Search - Experience Matters - Grand Valley State University

Co-op at Corvac Comp

Abby
Major: Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering I had a few major projects throughout the summer as well as small tasks. My main projects were; (1) Record cycle times of the top 80% of parts based on quantity shipped in order to get a base line standard. Also involved with this project was timing change over times to get a base line for those as well. (2) Layout proposal for the redesign of a cell. The purpose of the redesign was to see how the addition of another trim machine would affect the cycle time of that part. (3) Running samples of different sheet where regrind material was replaced with reproduced material to see how the different material affects quality of the finished part.

A Jack of All Trades

Colin
Major: Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering I worked in the New Product Manufacturing group. When new products were launched, my group was responsible for spanning the bridge between design and mass production of new products. My work entailed the design and development of tooling, fixturing devices, and other various manufacturing tools that would make new parts possible to produce. On top of my engineering responsibilities, I also took part in an intern project with a team of interns with a diverse set of skills. Together, we looked at the way Herman Miller trains and communicates to the people who install the product for our customers. This involved conducting research speaking to business partners involved in selling and putting together the product (dealers and installers). Ultimately, this culminated in a presentation of our proposed solutions to the CEO and executives of the company.

UCC Summer Co-op Experience

Nick
Major: Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering As a project engineer co-op I was given a wide variety of tasks. Some small projects include pellet limiting plates for the classifiers, strand separating fingers, and a light diffusion tester. With these small projects I was involved in the sourcing of materials as well as building the final products. Some larger projects I was involved in were the design of the dosing station for the new Georgia plant, the redesign of two extrusion set-ups to accommodate multiple feeders, and the redesign of the existing packaging line at UCC. For large scale projects, I was assigned specifically to making CAD drawings using either Solidworks or AutoCad.

Autocam Co-op

Alissa
Major: Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering I focused on continuous improvement throughout the semester. I completed a damage study to reduce scrap rates. From this, re-designs of trays and fixtures were made to make the process more efficient. These re-designs required reprogramming of robots and troubleshooting. I also created a design of a tray cover to implement in order to keep parts from coming out of the tray while they go through a chemical wash.

Inrad Inc Co-op

Patrick
Major: Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering I was responsible for monthly maintenance procedures, designing and implementing fixtures, writing, quality assurance and performing testing protocols and other day to day operations as necessary.

The Disher Co-op Experience

Casandra
Major: Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering This co-op term, I worked offsite as a Product Launch Coordinator for a Tier 1 automotive supplier. I was in charge of line layout, inventory, training new employees, getting our orders built on time, and shipping and receiving. I also worked at a high tech manufacturing facility as a Quality Technician for the pilot line. There, I was in charge of collecting data so that we could show the capability of our machines and processes.

Final co-op at Drawform

Will
Major: Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering My primary project this semester involved transferring several large pieces of equipment to a sister company in Connecticut. My role in this transfer has been the project manager at our facility. I did also had a couple of simple design projects which were also enjoyable.

Eaton Design Internship

Kathryn
Major: Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering As a Design Intern in the Supercharger sector I worked in ProE to update drawings and submit revisions. I also did approval tasks to ensure that other people's corrections were on par. There were also many drawings that needed to be categorized by specific dimensions and traits which I created spreadsheets for and reference documents for the data. I also designed a request system for the production plants to submit design requests via SharePoint.

Costs and Concepts

Reuben
Major: Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering I worked to develop concepts and quotes for customers on behalf of JR Automation.

Manufacturing at Haworth

Kevin
Major: Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering I was assigned as a manufacturing engineering co-op student. My tasks varied from cost-savings projects to plant layout redesigns. I also assisted some of the other engineers with daily tasks. One of the best opportunities that I was able to take advantage of was a kaizen. During these kaizens the company takes a problem and assigns a group of people closely related to the problem to solve it. These normally last a week long and end with thorough plans to fix the problem assigned.

Co-op 1

James
Major: Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering During my experience I was given many different tasks. However, the majority of my time was spent learning the system and how to navigate and use their standards by updating part prints. A toolmaker would submit a change to a tool by designating it on the part print, and I would make that necessary change. Also, they would do the same for an entire book, and I would go through the book and update every part that needed it. I also designed many small projects including an automation project, and a threaded rod and its corresponding nut.

Putting Two and Two Together

Hayden
Major: Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering The project I was given for the semester was awesome. The bezel on the 2013 Ford Escape's shifter slightly vibrates while driving. Right now, felt tape is being applied to these bezels before they are introduced into production. This tape is applied at a separate satellite station located a short distance away from the work cell. My project was to work this separate station into the cell, without slowing down their timing our their output numbers.

Engineering Co-op Earned Experience

Robert
Major: Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering I was tasked with assisting engineers in the GM group with specific studies, testing and designing of program parts.

So, You Think You Learn a Lot in School? Try Working at JR Automation.

Eric
Major: Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering While at JR I was privileged to be able to work on numerous different projects, all of which were unique and rich with learning experiences. I began my first weeks by learning my way around wiring and pneumatic diagrams, which are crucial pieces of documentation for every project the company becomes involved with. Once I became familiar with these, I was quickly given the opportunity to start learning the process of generating logic and debugging logic for PLCs using Rockwell's RSLogix5000. During this time I also learned how to use Rockwell's FactoryTalk View, which is a program that helps generate interactive interfaces that are unique for each project. This program downloads the interfaces onto HMIs (human machine interfaces), allowing users to view pertinent information, and even manually control actuation within the project. I was able to put this information to use on several different projects, the most memorable being two different sunroof automation lines. For these automation lines I was given the task to help generate intuitive HMI screens for each station within the line. Since these were such large operations, there were as many as 30 different stations that needed unique displays. For each display that was created, logic also needed to be generated for everything to function harmoniously. While working on these projects, I was able to spend a good amount of time out on the floor, where I was able to go online with the PLCs that controlled the entire line, allowing me to make changes simultaneously with other engineers working on the project.

Experiences at Herman Miller

Andrew
Major: Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering The options department is in charge of customizing products for special orders. I did a lot of CAD work and later learned how to process simple orders.

First Co-op at Autocam

Leah
Major: Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering I have written work instructions, helped run machines/ maintain machines (washers, CNC, Screw machines), updated tooling documentations, performed quality vision reports, order/ design demag tables, etc..

Developing A Company For Success

Joshua
Major: Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering Developed a technical documentation format for the manufacturing facility and am training employees in technical writing and documentation for procedures within the manufacturing facility. Performing maintenance and continual improvements on the operator task entry computer system I designed and created in previous semesters. Created a new timekeeping system to replace faulty previous system. Developed a new much more robust inventory tracking computer system for the manufacturing facility that will began implementation within the next couple weeks. Performed R and D experiments for testing of the company product to allow for certification of further building standards for the product. Collaborated on Six Sigma Project with Plant Manager to assess motor power consumption of our manufacturing machines.

Practical Experience

Reuben
Major: Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering During my Co-op, I was able to design several machines and machine components. I was also able to work on the shop floor and actually build/assemble one of the machines that I designed.

Great Experience

Alex
Major: Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering Performed tests on current, competitor and prototype products to determine performance and analyzed the data to allow the engineering team to make informed decisions about what changes need to be made to make a product line better. Designed a self close and a push to open plastic module to fit inside the drawer slides that will one day be part of the KV product lineup.

PDM co-op at Knape & Vogt

Alexander
Major: Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering I worked in the Product Engineering department on new product development and the improvement of current products. Daily tasks included 3D modeling of design ideas that turned into either making or ordering prototype components and any all new designs needed research and calculations to prove they could be effective or not. Those products would then have to be presented in a clear manner that explained their workings for other employee's to understand. Also completed testing of the prototypes as well as current production products to compare to competitor products with data analysis of testing done to present to other employee's and give recommendations on the best option to proceed.

Options Engineer Co-op at Herman Miller

Andrew
Major: Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering I was in the options department which is responsible for all the customized products. Specifically I work in wood cabinets which surprisingly are the most complex modified products.

Irwin Seating: Co-op I

Heather
Major: Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering My main tasks consisted of drawing and modeling work. I did a full overhaul of the material information on the drawings of plastic parts, helped other engineers with making dimensioned drawings, I made drawings of assembled chair options illustrating the important dimensions for architects and installers, modeled and helped design a prototype that would reduce tooling costs, and I also modeled and made dimensioned drawings for new reduced weight parts which were being developed. Along with this, I also did some work with the 3D printer. I printed objects for other engineers and designed and printed an aesthetic part for a prototype

1 of 3 rotations at Attwood Marine

Forrest
Major: Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering I worked in the Quality Control lab, testing new products and old to ensure they meet up to standards largely created by the marine industry.

Herman Miller - Manufacturing Engineering Co-Op

Nicole
Major: Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering I worked on a capacity study of their panel saws to determine how many parts could be produced every shift. This incorporated a variety of variables including different sized parts cut from a sheet of material, a different number of sheets cut at a single time, and varying ways to cut each sheet. I helped with new shop floor layouts that would create space for new machines that were on order and re-arranging the current work cells to accommodate the new machines. I also participated in a corporate Intern Project, which is different every year. This project that I worked on was evaluating the training of new hires in their Customer Service groups and providing recommendations to improve their training programs. These recommendations would allow them to have new hires prepared to assist customers faster and would help Herman Miller provide even more excellent customer service. Some other projects I did this year included: ergonomic assessments, designing fixtures, and designing guards for their hanging staple guns. The ergonomic assessments evaluate the movements of workers on the shop floor and determine if something needs to be changed in the process to help them to have more ergonomically friendly movements.

EGR 290 Co-op

Brian
Major: Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering On a regular basis I will make machine parts, frames, and plates from stock metal. First cutting them, then squaring them up with a mill or CNC, then drilling them where needed. I will assemble the frames and make risers from them, cut and finish tubes, attach casters to them, as well as finished plates to create a table. The table is the base which the entire machine is built upon. Some of the less complex parts I will cut from stock and finish myself.