MAGNA Mirrors CO-OP 1
Jonathon
Experience Information
Employer: MAGNA Mirrors
Job Title: Project Engineering Co-Op
Major: Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering
Received Credit: Yes
Paid: Yes
Abroad: No
Description of the Organization
MAGNA Mirrors is a decently large company, at the Holland Location there are 2 buildings with 50-70 people working in the offices in each building and more on the production floors for each shift. Being in the project engineering group Iýve worked close with the manufacturing engineers who are the ones who make sure production runs smoothly and efficiently.
Description of the Tasks/Projects Completed
In my time working at MAGNA Mirrors, I was able to do a few gauge R&Rýs to test new and old measurement techniques and tools for repeatable and reliable measurements. Iýve also helped with building and testing mirrors at different MAGNA locations, and I designed and constructed a few fixtures that would for modifying mirrors, such as the one in the provided picture. I was also taken along and sent to different locations for our customers and dealerships to help diagnose problems and replace mirrors.
Skills/Knowledge Gained Through The Experience
I was able to learn a lot about how mirrors were made as well as what itýs like to work with a customer and address any customer concerns. I was able to gain a lot of knowledge about the new technology coming out in mirrors and how a project team deals with different problems and how engineers help project managers with customer problems and problems with launches.
Favorite Part of the Experience
I liked that the workload changed from week to week quite a bit. I was also able to have a lot of creative freedoms when given tasks. I liked being able to design a part that was used to build mirrors or one that was used to diagnose problems in an older mirror. I also was able to work at the testing location in Grand Rapids and I was able to go to dealerships to look for our mirrors for our customers.
How the Experience Influenced Future Career Goals
This co-op was very enlightening and helped me discover that designing, and testing fixtures to solve problems is a very satisfying and fulfilling thing to do. The design iteration process of reworking different models and going through ideas can be frustrating but also relieving once you come across a good design that works. It helped confirm that designing and using my hands to fix problems could be a good career for me to pursue.
Internship Format
In Person