Experience Matters - Grand Valley State University

Intern at U.S. Department of State

Kristin
Major: Philosophy I worked on a variety of projects based on my interests. Here are some of the issues/projects I worked on: - Researching women's access to justice - LGBT issues - Vetting organizations and businesses to donate to the Global Equality Fund - Researching and documenting cases of prisoners of conscience in China - Helping to compile the International Prisons Report

Women's Rights Warrior

Jordan
Major: Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies I worked on a variety of tasks including: creating a statewide Equal Pay Day toolkit so individuals could easily write letters to their legislators urging them to support pay equity legislation, gathering information about various representatives to be used by future volunteers, I began forming a comprehensive sex ed curriculum, and I attended various events.

Life as a Children's Editor

Jessica
Major: Writing I completed a multiple number of projects. The basics include proofreading books in the process of being published, editing manuscripts that come in, filling out proposal documents for possible projects in the future, and researching authors and illustrators.

Media Intern

Kenny
Major: Film & Video I filmed various amounts of footage of the students as they played tennis against each other and were engaged in other tennis drills. After filming, I also edited the footage, making promotional videos for next years camp and other various videos that the organization can use for various purposes. I also filmed over 100 drills for tennisdrills.tv and edited them to be put on his website.

GVSU Sports Information Internship

Joe
Major: Film & Video I was in charge of making videos for athletic teams here at GVSU. I made three videos for the football program, and one video for all athletic teams.

Danielle Ott: Internship Experience

Danielle
Major: Communications I am an Operational Risk Management and Business Continuity Management associate at Jackson National Life Insurance Company, working for the North American Risk Team function, and reporting to the Director of BCM and Operational Risk. Business Continuity Management (BCM) is a management process that identifies risk, threats and vulnerabilities that could impact an entity's continued operations and provides a framework for building organizational resilience and the capability for an effective response. Operations Risk provides leadership and coordination to ensure and maintain a strong control environment within all operating functions of the Company. This is accomplished by assuming direct responsibility for certain key risk management and control activities, including those that require coordination within and between Operations, IT, and the other Business Units. In addition, special projects are initiated to ensure certain internal risk controls are adequately addressed, designed, and implemented. At Jackson, I coordinate projects, complete intense work on important tasks for BCM, assist in meetings, prepare communications, write press releases, monitor significant manmade and natural events, coordinate safety and security with Jackson for the company and for activities, help with new innovations for the company, assist in important decision making for the company, organize events, and collaborate with internal and external professionals in the field. I have had the chance to assist the Chief Risk Officer in meetings, assist the head of each Risk team on important projects, and learned many different roles and project management skills associated with risk management.

PR Gal in an Investor World

Lindsey
Major: Communications One of the biggest tasks to complete was to create a social media presence for Blackford. Private equity is a tough crowd on social media but with the right content and precise timing, we were able to increase our following and provide a steady flow of content to our audience. I was also a big help in creating the regional advisory boards throughout the state of Michigan. They serve as a communicate tool to provide internal insight on businesses in Michigan that are selling or need managing assistant. I helped promote, create, and distribute three events in Michigan.

Fastco Industries Internship Experience

Kathleen
Major: Communications At Fastco Industries, a customer service representative is responsible for updating and maintaining customer orders on a daily basis, as well as communicating any potential issues with orders/shipments to production and customers when necessary. Customer service also aids in supporting customer questions, needs and inquires.

IT Internship

Reid
Major: Computer Science Created several different webpages that worked with PHP, html, MySQL and Microsoft Sequel. Also maintaining all the electrical devices in the office and shop ranging from computers to printers. Another project was researching and getting quotes on a new phone VOIP phone system.

Automotive Problem Solving

Steven
Major: Computer Science I was involved with many projects, the main being upgrading the software used as a database and fixing PLC programs on the assembly machines.

Web application developer intern

Daniel
Major: Computer Science My task was to refactor the backend code (PHP), so that it is easier to make improvements.

My Experience

Jonathan
Major: Computer Science Researching options for a customer relations management tool. Helped upgrade physical and virtual hosting environment.

Great Hands-On Co-Op

Jake
Major: Mechanical Engineering As a co-op student at Innotec, everyday is its own project. Innotec is a company that expects constant innovation, so there is always something to improve on. However, there are two projects that stand out to me from this semester. The first was a solo project that involved me creating and programming an excel document that would replace our old production white board. The goal was to create a spreadsheet that would look professional but be able to be completely independent from a keyboard, as the goal was to use a touch screen monitor. The second project was quite a bit larger and it involved my entire cell. There was a company-wide goal this summer to limit the number on interventions that were required on each machine. Our machines load plastic vanity covers into totes which need to be replaced or stacked every 20 minutes. We originally were planning on building and automating a tote-loader, but the final product ended up being a conveyor system that replaced the totes altogether.

Process Engineering Internship

Andrew
Major: Mechanical Engineering I did a lot different design projects over the summer. I designed several nests that are used to hold parts while they are tested for different things such as how much torque it takes to move the mirror as well as testing the leak rate to ensure the parts are sealed. I also designed an adapter which will be used to leak test some of the parts in a more convenient way than they currently are tested and in a way that is the same as the rest of the parts that we make. I also designed a vacuum system that takes the backing that is peeled off of a glass element and sucks it away into a trash can. The backing is very statically charged after it is peeled off so it was causing a mess and sticking to everything so this will solve that problem I also designed an enclosure to go around a machine to make it safe for someone to operate. This was a very good experience because it was very open-ended and allowed me to be creative with the design. There are many other things that I designed and built over the summer that were a great experience and I learned a lot from them.

ME Co-op at BISSELL: Rotation #3

Carlos
Major: Mechanical Engineering I have done many smaller tasks throughout the semester which consisted of performing tests and organizing data for reports, but I have worked on two large projects that have spanned the entire semester; liftoff/pivot project and MTU fixture project. In the liftoff/pivot project I was presented with a set of problems and issues with a new product platform and was asked to design/develop a solution to those issues. Concept generation, design calculations, CAD work, physical prototyping, and a final design presentation were all stages of this project. The MTU fixture project consisted of reprogramming a motor for a test fixture. This required calculations to determine a new gearhead and motor to purchase and further calculations to effectively code the programmable motor. Along with this, I was also tasked with training certain individuals on the device and provided documentation for future users of the fixture.

Trans-Matic Co-op

Reid
Major: Mechanical Engineering Engineering print updates, tooling design, press accessory design and implementation, 3D modeling, brainstorming, and tooling pricing estimation.

Co-op 1

Michael
Major: Mechanical Engineering I did a lot of testing and benchmarking for many different inside and outside mirrors as well as designed small parts for prototypes.

First Term Co-op at Bissell

Nicholas
Major: Mechanical Engineering At BISSELL, I completed a lot of real world engineering projects. Though it would be impossible to name them all, I will name a few. I spent much of my first semester designing a separation system for a deep cleaner. I worked with an engineer on the project and learned a lot on the movement of an air and water combination. I later worked with another engineer on developing a weight projection calculator to be used in order to prevent problems during the prototyping stage of a project. There was also time spent learning many machines in the design lab as well as a lot of the equipment in the test lab that were new to me.

Setting up my Future

Tyler
Major: Mechanical Engineering The project that I was assigned as part of my co-op experience at Flextronics was to improve the gauge management of plant I was stationed at. This included figuring out the standard procedure for introducing new gauges into the plant, writing verification and calibration procedures for the gauges, and evaluating the possibility of integrating new technologies to improve the efficiency of gauge management.

Gentex first co-op

Derek
Major: Mechanical Engineering In my role at Gentex, I was able to work on many different projects and in several settings. Some of my projects were designed work and solid modeling. Other times, I did more hands on building of projects. As the co-op continued, I began to develop more of a leadership role, and was given the freedom and responsibility to help with some issues on the production line. While working in the process engineering department, many of my projects were related in nature. I designed and modified flow racking which presented material to the operators in ways that would speed up production and not damage parts. Similarly, I also designed fixture storage within the production lines that would allow for faster change-over times, cleaner lines, and less damage to fixtures. Many of my projects also focused on modifications to machines and revisions to their documentation which would fix a problem seen within production.

Gentex Glass Bending - First Round

Andrew
Major: Mechanical Engineering I worked in the Glass Bending group, and to begin I, just like everyone who comes through and works at Gentex, had to learn the product. I spent two weeks on line, taking glass from flat lites, cut to basic shape, bent, cured, and inspected before moving the glass on to be coated. As all of the engineers at Gentex begin as Production Support Engineers, it's important to understand the whole process per area so that any improvements are made with a good knowledge base. I began my projects with basic line improvement items, building a guarding door, a chute for rejected glass, lots of work with 80/20 aluminum. I then began more intensive projects, like a glass inspection improvement project, where I was teamed with another intern to find a better, more efficient method to inspect glass of a certain coating. We were given free reign of our ideas and funds, and were able to come up with something that in the end may save the company quite a bit. I also was given the task of improving materials used to handle hot glass on the end of vacuum cups, doing research on each, price-justifications, and working with outside vendors to obtain samples and eventually order for production. Throughout the semester I gained more and more autonomy, taking over some continuous projects such as leveling benders, and tracking press counts, and all of the data manipulation involved

Trane Summer 14

Albert
Major: Mechanical Engineering I mainly learned everything that goes into a modern day HVAC system. I also was taught psychometrics and common air flow calculations.

Summer Co-op I

Marshall
Major: Mechanical Engineering Technical documents such as mill operator's manuals were written. Process studies on roll forming mills were written, executed, and documented regarding the weld bridge, jack stand, and the sweep unit.

Ravenna Ductile Iron

Eric
Major: Mechanical Engineering Clean and inspect patterns that have recently been in production for any wear, breaks, or broken parts. Many projects that I worked on included completed redesign of pattern layouts for new and old tools. Pro/E Creo Parametric 2.0 was used to place castings on a plate that would be optimal for gating that were calculated.

Co-op II with Dematic

Jared
Major: Mechanical Engineering For each project conveyor is quoted and then sent to the application engineering department for refinement and editing based on what the customer orders. After the plan and elevation drawings for the logistics system are completed, the conveyor is ordered using an in house software package called ELM II (Equipment List Management). After the conveyor is ordered and installed on site the engineers visit the site to test, commission and hand the site over to the customer.