemblies, coordinated part delivery between nearby plants, assembled prototype mirrors for customers, performed door slam simulations, and even conducted a case study at a nearby car dealership to find correlation between VIN numbers and the mirror combinations that are associated with them. I never expected such a small component of a car to have such a diverse array of processes and tests for an engineer to be involved in, but the outside mirror is an ever-evolving piece of technology that I have had the ability to become quite familiar with.

Western Michigan University

Megan
Major: Sport Management - Executed all aspects of video operations including film breakdown, game capture, and live coding using SportsCode and Synergy Video programs - Utilized Scoutware program to input recruits and maintain database - Created mailouts and organized the distribution to potential recruits

EMC Co-op Second Rotation

Daniel
Major: Electrical Engineering During the second rotation of the co-op, I worked with clients to run a variety of test such as Radiated Emissions (RE), Conducted Emissions (CE), Bulk Current Injection (BCI), Radiated Immunity (RI), and Electrostatic Discharge (ESD). Compared to the first rotation, I was a lot more independent working with client's to perform these tests. I also worked on the diagnostic aspect of the products to understand how the product circuitry was producing failures and how to reduce these failures.

2nd Co-op Rotation

Michael
Major: Mechanical Engineering I was in the design Department this semester and enjoyed it. I dimensioned part drawing, checked other designers work, and designed a few components of my own for various machine cells.

Co-op 2 at Autocam

Joseph
Major: Mechanical Engineering I performed studies to analyze the capability of an automated inspection machine. I adjusted hardware in the inspection machine so that the machine's measurements correlated more closely with machinists' gages. I analyzed inspection data to identify unnecessary dimensional inspections for certain part models, removed these inspections, and saved 85 inspection hours per week. I updated the Autonomous Maintenance Logs for around 30 machines to a format that is more user-friendly and easier for machinists to keep track of the maintenance that is being performed. I updated a wash process for a high-volume part and increased throughput by 800%. The primary benefit of this wash improvement was 25 hours per week in labor savings due to the parts getting cleaner. I performed tests and improved the wash processes of other parts as well. I performed studies for a new cutting tool that should save about $30,000 annually in rejected parts. I designed devices to improve process efficiency and provide a more ergonomic working environment for employees. I introduced high school and early college students to Autocam through facility tours and presentations.

The Borgen Project

Allyson
Major: Advertising & Public Relations The internship revolved around completing tasks on a weekly tracker. It was really well structured and easy to follow. The tasks were anything from a 1-mile campaign to reaching out to local congressional leaders. A lot of the internship revolved around spreading awareness about the organization and key issues.

Small Company, Big Impact

Bridget
Major: Mechanical Engineering Writing protocols and reports for fixture installation qualifications. Working in the clean room with other engineers to determine new manufacturing processes. Doing annual fixture calibrations. Was project manager for three small projects.

JR Automation 2nd Rotation

Nathan
Major: Electrical Engineering For the first few weeks, I was placed on a project to get a repeat job's fixture up and running given the PLC and HMI. This was a great refresher and got me back into the controls engineering mindset. Next, I spent a little over a month on a much larger project with various tooling fixtures. This taught me a great deal about the hardware implementation of several devices, while building my PLC and HMI programming abilities. Finally, for the last two months, I have been doing a lot of design work. This included designing electrical and pneumatic prints for various jobs. I learned an outstanding amount about the automation process, as well as electrical and pneumatic functionality.

Cascade Engineering Co-op II

Sara
Major: Mechanical Engineering I worked with a prototype technician and together we assembled over 500 dashmat prototype parts. This involved some manipulation of plastic injection molded dashmats and assembly of the parts with fiber pads. I also performed a more thorough study and analysis on my dead pedal weight reduction project from the previous co-op semester. Finally, I was involved in the acoustical testing of various fiber pads and the development of a new dashmat we plan to pitch to a potential client.

megan@deltaplex.com

Andrea
Major: Sport Management As an assistant to the event directors, I aided with event organization, ticket sales, and logistics. On event days, I acted as contact person for vendors and promotors and also helped out around the arena where needed. This included working parking, box office, in concessions, and security. I also aided in event setup and execution.

Second Co-op - L3 Technologies

Mike
Major: Computer Engineering The majority of this semester was spent coding on various projects. I fixed many bugs in software while also implementing new features into certain software. I did also spend time developing my own programs/features. For example, I created a feature that helped to track test cable and station usage. I also had exposure to the python language. I developed a program to help mine through a large amount of data and extract needed information. I wrote a piece of software to help troubleshoot a hardware device that was causing software programs to crash. This problem has been going on for a while, and hopefully with my software the cause can be found. The biggest project I worked on was to create a tool to help check if the relays on a relay board were functioning properly. I wrote the software to turn each specific relay on or off while also helping with the hardware design and implementation. The hardware and software were merged to create a functional and helpful device.

Co-Op at L3

Mowgli
Major: Mechanical Engineering I worked as a mechanical engineer responsible for the testing and analysis of transmission components to determine how our current components compare to our proposed improvements.

Mechanical Engineer Co-Op 2

Patrick
Major: Mechanical Engineering Benchmarked various automotive parts such as outside and inside mirrors as well as door handles and lift-gates. Rapid prototyping with different types of 3D printers. Prototyped a button mechanism within a door handle. Developed a excel based 3D printing submission manager for Magna Mirror employees.

Wellness Intern

Lindsey
Major: Biomedical Sciences Through my internship, I was responsible for opening the new Employee Fitness Center. This process included writing policies, ordering equipment, leading department-wide meetings and hiring a new intern for the fitness center. In addition to my main project, we implemented monthly wellness initiatives for employees including National Nutrition Month Expo, Stress Awareness and Earth Awareness Week.

Behind The Scenes: Professional Hockey

Luke
Major: Sport Management My position includes many responsibilities. I performed office hours during the week and work 12+ hour days on game nights. I was responsible for managing the promotional energy crew of 14 people. I acted as a liaison between the Director of Game Operations and outside entertainment personnel. I carried out all aspects of game presentation including game day documents, on-ice entertainment, national anthem coordination, pre-game player entrance, video creation, and coordinated afternoon hockey games. In addition, I planned, coordinated, and supervised an entire theme night through guidance from my supervisor and video production team.

Mechanical Engineering Co-op 2

Jordyn
Major: Mechanical Engineering During this co-op semester, I was involved in many different tasks. I held a department-wide meeting on a safety feature on the conveyor. I traveled to California for two weeks to commission a customer site. I traveled to Kansas to perform a site audit in preparation for install of a new project. I frequently read drawings in order to find specific parts needed on site. I completed orders and tracked them until they arrived to site. I participated in daily meetings, providing updates on the arrival of parts constantly. I was also involved in creating and updating drawings that are needed on site for installation purposes.

Griffins Game Night Internship

TJ
Major: Sport Management During a regular day, our group of Gabe night interns come in about 4 hours before game time to set up the suites in the Van Andel Arena. After this, we head down to the box office where our primary responsibility is to sell game tickets, manage will call, and help with ticket resolution. After this, we are responsible for helping run and clean up intermission games on the ice, assisting the mascots with their needs, and performing T-shirt toss. Following the game we assist with clean-up, jersey auctions, giveaways, and selling tickets to future games.

2nd Engineering Co-op Rotation

Ryan
Major: Mechanical Engineering I completed a very diverse range of projects, from designing components of material transporting trailers and boxes, to machine safety and process improvements. One large project I was in charge of was a quality control test to make sure commodity material was not being placed into the waste material due to machine wear and settings. With such a vast spectrum of equipment and locations each day brought new projects that needed to be completed which were completely unique to that location or piece of equipment.

Co-op II at Gill industries

Cameron
Major: Mechanical Engineering Design for prototypes, production fixturing, prototyping fixturing, assistance in program launches, testing and testing lab organization, and more.

Mechanical Engineering Intern

Gabrielle
Major: Mechanical Engineering During my time as a mechanical engineering intern I was tasked with detailing drawing packages for other Mechanical Engineers, updating redline drawings received from Build crews/project closeouts, checking of peer drawing packages, and I also had the opportunity to do a little design work such as designing a ramp for a machine that was being built.

Avanti Law Group, PLLC

Natalie
Major: Political Science I was in charge of editing and prepping to mail application proving extreme hardship on family members of those at risk of deportation. Extreme hardship factors can include medical issues, financial issues, and the threat of violence within the region of the country the person originated from.

Internship with the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter

Ariel
Major: International Relations Interns are stationed on local campaigns across the state. Responsibilities to the Sierra Club include exemplary representation of the organization and close communication with the internship supervisor. Interns will communicate with their supervisor at a minimum of once a week. As far as expectations from the local campaign, there may be several. Interns are expected to do whatever is needed of them to promote their candidate and maximize the chance of their candidate being elected. This could include canvassing at various levels, including making phone calls and knocking on doors, as well as general office work, volunteer recruitment and management, promotional event planning, and various other responsibilities.

Working on a State Rep Campaign

Wesley
Major: Political Science Putting signs up, making calls, office work, canvassing, voting rights education

NMU Intern

Max
Major: Sport Management While at NMU, I was tasked with supervising the ticket staff which is comprised of ticket sellers and ticket takers. My duties included supervising the staff at games and events, hiring new staff, training new staff, as well as managing events.