It Only Gets Better
Justin
Experience Information
Employer: JR Automation
Job Title: Controls Intern
Major: Electrical Engineering
Received Credit: Yes
Paid: Yes
Abroad: No
Description of the Organization
JR Automation designs and manufactures custom machinery. They attempt to automate as much as possible when designing each machine. This ensures quality parts in a timely manner. JR also provides for a wide range of industries, and is not afraid to tackle any project. This is the reason for the rapid growth JR has been experiencing lately.
Description of the Tasks/Projects Completed
During my four months at JR, I got to experience a lot of independent work. I was very busy from start to stop, and always looked forward to going in. My first couple weeks I started on a rather large, semi-intimidating machine. I had another controls engineer working on a similar machine near me that I could go to with questions, and he had a lot of the base code written that could be transferred over to mine. However, most of my work was done on my own, figuring out how different aspects and components of my machine worked. I spent most of my time on this machine. It used sonic welders to melt some plastic parts together, and a CO2 laser to cut other plastic apart. It was very cool, and a great experience. With this machine I got very familiar with these sonic welders. So much so that this other engineer had me work on his remaining projects that utilized them. All together, I was in on 9 different machines. 8 of the 9 were for this engineer and 6 of those 8 had sonics on them. It was a rewarding feeling to have the engineer have total faith in my work and let me work independently. For the most part, he would come check my work every so often, and answer most of my questions I had. Along the way, I also ran into a few problems. These trials helped me learn better what it means to be a controls engineer and how to think on my feet.
Skills/Knowledge Gained Through The Experience
During this experience I was able to further develop my programming skills. I am very comfortable programming devices over ethernet now. I know how to bring devices online and communicate with them over ethernet, and program them to work with a PLC to accomplish the company and customer's goals. I learned what truly matters when it comes to a machine, and how my work should be done in order to follow a timeline. Lastly, I realized that there is not always a black and white answer for everything. Especially in the design world, you just have to make a decision, have strong reason for why you did, hope to have attained all the knowledge you needed to about the subject, then stick to it, and do not waiver, lose focus of why you did, and defend it to others.
Favorite Part of the Experience
My favorite part of this experience was that I was able to go to Canada with one of the machines I programmed. While installing this machine on the customer's floor, I learned a lot of valuable lessons. First off, I need to be confident beyond a doubt that every part of the machine has been looked at more than once. This way, no problems can arise that you have not seen, and would not be aware of. Also, when designing and programming, eliminate the ability for things to go wrong, especially human error. If you hope that an operator will not mess your machine up, you are wrong. Somewhere down the line someone will do something unexpected, and you do not want that. All in all, this trip was a great experience.
How the Experience Influenced Future Career Goals
This experience kept me interested in the field of controls engineering. I enjoy that I get to work with my hands and I do not have to sit at a desk all day. There is always something new to be done at JR. So much so, that the shop floor looks completely different now than when I started in January. There is a lot of exciting work to be done, and if you don't keep up, you may get left behind.