First Term Co-op at Bissell
Nicholas
Experience Information
Employer: Bissell
Job Title: Product Development and Engineering Co-op
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Received Credit: Yes
Paid: Yes
Abroad: No
Description of the Organization
BISSELL is a company that has been around for a long time. The company originally started making sweepers well over 100 hundred years ago. The products now include deep cleaners, vacuums, steamers, consumable chemical products and much more. The headquarters are located in Walker, MI which is where all of the consumable products are manufactured. Most of the product manufacturing either takes place in Mexico or China.
Description of the Tasks/Projects Completed
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.
Skills/Knowledge Gained Through The Experience
Great Pro/E experience, an increased skill level in Microsoft Excel, learned how separation works and the dynamics behind it, learned a lot about vacuum motors and bypass motors, and the work also helped me strengthened my interpersonal skills around unfamiliar people.
Favorite Part of the Experience
This is a tie between the people I worked with and the projects that I was assigned. The work was so interesting that it always kept me on the edge of my seat. The engineering work is applicable and really is helping the company. At some companies work is assigned as "busy work", but there was never a day where that happened to me at BISSELL. I worked under an extremely smart engineer who also was willing to help. Even when I asked silly questions, he would be always be there with an answer. At BISSELL, they have a group of some of the best engineers in the business and co-workers who are always willing to help.
How the Experience Influenced Future Career Goals
It has helped give me an idea on what I want to do someday after graduation. Now that I have worked at two different engineering companies, I now have an idea on how I want to further my dream of becoming an engineer.