Second Co-op Rotation at Axis Automation
Zachary
Experience Information
Employer: Axis Automation
Job Title: Mechanical Engineering Co-op
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Received Credit: Yes
Paid: Yes
Abroad: No
Description of the Organization
Axis Automation is a small but rapidly growing company which current consists of about 60 employees. Axis creates automation solutions for many industries but largely focuses on the automative sector. Engineering, machining, fabrication, and build are done in house and each department has a manager who reports to the company CEO.
Description of the Tasks/Projects Completed
A large amount of my time this semester was spent working on tooling station and robot end effector designs. This includes but is not limited to initial designs, internal and customer design review meetings which require design changes, compiling documentation for the components to be machined and built, and overall job documentation for the customer.
Skills/Knowledge Gained Through The Experience
Of all the skills I acquired and built upon during this co-op rotation, the ability to use SolidWorks efficiently and effectively in the context of large automation cells stands out the most. SolidWorks is an excellent tool for 3D design, and this job experience has made me much better at keeping large CAD assemblies organized and stable. Another skill I largely developed during this work semester is professionalism in an engineering environment. This largely was the product of having the opportunity to get involved in both internal review meetings as well as meeting with customers and customer job site visits.
Favorite Part of the Experience
The most enjoyable part of this experience was getting to have full hands-on design decision making in multiple jobs. A design in the automation industry takes a lot of time and effort due to the required precision and repeatability of the equipment, and seeing a design come to fruition on the workshop floor is an extremely rewarding feeling. I also very much enjoy the workplace environment at Axis and look forward to going to work every morning.
How the Experience Influenced Future Career Goals
I feel as though this experience has only strengthened my confidence in the career goals I have set for myself. This was the second semester I worked at Axis Automation, so I already had a good idea of what my career goals were going into this current co-op rotation. Above all else, this experience made me much more confident that my career goals are achievable and that I have a lot of learning and growing in mechanical design to achieve the goals I have set for myself in the past.
Internship Format
In Person