Engineering Co-op at Genesis Seating
Daniel
Experience Information
Employer: Genesis Seating
Job Title: Engineering Intern
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Received Credit: Yes
Paid: Yes
Abroad: No
Description of the Organization
I have now completed three semesters at Genesis Seating. Genesis Seating is a furniture manufacturing company which creates furniture for many companies such as Herman Miller, Steelcase, and Haworth. Different products are made in different cells within the building. My job as an Engineering Intern involves designing and building racks, carts, or other elements that would improve the efficiency in specific cells. The most common example of this is when specific parts come into a cell, they need a place to go until they are assembled with the rest of the product. I would be responsible with creating a cart or rack for these parts which makes the most sense for the assembler and the overall flow of product through the cell.
Description of the Tasks/Projects Completed
This was my third rotation, so many of the projects I worked on were larger than previous rotations. Last semester, I created a proposal for a portable lift which would be used to raise and lower sofas from an assembly table. This rotation my main project was creating this lift. However, it now needed a rotational function lift rotate and lower 200 lb table tops without damage. This was completed by modifying a portable pallet stacker to meet our needs. I designed every component of the lift in SOLIDWORKS and used this design to create the lift.
Skills/Knowledge Gained Through The Experience
Through my entire Co-op experience I have been improving on my SOLIDWORKS skills as well as welding, machining, and fabricating. Specific skills learned or improved this semester include: technical proposal writing, budget creating, and general communication skills with other coworkers.
Favorite Part of the Experience
My favorite part of this co-op experience was getting a wide range of skills which I can use as reference in the future such as designing with CAD or welding. Building the lift was exceptionally challenging and every step of the process contained a new skill for me to learn from general wiring and electrical work to using timing chains with motors, shafts, and sprockets.
How the Experience Influenced Future Career Goals
This experience has given me many technical skills to feel more comfortable going into a career in Engineering after college.