Experience Matters - Grand Valley State University

Controls Programming At Koops

Max
Major: Mechanical Engineering The projects I was given were PLC based, which is programming via ladder logic. A task given to me was to offline code machines; this is creating the general structure of the machine and how it processes inputs and outputs. Another task of a controls engineer at Koops is to debug machines, which required working with the PLC and the hardware of a machine to create create an operational PLC.

Open doors to a Bright future

Luis Enrique
Major: Mechanical Engineering In my time at Axis, I wanted to be part of the different department along with my three co-op rotations. My first semester with them I was mainly working on the factory floor with the workers and reporting directly to one of the project managers. On my second rotation, y was part of the Design department, this is where I wanted to stay the most time since the work was more interesting and the relation between the designers, factory floor workers, project managers, and customers was interconnected. Basically, I was able to know what was going on everywhere and suggest changes to anything. This is where I found the most interest inside the company other from the project manager position that I wanted to be part of, but this was not possible since a project on the automation industry could take more than 1 constant year of work and I was just there 1 semester at a time making this opportunity almost impossible.

Mechanical Design

Johnathan
Major: Mechanical Engineering This co-op semester I worked as a mechanical engineer at JR Automation Technologies. The majority of my tasks were related to one project. The project involved designing an automated machine to assemble industrial A/C compressors. When I joined the project the design was nearly 100% complete. Most of the engineers that were working on the project left to work on others. I became responsible for supporting the build team and dealing with any issues that came up during the build process. I designed some of the guarding around the machine and added sensors where needed. I redesigned some machine components when issues came up on the build floor with components that were not working as planned. I met with the customer to discuss changes they wanted to make to the machine that were not brought up in the original design meetings and processed an Engineering Change Order for their requests. Other mechanical engineers, controls engineers and machine builders taught me a lot this semester, I have gained tons of practical experience during my time at JR Automation.

Final Co-op Rotation

Bruce
Major: Mechanical Engineering The two project that I worked on most were improvements to an existing product as well as the launch of a new product. I was around for the entire design phase for the new product.

'Controlling' the HVAC Industry - One Building at a Time

Anthony
Major: Mechanical Engineering My co-op rotations were spent working with the contracting department. This department is contracted to building owners to install Building Automation controls. Once our sales department wins a job, the contracting department takes over the project management, engineering, installation, and programming of the controls. Specifically, I was/am involved in the engineering of this process. The engineering consists of creating Control Drawings for the installation and programming phases of the jobs. The Control Drawings show our electrical subcontractors and control technicians what controllers are going to be used throughout the job and what end devices / equipment are going to be used in the Building Automation System.

Ravenna Ductile Iron Co-op III

Spencer
Major: Mechanical Engineering This semester, I worked with RDI's engineering team completing a large variety of tasks. These tasks included: cleaning and inspecting casting tooling, designing casting tooling, evaluating performance of said tooling, and determining appropriate solutions to any problems found. A major project completed was a redesign of several high volume tools to improve yield and decrease costs.

Hutchinson NA Coop 1

Stephen
Major: Mechanical Engineering Although this was my first official coop, I worked at Hutchinson NA last summer as an Intern. This gave me a huge advantage going into my coop semester because I had already completed all of my lab and safety training the year before. I was able to jump right in, working closely with engineers for projects for well known companies including Ford and GM. My primary role was designing fixtures for cementing, the process for preparing components to have rubber adhere to them, assembly, and testing of parts. I used SOLIDWORKS to design all of these fixtures.

Herman Miller Green House

Stephen
Major: Mechanical Engineering I was assigned a section of the factory for which I was responsible. As a manufacturing engineer, my job was to make the operators job faster and easier. I solved day to day problems as well as working on long term projects. A few projects I worked on were prototyping a design a vacuum lift assist device, designing a unique tool using modeling software, and managing departmental moves.

Engineering Co-op

Kyle
Major: Mechanical Engineering Throughout this summer i have done work on many gages for many different customers. Each gage is assigned to a specific experienced builder and i had the chance to help the builders complete gages by either machining parts for the gage or assembling the gage with them. I also had the opportunity of working in our CMM lab (Coordinate Measuring Machine) where i was able to measure the final stage of the gage to make sure that gage met our customers standards before we sent the final product to them.

Hutchinson Engineering Co-op

James
Major: Mechanical Engineering Tasks and projects given were extremely varied and well rounded for an entry level internship. Working through different departments such as the characterization and prototyping lab then being tasked to assist with manufacturing and pre-production approved cells to create parts was the majority of my co-op experience. There were intermittent projects given to perform jobs such as designing shielding for machines, modifying parts for tuning purposes, and preparing display pieces.

(Injection) Molding My Future

John
Major: Mechanical Engineering I was directly involved in the testing and developing of a new part for production. This included testing prototypes- both dimensionally and for performance, performing durability tests, assembling parts, and working with my supervisors to recommend changes. My primary duty was carrying out all testing of parts, writing reports on my findings, and then working with my supervisor to identify design and process changes that were necessary. I also was involved in the production of most sample parts produced during my time there. I worked on multiple different molding machines for different components of the part, did coil winding, welding, and final assembly of components. I also completed several projects related to documenting both critical dimensions of new components in our database and creating instructions for quality inspections, testing, and production.

Co-op Rotation I

Kyle
Major: Mechanical Engineering During my first rotation at Trane, I worked to create graphics for projects in which the engineering work was recently completed. These graphics include floor plan, air handler, and water system graphics. It was also my job to check in parts that were ordered by the engineers and ensure everything that was ordered had arrived.

Engineering Co-op, Koops Inc.

Joseph
Major: Mechanical Engineering My co-op time in Koops was spent in the Business Development team and was split into two distinct sections: Sales and Applications. In Sales I was introduced to the company, our structure, organization and products. I learned to be the front face of the business presenting customers with solutions for their manufacturing needs. Doing site visits, taking phone calls, and responding to website leads were part of my jobs. The most major project I undertook in Sales was an email campaign to revitalize old customer leads with whom we had lost contact. More than three hundred emails later and I am still responding to healthy sales leads. Applications taught me how to quote a project. When a customer sends us a request for a quote it's the job of the applications team to put together a comprehensive, itemized list of parts, components and manpower necessary to complete it. Quoting involves a certain level of engineering creativity to discern the most efficient, feasible and economic solution to each problem.

Mechanical Engineering Co-Op Experience

Austin
Major: Mechanical Engineering Tasks at HMC has a large range. Tasks include, SolidWork designs for new or improved tooling, data collecting and excel work, and hands on technical work. The main focus of my rotation was in the foundry. Creating new processes and improvements to increase productivity.

Yanfeng Automotive Interiors Intern

Ann
Major: Mechanical Engineering For this summer internship I was placed in the Advanced Manufacturing Engineers Department under Dale Boone. My mentor was Laura Snyder and I have been working closely with Joel Timmer on the DJ IP Trim Line that is being sent down to Mexico, 34 machines. For the IP Trim Line, I developed ODS (Operator Description Sheets) for the DJ IP Trim assembly line, assisted in creating a Poka Yoke Matrix for the different sensors on the machines and updated the PFMEA (Process Failure Mode and Effects Analysis) spreadsheets. I built parts for our different builds, evaluated the control plans and proved out equipment to send to Mexico. I also worked on my own project, proposing to replace our current peel and stick labeling process with a more advanced and efficient laser marking process.

Co-op Semester #1

Connor
Major: Mechanical Engineering At Cascade, I have worked on the floor to become more familiar with the operators and the manufacturing methods as well as worked in the office to learn more about engineering in the real world. I have done maintenance projects on our office's 3D printer, created ergonomically friendly production work cells, and have assisted engineers on molding tryouts on several projects.

Quality and Machine work at Helix Steel

Andrew
Major: Mechanical Engineering Wrote quality reports which took different tests regarding overall product strength and dimensions for both new and finished product. Also worked and performed maintenance on machines that ran our 8 mm wire. Helped start a new chute design project designed to reduce floor scrap, saving time and money.

Co-Op 1 Summer 2018

Chad
Major: Mechanical Engineering The team that I was officially on was the innovation team. This meant that we focused on ways to improve what was going on in house, that could mean helping improve quality, helping improve how machines run and taking employee suggestions on how to make things around the shop better. This semester I designed a couple of carts that will hold the waste from the paint line when parts are powder coated. This barrel can come close to 500 lbs. before the barrel needs to be emptied. Another project that I worked on was a system that would use a PLC to open a lid to one-inch container when the parts in the anywhere are to be used.

First Co Op Rotation

Natalia
Major: Mechanical Engineering I worked on projects ranging from labeling tools, to assembling an electrical plug, to designing supports using CAD software. I also had the responsibility of keeping the work area clean and organized.

EGR 290 Co-op Experience

Eric
Major: Mechanical Engineering During my internship at Flexfab, I worked with four other engineers and I had a large role in multiple projects. My first task was to learn daily activities such as quoting, part setups, and how to process engineering change-orders. I was also a part of several large-scale projects. One of the projects I was tasked with was to create a new expander tool for use in the company's 204-4-5 value stream. Flexfab has traditionally used pneumatic expanders, but these have now been deemed obsolete with the inception of the new expander I designed and tested. This project utilized knowledge obtained in both EGR 209 and EGR 309, primarily to ensure that it would stand up to the cyclical loading induced on it by the production line. I also submitted prototype testing requests which helped to familiarize myself with the industries and OEM's specifications.

Co-op Second Rotation

Grant
Major: Mechanical Engineering This co-op rotation I have spent most of my time designing and modeling in Creo. Design projects began with modeling the crankcase, shroud, and intake system of 3W engine on test for a government contract. I continued my Creo work by modeling a CHP (Combined Heat and Power) system for a private contract. This system included exhaust and coolant heat capturing as well as integrating a turbo generator, forced air heating and charging systems for residential use. My other main project involved many small changes in an existing combustor design for a turbo test cart. This initial testing resulted in a significant redesign that required air flow calculations and part drawings for machining. Initial testing of the components indicated significant improvements over the previous design. Other projects through the semester included stepper motor programming for water flow control to a small dynamometer cart and research and design of an injection rate system to measure the injection volume and injection rate of common rail fuel injectors.

Magna Mirrors Co-op

Danijel
Major: Mechanical Engineering At Magna Mirrors, I worked along the product engineers with the inside mirror team at the Kraft location. I was assigned many projects that involved aspects such as data collection, testing fixture production, design work, mirror assembly, test planning, and many more. I was given ample responsibilities that exposed me to the pace of a true engineering environment. The inside mirror is such an intricate little piece to a car, it is enjoyable to work with. The design of a simple rear view mirror has changed dramatically over decades, and it is keeping up with the pace of technology bringing many design innovations to life.

Co-Op Rotation 2

Robert
Major: Mechanical Engineering As a Manufacturing and Quality Engineer Co-Op Student, I studied and developed ways to reduce scrap, participated in design projects, capability studies, and other small projects.

Mechanical Design Semester

Johnathan
Major: Mechanical Engineering Most of the tasks I was responsible for during my co-op experience included supporting engineering projects in form of detailing machine designs and checking machine prints for consistency. This was my first co-op rotation in the Mechanical Design department. For this reason I also spent a lot of time learning the CAD software Creo through tutorials and light design work.

2nd Engineering Co-op Rotation ME

Erich
Major: Mechanical Engineering During my second rotation I completed tasks such as performing FEA on various components of the trailer suspensions. I was a part of a team to develop a brand new product. I made component designs, etc. I was able to work in the test lab. There I continued to improve my welding skills, along with other fabricating and mechanical skills. I visited a shell molding foundry.