Nerf Guns and Board Routing
Jaime
Experience Information
Employer: DornerWorks
Job Title: Electrical Engineering Intern
Major: Electrical Engineering
Received Credit: Yes
Paid: Yes
Abroad: No
Description of the Organization
DornerWorks is a local electrical engineering firm that specializes in embedded system design. Their projects, which combine hardware and software, are done for companies in the aerospace, medical, military, and automotive fields.
Description of the Tasks/Projects Completed
In contrast with last semester when I worked on software projects, this semester I worked on hardware projects. My two main projects were: 1. A board that connects with a Microchip Explorer 16 Dev Kit and allows for expansion or connections to other circuits, via Phoenix-style connectors. 2. A board that connects with an Altera Stratix IV Dev Kit via its HSMC slot, and processes video signals from 8 camera inputs (via RJ45 ports). For both of these projects, I did the schematic and layout work (board routing), as well as tag/releasing of data packages.
Skills/Knowledge Gained Through The Experience
Board design/routing, schematic design, knowledge of embedded design components (and their characteristics, issues, etc), FPGA applications, EMC considerations.
Favorite Part of the Experience
Our company has a yearly Valentine's Day party in lieu of a Christmas party, because the end of the year gets so hectic. The management gave us (the interns) the task of designing and making the Valentine's Day favors for everyone. We were able to talk them into buying NERF guns for all 120 attendants, so we had a NERF gun war at the top of the BOB. Aww yeah!
How the Experience Influenced Future Career Goals
Seeing how complex the world of embedded systems is has definitely made me more interested in it, although I find nearly all topics in Electrical Engineering to be interesting, so I do not have any set career plans.