Foundation- Rotation I
Taylor
Experience Information
Employer: Gentex
Job Title: Production Support Engineering Intern
Major: Electrical Engineering
Received Credit: Yes
Paid: Yes
Abroad: No
Description of the Organization
Gentex is a West Michigan electronic technology company with a broad spectrum of globally sold products in the automotive, aerospace, and fire protection industries. We are vertically integrated in CMOS camera development and manufacturing, vacuum coating, glass bending and fabrication. Gentex is dedicated innovation, to product development and quality.
Description of the Tasks/Projects Completed
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.
Skills/Knowledge Gained Through The Experience
While spending time at Gentex I gained a variety of foundational skills and knowledge. I was able to learn about how the various parts of the company operate different business functions and come together to create a high quality product. I was introduced to the Toyota Production Systems method of manufacturing as well as the Eight Disciplines of problem solving and put them both to use in improving production processes and quality.
Favorite Part of the Experience
My favorite part of my summer at Gentex was the team building experiences and extensive problem solving. I enjoyed the coming together of perspectives from across the company to solve a issues. I like that I was able to learn about the products and processes from the ground up.
How the Experience Influenced Future Career Goals
Given the expansive nature of the large business and unpretentious management, I was lucky to have the chance to work alongside team members in many different departments and roles. This allowed me to see the diverse work environments possible with an electrical engineering degree.