Experience Matters - Grand Valley State University

Co-op #3 The Final Twist

Christopher
Major: Electrical Engineering In my previous semesters, I had the ability to work on numerous projects for different West Michigan companies where I learned a lot of valuable skills. However, this semester I had a very narrow focus on a single vision system project. This project included camera evaluation and testing, data set development, and transfer learning algorithms. I was able to utilize a variety of tools in order to complete this project including MATLAB, python-based scripts, TensorFlow and Google's machine learning engine.

Controls Engineering Co-op at

Kyler
Major: Electrical Engineering My day-to-day tasks consisted of hardware and software design for various machines. Projects that I was involved with included a laser marking machine, a pin-stamping poka-yoke machine, robot end-of-arm-tooling configuration, and a rod crimping machine to name a few. I worked on PLC programs, electrical schematic drawings, and also completed standard documentation for all of the machines along with research and development for upcoming projects.

JR Automation - 3rd Rotation

Natalie
Major: Electrical Engineering In my third rotation, I was given a lot of individual responsibility. I got the opportunity to write programs as well as teach routes and points for material handling robots. This is what moves parts through the cell to get the automation moving. I also got to create HMI (Human Machine Interface) screens so that operators can interact with the cell. On top of that I got to write logic for the actual operation of the machine and assist with design decisions to best suit the customer's needs.

Engineering Co-op

Andrea
Major: Electrical Engineering Testing and quality control of device firmware, including the writing and development of automated firmware tests.

Project Management at Koops

Sam
Major: Electrical Engineering I was assigned to the project management team, and was able to work on a variety of tasks and projects. I was tasked with my own project to manage, a small cell containing a single robotic unit. This project provided an excellent introduction to project management. I also assisted in working on various other projects, including multiple robotic sonic welding and clip driving stations, and a resistance welding cell.

Electrical Controls Systems in Manufacturing

Nigel
Major: Electrical Engineering I was responsible for keeping wiring diagram drawings up to date with the machines that were on the manufacturing floor. In addition, I did programming and debugging for multiple Allen Bradley PLCs and an HMI (Human-Machine Interface).

Controls Internship - 1st Rotation

Jaret
Major: Electrical Engineering My tasks included building control panels, wiring machines, editing electrical schematics, debugging machines, and programming PLCs. I also did some work with a client who needed a secondary HMI display on a few of their machines.

A Summer at Phase One

Benjamin
Major: Electrical Engineering Buying parts for PCBs. Construction of several perfboards for demo circuits. Taking radiation patterns from a PCB with helix antennas. Making Helix antennas by wrapping copper wire around an high dielectric material. One big project I did was swapping out a old modem that ran on Verizon's 2G/3G network to Verizon's 4G network. This included getting familiar with AT commands and Mobile network infrastructure.

Working in the world of EMC

brittany
Major: Electrical Engineering I did a variety of tasks, some were day to day tasks which include several types of testing such as radiated/conducted emissions and radiated/conducted immunity. These tests would include working with customers, modifying products, and assessing data. Other tasks completed were long term projects that benefited the efficiency of the lab such as generated lab reports and creating profiles for testing standards.

Herman Miller 2018 Summer

Andrew
Major: Electrical Engineering Throughout the summer, I've been introduced to a few different types of work at Herman Miller, Spring Lake location. Early on, I started with basic PLC programming using Rockwell software's RSLogix 500. There were a few simple assignments such as mimicking a stoplight sequence and taking the positions of analog sensors. As the summer progressed, my work team lead began assigning me work orders that consisted of issues throughout production. Many of these issues were caused in the PLC programming, whether it be timers that weren't correct, or certain limits that needed to be changed. The most exciting portion of updating the PLC programs is that everything was done online with the controller, so the machines and assembly lines were still running while the changes were being made. Most of the assembly lines and machines are programmed using RSLogix 5000, which is an expansion of RSLogix 500 and offers more functionality to a programmer. Later on in the summer I began working with the HMIs(Human Machine Interface) which are the main interaction between the line workers and the assembly lines. We try to design and program them as simple as possible, while making sure they have maximum functionality. Towards the end of the summer, I started working more with AutoCAD electrical for designing controller layouts and schematics containing sensors, switches, and other components. Along with the wiring schematics, I designed a few control panel enclosures that were later installed for a temporary project on a couple of the smaller assembly lines. The rest of the time this summer was spent working with my project team on the summer intern project. Every intern is placed into a group with 7 or 8 other interns and given a real company issue and the team is to present their solution at the end of the summer in front of the project sponsor, CEO, and many other employees.

Stepping Into The World of Industry

Edward
Major: Electrical Engineering I was able to design and implement a Heijunka Kanban system for our electronics room. It will help the overall flow of the room and over time help increase the capacity of the room as WIP (Work In Progress) is reduced.

Foundation- Rotation I

Taylor
Major: Electrical Engineering During my time at Gentex, I was able to work directly on the production floor as a part of a glass fabrication team. Some of my daily responsibilities consisted of servicing quality alarms, helping lead a team, and troubleshooting various issues. I was a member of a team focused on finding the root cause and permanent fix of a quality defect in our product. This consisted of extensive isolation testing, data management, and creating an innovative solution. Throughout my first co-op semester I was also involved in many small continuous improvement projects.

Co-Op 2

Jacob
Major: Electrical Engineering I worked in the Mechanical Engineering department. I spent my time creating parts, assemblies, and drawings in Solidworks. I often created or modified individual parts for existing machines, but on several occasions I designed groups of parts for larger changes. On some occasions I worked on internal development projects.

Controls Co-Op (Round 2)

James
Major: Electrical Engineering I worked on the controls side of a R&D storage machine as well as a semi-automated assembly line for a major manufacturer.

Small Company, Lots of Experience

Joseph
Major: Electrical Engineering I usually ran different tests on various products. I maintained lab cleanliness and submitted test reports to the customers. I also typically greeted many customers in the morning and helped them get set up for tests while the rest of the company came to run the tests.

Test Engineering Co/op

Thomas
Major: Electrical Engineering I ran many tests on specific units and designed new testing processes and software for specific units. Alongside this I worked on developing hardware for a station to run tests on units which involved circuit design and software design.

Test Engineering Co-op: Rotation 2

Collin
Major: Electrical Engineering I worked in test engineering so I helped support and automate the test engineering processes. Almost all of our products must be vetted before leaving the facility so that was the job I assisted in. There was coding, computer support, and mild schematic analysis involved.

Controls Engineering Co-op Experience with ArtiFlex Manufacturing

Kyler
Major: Electrical Engineering My day-to-day tasks consisted of hardware and software design for various machines. Projects that I was involved with included a laser marking machine, a seat riv-nut insert machine, and a robot spot welding cell. I completed a few programs and electrical schematic drawings along with standard documentation for various machines.

Dematic Co-op II

Collin
Major: Electrical Engineering Controls Engineering at Dematic consists of determining type and location of various controls devices needed to transport product through a system of conveyors, sorters, and storage systems. It also includes designing the control cabinet. The cabinet contains the switching devices to control motors, as well as the main control device such as a programmable logic controller. It provides power distribution to all conveyor and devices under its control.

Audio/IT Test

John
Major: Electrical Engineering My co-op focused in two areas: Test Bench Creation & Assisting in Vehicle Tests. Most of my time was spent designing and creating a test bench area that is meant to seamlessly simulate a vehicle's Audio/Infotainment functions (Meter, Head unit, navigation, USB Port, Radio, SXM, etc). By using the test bench, the engineers can perform all software tests without getting into an entire car. Thus saving time and the number of reserved vehicles for the department. I collaborated with other engineers to design & build a mechanical frame to place all of the equipment. Then, documented/constructed all of the electrical wiring & harnesses that connects each device together to form a complete system. On another note, each week I acted as an assistant for my co-workers in performing various vehicle tests such as GPS Synchronization, USB Performance, etc.

JR Automation Co-op 2

Natalie
Major: Electrical Engineering I spent time this semester doing a few different things. The first thing I worked on was making red-line changes to electrical and pneumatic prints. Next, I set up a vision system to be able to take a picture of a completed part and determine whether is was good or bad. After that, I was placed on a project team and got the opportunity to assist in the PLC programming and creation of HMI screens for a new project. I also spent a little bit of time teaching points to robots.

Co-Op I

Michael
Major: Electrical Engineering Tasks include supporting the product manufacturing team with Work Instructions, updating Bill of Materials, and releasing Engineering Change Notices. Projects include creating Testing Fixtures that ensure all of our shipped products meet specification.

Electrical Engineering Third Rotation

Chris
Major: Electrical Engineering During this semester I was able to work on multiple projects. I was assigned the task of designing and fabrication an end of line for our production line. This project involved a circuit layout, Linux and C coding, and mounting and fabrication of the enclosure. I was also able to design and work on multiple different products for out customers.

Co-op 3

Nicholas
Major: Electrical Engineering I was part of the daily tasks that would help keep production running smoothly while also being part of the bigger projects associated with testing. I specifically was in charge of designing a brand new test station that was to be used in the testing of batteries before a product is shipped out. The process in creating such a station included both hardware elements and software elements that taught me a variety of skills.

EMC Co-op Third Rotation

Daniel
Major: Electrical Engineering During the third 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 prior rotations, 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 (debugging).