Cascade Engineering Co-op I
Landan
Experience Information
Employer: Cascade Engineering
Job Title: Engineering Intern
Major: Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering
Received Credit: Yes
Paid: Yes
Abroad: No
Description of the Organization
Founded in 1973 by Fred P. Keller (you may recognize the name since GVSU's Engineering Laboratories is dedicated to his father, Fred M. Keller), Cascade Engineering is a large-scale plastic injection molding company that manufactures plastic products in the automotive, material handling, office furniture, polymer compounding, RFID connected products, truck & bus, and waste & recycling industries. Cascade's Grand Rapids Campus is composed of eight buildings, six of which are specialized plants that manufacture products for a certain industry. I worked in the West Plant that houses the CFI (Center For Innovation) Team and manufactures plastic products for the automotive industry. In the office there are 25 engineers divided into five divisions.
Description of the Tasks/Projects Completed
Initially, I worked alongside production operators to learn the various products that Cascade manufactures and how the injection molding machines work. This allowed me to make relationships with the operators and support staff so I can be more effective when I am tasked on the factory floor. I also became very familiar with the products since I was constantly touching them and looking for defects which made me valuable to some of the engineers I would later work with since I knew their projects and how they were molded. Later, I worked extensively on plastic dash mat prototypes with a Senior Engineering Technician producing the engineering changes required by the supplier and attaching the fiber to the plastic by sonic welding. Also, I assisted in the testing of the waste containment carts and updating the master list for production date and material. Furthermore, I designed a stand that elevated the cart so that the wheels of the cart can be tested by the same testing machine. Additionally, I conducted mold flow study using short shots from a press and a wall thickness study on a new dash mats that provided useful information to the engineers in their theoretical versus actual comparisons. More, I pursued an independent project that was approved by my supervisor to improve a machine that I had worked on in my first weeks as a production operator. My improvements decluttered the factory floor and saved the operators time in clean up.
Skills/Knowledge Gained Through The Experience
Overall, I learned the basics of plastic injection molding from each of the markets at Cascade. I also learned about sound attenuation by working in the automotive market with the fiber and dash mat thickness. Furthermore, I learned about the process and method of engineering testing in the waste & recycling market by conducting tests and recording data of the waste containment carts.
Favorite Part of the Experience
I enjoyed working alongside my colleagues and solving problems together. The employees of Cascade Engineering are great people and I always enjoyed talking to them and overcoming the many obstacles we faced in the engineering industry together.
How the Experience Influenced Future Career Goals
I chose to pursue my co-op at Cascade Engineering because they were a plastic injection company that cared about their people and planet before their profit (this is reiterated with the Triple Bottom Line: People, Planet, Profit). I can firmly say that I am happy that I choose Cascade Engineering as my GVSU co-op. This experience has influenced me to want to work for plastic injection molding companies that care about their employees and their environment similar to Cascade Engineering, or work directly for Cascade Engineering.