Experience Matters - Grand Valley State University

Dominion Systems Co-Op

Collin
Major: Computer Engineering I worked on a new Angular page for the website, I updated some SQL procedures to improve performance. I also contributed to updating the entire website to reflect new UI looks and standards.

Second Rotation Mechanical Engineering Co-op

James
Major: Mechanical Engineering During my second co-op rotation as a mechanical engineering student I was assigned as an intern to the Ford product development team working to meet production launch schedules. Studies where modifications to parts were made to account for variances in production parts and determine design solutions were frequently performed as tasks under a team project manager and project lead's guidance. I frequently visited suppliers of manufacturing equipment and assisted the industrialization team with troubleshooting early development level stations while running parts for shipment schedules. In my down time between tasks there was plenty to keep busy by helping with on-going projects and testing in the Validation lab. Troubleshooting of hydraulic pumps under the lab supervisor's guidance provided an interesting and unique opportunity.

LVDE Co-Op

Katie
Major: Electrical Engineering The company is broken into many departments that work together to provide hometown service to all of its customers. I work for the Low Voltage Distribution Engineering section and am assigned the same type of work as the full time employees. I am assigned new business jobs (adding service to houses that are being built or to locations at which no current service exists) and system improvement jobs (upgrading and replacing existing lines). For each job, field work is conducted and designs are completed before the work is sent to a different department for scheduling.

Launch Engineering at Koops

Ryan
Major: Computer Engineering This semester I worked with the Launch Engineering team. The launch department works with machines after they have been built but before they are ready to ship. My responsibility was to debug and tune machines in order to prove functionality and ensure that good parts are made with a high level of consistency. I also worked with the customers during trial runs, capability tests, and capacity runoffs, modifying and tuning aspects of their machines to better suit their preferences. Much of my times was dedicated to ensuring that machines work as intended. This included checking the functionality of all sensors, safety circuits, motions, and cycles. Often it would be my responsibility to identify problems with a machine and develop a solution, whether it be a simple adjustment or a full redesign of a certain piece.

Campus Ministry Office Intern

Nikki
Major: Writing I develop and distribute our weekly email and do whatever tasks my supervisors assign. I wrote the 6-day devotional for our annual Spring Break mission trips (about 20 trips total). I maintain welcoming office environments where students hang out in between classes.

Working Without Belief

Daniel
Major: Writing During my internship here I assisted mostly with event promotion and social media outreach. I had to update the primary site as well as many social media accounts with information about upcoming events. This also included drafting emails and press releases. Updating policies and procedures was also a main focus. With a staff of volunteers it is common to have people come and go, so having the ability to convey the processes required for the organization to run are important to have on. Making sure they are up to date and accurate is essential.

Student-Athlete Welfare & Development

Thomas
Major: Sport Management Serve as the first point of contact for walk-in and phone traffic. Draft and send emails representing the office. Assist student-athletes with awards, event information, and general questions. Produce reports and documents utilizing Microsoft Word, Excel, and other software. Create content for monthly newsletters for Student-Athlete Welfare and Development. Create and manage social media accounts. Assist with planning and implementation of various workshops & events that the student-athlete welfare & development office hosts. Attend Student-Athlete Welfare & Development events. Conduct research into similar student-athlete welfare & development programs to report on best practices. Other assignments and projects assigned by the Associate A.D.

Out there in the real world of engineer

Abdulelah
Major: Mechanical Engineering I did a lot of different design tasks over the winter 19. creating an A-Frame for shipping purposes, creating a Solidworks lineup for couple cases next to each other. evolving the butcher block toppers to have the right dimension. creating the end bumper to secured the cases. adding a tube of black silicone to a couple of cases. re-engineered couple of the drawing to have the machines making them.

Madeline Clark's Experience

Madeline
Major: Political Science At Miller Johnson my responsibilities included conducting legal research, reviewing and drafting legal documents, assisting in depositions, and other various legal proceedings

Electrical Engineering Co-op

Noe
Major: Electrical Engineering During my co-op, I was tasked with product testing, documentation, research, prototyping, equipment troubleshooting, and PCB layout projects, among other tasks.

Co-op Third Rotation

Grant
Major: Mechanical Engineering This semester at Baker Engineering I spent my time working on larger, independent projects that I was responsible for from design through to testing. The primary project I worked on was the modification of a hot water tank for the use in an advanced energy recovery system for an engine that we have developed and built in house. This system required extensive structural and layout design, with many design reviews to ensure the final design was as easy as possible to assemble and work on. Another significant project this semester was the design and assembly of a small engine electronic motoring dynamometer. This design presented challenges in both the layout of the system as well as creating a design that was easy to adjust and align the shafts, with minimal run-out on those shafts.

EMC co-op

Joseph
Major: Electrical Engineering I typically ran emissions and immunity tests. I also helped generate reports based on the results of these tests

Third Semester Co-Op At JR Automation

James
Major: Electrical Engineering I mainly worked on prototype projects for a large logistics machine system for our customer.

Gentex Co-op III

Dalton
Major: Mechanical Engineering As a production technician, it is always my job to be available in order to maintain the function of the production floor. There are around 12 production lines in our department that produce parts on all three shifts. Each line is consisted of multiple machines that assemble a specific component of the mirror assembly. Each machine usually consists of multiple subsystems. Each system works together with the use of PCs and PLCs to function properly. The machine uses mechanical assembly's and fixtures that are operated by a user with the assistance of sensors and actuators. With this amount of automatic control, the need for constant trouble shouting arises. These systems go down for a multitude of reasons. Problems can arise with vision systems, actuators, motors, cameras, sensors, pneumatics, or mechanical designs. It is the technician's job to make sure these problems are immediately addressed. It is a great experience to be able to apply my engineering knowledge to troubleshoot issues in a fast-passed environment. Doing it yourself with little guidance is the fastest way to learn new skills in this job.

Test Engineering Coop

Thomas
Major: Mechanical Engineering My work at L3 was focused on Test Engineering and the rigorous testing process which aviation products have to go through. Software work was emphasized as much of the mechanical/ electrical aspect of the design is taken care of by the initial engineering team as the products are designed. Some work was done in aspects of project management as well.

Engineering Co-Op

Jackson
Major: Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering I worked primarily with the manufacturing and production of our products. My work mostly involved troubleshooting industrial machinery, improving and upgrading processes, and analyzing data.

Co-Op Rotation 3

Robert
Major: Mechanical Engineering The tasks and projects that I completed ranged from troubleshooting machines, to recording data, and managing processes. I spent a majority of my time working with prototype parts, helping the process and ultimately ensuring that the parts are of the highest quality.

Experiencing the full spectrum of electronic design

Dongyao
Major: Electrical Engineering -Designed and built a tester printed circuit board. -Redesign and built a commercial product (football stadium lighting) with appropriate supervisions and -Assisted in designing a buck converter for automotive application. -Assisted in the research and development project with EMI shield. -Assisted process engineers in validating testers.

Gill Industries

Jack
Major: Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering Over the course of the semester, I spent time assisting the Manufacturing Engineering, Product Engineering, and Estimating departments. Most of the work consisted of critical tasks that other employees did not have time to do themselves. I spent the majority of the semester conducting a dimensional study on a new program and participating in brainstorming meetings to develop plans to solve any problems. I was able to develop and display my design skills as well by designing and 3D printing smaller scale projects such as display fixtures and remote cradles for our test lab. the co-op involved updating and reviewing spreadsheets as well, which exposed me to the organization and communication of data. Most of the assignments were performed individually, but I was able to collaborate with other co-ops, occasionally.

Engineering Co-op Internship

Joseph
Major: Computer Engineering My principle projects consisted of software development. My primary project being to develop and launch a cross platform mobile application that allows users to manage productivity and inventory from their smart devices and perform operations that previously would have required a dedicated barcode scanner. Other projects involved testing and developing other soft and hard ware processes.

Dematic Co-op III

Collin
Major: Electrical Engineering I worked on some PCB layouts for various internal projects in our Research and Development department. I performed testing, validation, and design of several internal products.

Test Engineering Co-op 3

Collin
Major: Electrical Engineering I worked in test engineering so I helped support and automate the test engineering processes. Much of the work went towards software support specifically. Writing code to fix errors in old software or creating new programs for new testing procedures.

3rd Co-op Rotation Experience Summary

Erich
Major: Mechanical Engineering In my third rotation the tasks I completed include the following: prototype design, that includes CAD, FEA, and hands on fabrication; FEA for various products; visits to suppliers; and physical testing of new ideas and product designs.

Process Engineering Intern - Large Area Coating

Jensen
Major: Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering This semester I worked on projects that involved mechanical design, troubleshooting quality issues, developing testing methods used in production, and process support.

Second Co-op Rotation at Herman Miller

Robin
Major: Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering - Designed a 200 ft. steel cord guard for factory floor - Created a specialized actuator tool for Smart Desk assembly machine - Re-designed arm pad assembly station for Aeron chair - Designed and tested pneumatic hold down machine for screens assembly area, to reduce occupational overuse injuries - Designed 8' x 8' extending pack table - Designed a safety guard for lubrication area within Smart Desk work station - Developed and designed new brand specific asset tags for all Herman Miller machines - 3D modeled existing vacuum lifts for re-release