Second Co-op Rotation - L3Harris
Michael
Experience Information
Employer: L3Harris
Job Title: Test Engineering Co-op
Major: Electrical Engineering
Received Credit: Yes
Paid: Yes
Abroad: No
Description of the Organization
The company employs about 50,000 employees all across the world, with the Grand Rapids locations employing probably between 400 and 600 employees (actual number unknown.) Even with these large numbers, the office still manages to feel pretty small and inviting. Everyone acts as large family in Test Engineering, which is comforting in times of stress.
Description of the Tasks/Projects Completed
Working in test engineering, my main tasks involve making sure test stations stay up to date and fully functional, as well as updating any test software and making quality-of-life improvements to make the software better in some way. Besides doing run of the mill updates, I also worked on new test systems for future products, as well as big changes to how software is loaded onto the products that are made.
Skills/Knowledge Gained Through The Experience
I learned alot about different layers of software, such as firmwares and bootloaders, as well as learning a bit about how to communIicate with devices using SCPI.I furthered the knowledge I learned in my first rotation about better, more organized programming practices, as well as the business side of engineering that classes don't really touch on.
Favorite Part of the Experience
I think my favorite part of my co-op experience this semester was when I was given the task/permission to write a new piece of software to make the process of loading firmware onto new units more seamless and effective, since technicians have been reporting trouble of units becoming software-locked. This was great for me, since I had my own project to work on with little to no guidance for how I should do it.
How the Experience Influenced Future Career Goals
This co-op experience has shown me that I still need to brush up on my programming skills. Besides that, though, this experience has shown me that having a job that is both software and hardware focused, rather than just software or just hardware, is appearing to be a great mix, since you have a solid understanding of the hardware that you are trying to write the software for, which seems to benefit me a lot.