Cooped Up at Koops
Daniel
Experience Information
Employer: Koops Inc.
Job Title: Mechanical Engineer
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Received Credit: Yes
Paid: Yes
Abroad: No
Description of the Organization
Koops inc. is an ESOP company that started in Holland, Michigan and has expanded into South Carolina and Mexico. The company designs and builds automation equipment for customers in the automotive, medical, and construction industries as well as the military and many other fields. The company has around 200 employees including mechanical, controls, and electrical engineers, machinists, assembly personnel, and Information Technology.
Description of the Tasks/Projects Completed
During my rotation I modified the design of an overhead cage for use in assisting the assembly process of vehicle headliners. During this project, the design was reviewed, prints were drawn, and a bill of materials was created and kicked off. After Kick off, I had the opportunity to build the cage I had designed to experience some of the issues that could come up in the assembly process when not caught by the mechanical engineer. Later in the semester, I worked on a team designing stations in an automation cell that assembled vehicle components. Design reviews were held twice a week to try to keep things on track for kickoff. This involved a lot of problem solving and team work to try to meet customer specifications and keep costs down.
Skills/Knowledge Gained Through The Experience
I gained significant experience using solid works modeling software and learned about how important it is for mechanical engineers who design projects to thoroughly check their work for errors because of the amount of time and money it could cost the company as soon as approval is received.
Favorite Part of the Experience
My favorite part of the co-op semester was getting to assemble the project I had designed. Thereýs nothing quite so satisfying to me than seeing what I modeled on a screen suddenly get delivered as parts in a box that start to take form in front of me. This rotation of my Co-op with Koops was during the COVID-19 outbreak. It was such a blessing to be working for a company that acted on itýs Christian values during this crisis by attempting to keep everyone, including interns and co-ops, employed and paid, along with attempting to still meet customer needs while honoring ýStay at Homeý guidelines set up by the governing authorities. The way this company cared for each of its employees needs was well beyond what I would have expected in a time of crisis and it was a blessing to find myself in such good company during such a time.
How the Experience Influenced Future Career Goals
The experience helped me see how poor my computer skills are and how much I hate to sit in front of a screen. It also reminded me of how much I love to assemble things. I learned a lot about using modeling software and keeping design intent in mind, but, though I love some of the problem solving that goes into that, computers are not my thing.