Final Co-op at Medical Device Manufacturer
Emily
Experience Information
Employer: Rose Medical
Job Title: Engineering Intern
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Received Credit: Yes
Paid: Yes
Abroad: No
Description of the Organization
Rose Medical is a small, yet quickly expanding, medical device manufacturer in Grand Rapids, MI that was founded by several engineers. Due to its upbringing, Rose is dedicated to building their own equipment, enabling them to take customer's drawings and turn them into products all in-house. The company employs more than 90 hard working people and is continuously adding more space to their facility to keep up with demands. They specialize in tipped cannulas, balloons/bladders, as well as engineering solutions for challenging-to-manufacture products.
Description of the Tasks/Projects Completed
Being my third co-op rotation at Rose Medical, I had the opportunity to work on more challenging and complex projects. I worked mostly independently on protocols-- drafting, receiving customer approvals, executing, and writing reports. The nature of these were for installing new tooling/fixtures, updating tooling, manufacturing process qualifications, operational (verifying machine settings for various products) qualifications, measurement system analysis validations, and numerous customer requested validations. The vast majority of these were for two projects with two project engineers at Rose Medical; I reported to both for the duration of the semester. I also was given the opportunity to run my own project for a company requesting prototypes of a tipped cannula. For this, I was the point of contact for the customer. I created a schedule, designed four fixtures/tools for the tipping process, got quotes for tooling, and placed orders for tooling and material. The project reached a bump in the road with ordering the customer specified material with the customer ultimately changing material; therefore, I didn't get to create any prototypes. Instead, I learned bounds and leaps more by this hiccup through difficult communications than if everything had gone smoothly. In addition, I was a point of contact on one of my supervisor's projects where I sat in on meetings and communicated daily with the customer, answering questions and providing recommendations. By doing so, I kept the project's rapid pace while my supervisor was out of the office and aided getting product out the door during crunch time. I executed multiple DOE's for different products to recommend settings for thermal welding, medical pouch sealing, and cannula bending processes to multiple engineers.
Skills/Knowledge Gained Through The Experience
I gained knowledge about PFMEAs, various manufacturing processes (thermal welding of extrusions, cannula tipping, UV adhesive), direct contact with customers and suppliers, and various validation documentation (measurement system analysis, test method validation, sterilization validations, equipment installation, process setting windows, 1st lot validations, and DOEs). In previous rotations, I learned about different measurement tools (including CMM and product specific fixturing), manufacturing best practices, and rework orders.
Favorite Part of the Experience
By the end of this co-op semester, I felt that others trusted my knowledge and was considered a valuable member on a team. Thus, my favorite part was seeing the amount of growth I underwent throughout all three co-op rotations.
How the Experience Influenced Future Career Goals
The whole co-op process has exposed me to smaller sections within the medical device field. My understanding on different topics was expanded and I will use this new knowledge to help direct my future career in topics I found interesting. It has also shown me company/workplace culture and has equipped me with the skills to be successful upon graduation, to strive higher with more confidence than before.