Shape Corporation: Intern Experience
Chelsea
Experience Information
Employer: Shape Corporation
Job Title: CAE Intern
Major: Product Design and Manufacturing Engineering
Received Credit: Yes
Paid: Yes
Abroad: No
Description of the Organization
Shape Corporation is a global manufacturing company that specializes in roll forming. Although, aluminum forming and injection molding has become other great aspects of the business. The main product Shape produces is the bumper system, including the bumper beam, energy absorber, crush can, and the fascia. The engineering services provide research, development, product design, CAE modeling, prototyping and testing for the development of their products. Shapes expertise is applied to automotive, office furniture, medical and agricultural industries in North America, Europe and Asia.
Description of the Tasks/Projects Completed
Two main projects were assigned to me this semester. One project being an optimization project, where I developed a methodology to minimize mass on a grill housing unit. The part is normally full of ribs, and the program used told us what ribs are necessary. The mass on the part can be greatly reduced while still staying within the stress constraints, displacement constraints, and frequency constraints. I created a document that takes a user step by step through the process and did many presentations to engineers involved with the part as well. The other main project worked on was simulating the forming process of the ends of an aluminum beam. The ends are "crushed" to fit into the design space, but this process leads to high-stress areas. I set up the simulation and post-processed the results. A few smaller projects were worked on as well. Another optimization project to find a light weight high strength beam and several small tasks to help with the work the rest of the CAE team does.
Skills/Knowledge Gained Through The Experience
I learned a lot about finite element analysis (FEA) being a part of the Computer Aided Engineering team. In the analysis done, I learned how to correlate data, and how engineers use the data obtained. I also learned about optimization, and the process it takes in making a part, from designing, to manufacturing. I also obtained communication skills, by presenting my work and communicating via email or phone. Shape also taught me to work with others and ask questions to people of experience.
Favorite Part of the Experience
My favorite part of the experience here at Shape was learning how powerful the programs are. Seeing how much data and knowledge can be obtained from the programs used was amazing. Optimizing a part was interesting to see how the program steps through iterations to make a feasible design. I also loved being a part of meetings where I was able to learn not only from my supervisor, but from other engineers. I was also able to be a part of some brainstorming meetings as well, which was incredibly interesting. It was fascinating to see the differences in each engineers mind and how the different strengths of each person work together to create an idea.
How the Experience Influenced Future Career Goals
This experience opened up a great deal of opportunity I didn't realize existed for engineering. I was able to see many different types of engineering I would be able to go into with my degree. From a testing engineer, to product development, I was able to see what each does and narrow down my goals as an engineer. I have realized maybe a product engineer is more what I strive for down the road, and hopefully knowing that now, I can focus on growing my skills in that area of expertise.