Experience Matters - Grand Valley State University

Rubber Engineering

Andrew
Major: Mechanical Engineering Product design team. Creation of studies related to fatigue, parts testing, prototype assembly

Anthony
Major: Mechanical Engineering As an Advanced Manufacturing Engineer my responsibilities included, but were not limited to, process optimization, technology integration, design and development, quality assurance, project management, troubleshooting, collaboration and communication, continuous improvement, compliance and safety, training and documentation.

Third Co-op Rotation at Axis Automation

Zachary
Major: Mechanical Engineering A large amount of my time this semester was spent working on tooling station and robot end effector designs. This includes but is not limited to initial designs, internal and customer design review meetings that require design changes, compiling documentation for the components to be machined and built, and overall job documentation for the customer.

Last CO-OP Rotation

Ali
Major: Mechanical Engineering As far as projects Iýve worked on, one project was a cabinet sent by a customer where I had to go over the entire drawing package, create flat patterns, build BOMs & routers, add weld symbols if needed, apply GD&T where applicable, and process WOs. That was a project that was assigned to me, and I was responsible of getting everything completed before we can send it out to the floor. Iýve also worked in the assembly department for a couple weeks where I helped assemble some of the components of that cabinets such as the door, door jams, locks&etc.

3rd Co/op at NN Inc.

Connor
Major: Mechanical Engineering This semester I had more independence and had control of my own product line. I provided assistance to each process on the line on mostly day-to-day operations. I also had the opportunity to learn a new machining operation which included learning the process flow, maintaining the machines, and increasing production.

Viking Products Incorporated Third CO-OP Rotation

Darwin
Major: Mechanical Engineering In the third rotation, I was able to have more responsibility in creating and modifying Annual Validations or PPAPs for different parts. Through this, I was able to have thorough understanding of the different levels used to specify what should and should not be in these revalidations. I was also able to learn more about the Instron machine through testing parts for proof loads and tensile strength respectively. Additionally, I was able to sharpen my skills in creating RIR work instruction for different parts as well as maintaining quality of the gauges registered in the company.

Co-op 2

Trevor
Major: Mechanical Engineering I assited in a varity of product launches from ordering tooling, fixtures, and problem solving. Also I supervised an area and assisted in day to day operational issues.

2nd Co-op Rotation

Ethan
Major: Mechanical Engineering My main task was running laser cell production which included cleaning, repairs, and other general maintenance on the 6 laser cutter machines as well as the Sort Ný Etch. I also completed side projects of 2D CAD and gcoding, 5s projects, cycle time improvements, welding, duct work, motors, etc.

Second Co-op Rotation at Axis Automation

Zachary
Major: Mechanical Engineering A large amount of my time this semester was spent working on tooling station and robot end effector designs. This includes but is not limited to initial designs, internal and customer design review meetings which require design changes, compiling documentation for the components to be machined and built, and overall job documentation for the customer.

Viking Products Incorporated Second Co-op rotation

Darwin
Major: Mechanical Engineering Over the course of my second rotation, I was able to take on more responsibility in creating RIR work instruction for different parts as well as maintaining quality of the gauges registered in the company. I also was able to expand my knowledge of the Keyence by creating more Keyence programs for parts with dimensions that are hard to measure with a caliper or micrometer. Moreover, I was able to utilize my solidworks skills by creating a covering design needed for one of the machines used for part inspection

Second Rotation of Co-op at Panduit

Nick
Major: Mechanical Engineering During my rotation, I worked on several tasks. One task involved designing an informative chart for Panduit customers and employees to easily access information on ferrules (which is a product that reinforces stranded wire), their compatible tools, and optimal usage. Moreover, I developed a solution for a testing fixture, enabling engineers to conduct tests on one of our tools. Also, I contributed to the ideation, design, and testing of a product that secures cables in the case of a short circuit event, or disaster. This included collaborative brainstorming, and working directly with an engineer to model, fabricate, and test different solutions. I was able to help design multiple prototypes, then later see it in real life after it was made. In addition to my tasks, I was able to visit one of Panduitýs toolshops. This toolshop is dedicated to research, development, and rapid prototyping. I observed specialists in sheet metal fabrication, 3D printing, EDM machines, CNC milling, and molding design.

Applications Engineering at JR Automation

Jackson
Major: Mechanical Engineering As an applications engineer, I was tasked with quoting projects for customers. I organized and led meetings attended by different departmental management and leads focused on introducing requests, brainstorming and developing concepts, putting costs to a project, and reviewing proposals with business management and executives. Applications engineers also meet with customers and vendors, working together to create the best possible solution to a problem introduced by the customer. In between meetings, I was tasked with further concept development, drawing up concept imagery, doing preliminary design work, creating concept simulations, and writing the proposals that were to be sent to the customer.

Co-Op Year 2 @ Autocam Medical

Brady
Major: Mechanical Engineering On a day to day basis I work on doing Non-Conformance Reports to investigate why certain parts in the manufacturing process fail to meet expectations. I was also responsible for making sure the automatic straightening robots stayed running throughout the day. Larger scale projects I worked on was generating an automatic weekend scheduling assistant in excel. The excel file would use each employees availability on weekends (that they get to choose, weekends are not required so it was all bonus time for the machinist) as well as inputted weekend job data such as duration, quantity, machine ID and Job #. A table would then generate assigning available employees to time slots to reload the machines based on their personal schedules to keep them running as frequently as possible on the weekends. The table helped to allow the flow of communication as a simple image could be emailed out and every employee would know what times to come in at. Another large scale project I worked on was designing a custom fixture plate for one of our grind machines at the plant. A new and faster method of swapping jobs was going to be implemented on the machine, but there was no appropriate way to mount the system to do it. I got to design a fixture plate from the ground up to adapt this system onto our machine.

Trane Technologies Co-op - Rotation ll

Skyler
Major: Mechanical Engineering This rotation my responsibilities were expanded beyond B-team engineering to A-C team engineering. I mainly focused on units from our Clarksville plant by carrying out modifications such as Variable Air Volume (VAV), Electric heat, and Modulating Gas Heat. Each unit that came through the door was assigned to a group of engineers depending on the modification. It was then the engineer's responsibility to design, draw, create paperwork, and request parts for the job. Drawings varied in complexity. Some could be used from previous jobs while others needed to be designed from scratch. The paperwork consists of a Special Unit Label, installation Operation and Manual document, and Parts List which were all customized for the job. Programing was completed in Tracer TU and used function blocks rather than lines of code. Custom components were requested depending on the job and the Bill of Materials (BOM) is generated and sent to the materials team. Additionally, every job must be audited by another engineer to ensure correctness. This helped me personally since it gave me great exposure to an array of units and modifications.

TGW co-op

Brendan
Major: Mechanical Engineering for a project engineer at TGW it is normal to be working on drawings in AutoCAD for the customer along with going on site and doing site surveys or just helping the install team while they are installing the system. The job is broad and many different tasks you have never done before can come your way, this can range from permitting, install drawings, and many others.

Design and Analysis at Navico Group

Brett
Major: Mechanical Engineering A few tasks and projects that I worked on over the course of the semester included fixture design and construction, new product testing, PLC controls integration, python coding, and assisting in prototype builds.

IPM Co-Op - Rotation II

Kyle
Major: Mechanical Engineering As a mechanical engineering Co-Op, I was tasked with designing both product and palletizing conveyor for this rotation. This included drawing up the conveyor in SolidWorks, creating installation instructions or drawings for the installation teams, and detailing parts. Additionally, I helped test robot cells on the shop floor and assisted shop floor workers design and modify conveyor when defects or misalignment of parts prevented the conveyor from working as designed.

Co-Op Rotation #2

Pierce
Major: Mechanical Engineering Over the course of this semester's Co-Op I was able to work on CAD projects, create my own innovation project, perform rapid prototyping via our 3D printers and did validation testing in the lab.

2nd CO/OP at NN Inc.

Connor
Major: Mechanical Engineering I worked as a manufacturing quality intern engineer providing assistance to machinists and operators, while learning and working with the area engineers and managers on day-to-day operations. Some tasks included designing and documenting new processes, experimenting new tools, continuous improvement on the machine floor, and analyzing data results.

My Experience at Magna International

Zachary
Major: Mechanical Engineering I was the Verification and FDM team leader. In this position, I worked on 3D scanning as well as rapid prototyping.

3rd Rotation

Dawson
Major: Mechanical Engineering This rotation I was able to step into the light of the Systems team, where I helped work on Avionic's systems specifically dealing with dynamically tuned gyros. The goal of my internship what to help manage their work instructions for their manufactuirng operations, as well as help work on testing and analysis work that needed to get done for the team. We are scarse on mechanical engineers, so I was able to really take reigns to help get things done.

Co-op Rotation 3

Lucas
Major: Mechanical Engineering I worked with the engineering team on designing the assembly station for a new office chair that'll be introduced around spring of 2023. I was involved with designing the pallet that holds the chair as it goes down the assembly line and the seat press assembly station.

aMDI Co-op Experience

Co
Major: Mechanical Engineering I worked on creating a protocol and execution of an accelerated aging study, a design history file (DHF) remediation project, and worked to promote innovation through liquid photopolymer additive manufacturing (3D printing).

Blackmer Co-op

Benjamin
Major: Mechanical Engineering During the semester I was challenged with many tasks such as completing Engineering Change Request and Notices, BOM changes, configurator updates, SolidWorks CAD model and drawing design, completing hands on work such as building and tearing down pumps and compressors, and running tests on units.

3rd Co-Op Rotation

Jacob
Major: Mechanical Engineering During this Co-Op rotation, the majority of my tasks were quality based. A new product line was being launched for a customer which involved the interior mirror not only being a mirror but also an LCD that is capable of showing an image from several cameras around a vehicle. Developing a new product comes with many unexpected problems in which large-scale studies need to be done to discover their source. This was my main task. A secondary project was re-creating a suitcase tester used for testing mirrors for functionality out on the production floor. While re-creating it some improvements needed to be made which led to creating of new 3D models, and a bill of materials.