3rd Co-Op Rotation
Jacob
Experience Information
Employer: Magna Mirrors
Job Title: Mechanical Engineer Intern
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Received Credit: No
Paid: Yes
Abroad: No
Description of the Organization
Magna Mirrors is a branch of Magna that specializes in interior and exterior mirrors for automobiles. Magna is an international company that is on every continent except Antarctica, so it is an extremely large company. Magna Mirrors provides mirrors for car companies such as Nissan, Toyota, Dodge, Jeep, Tesla, and Ford just to name a few.
Description of the Tasks/Projects Completed
During this Co-Op rotation, the majority of my tasks were quality based. A new product line was being launched for a customer which involved the interior mirror not only being a mirror but also an LCD that is capable of showing an image from several cameras around a vehicle. Developing a new product comes with many unexpected problems in which large-scale studies need to be done to discover their source. This was my main task. A secondary project was re-creating a suitcase tester used for testing mirrors for functionality out on the production floor. While re-creating it some improvements needed to be made which led to creating of new 3D models, and a bill of materials.
Skills/Knowledge Gained Through The Experience
One skill that was gained through working at Magna Mirrors was the ability to create and conduct meaningful studies to identify quality problems with products. Magna Mirrors Holland consists of two plants on either side of their parking lot and working between both of them came with gaining a lot of knowledge on how assembly lines work and the importance of keeping them running.
Favorite Part of the Experience
My favorite part of this co-op experience was working with a large team of engineers consisting of all branches of the occupation. Meeting and working with so many experienced engineers came with learning a lot of wisdom about the field as well as being tasked with a diverse set of tasks. What was also nice was during completing the tasks plenty of time was provided to struggle through it without having to worry about unrealistic deadlines. The engineering team also gave lots of direction when it was requested, everyone was willing to help.
How the Experience Influenced Future Career Goals
This experience at Magna reminded me why I enjoy engineering work and has taught me that a large company consisting of huge teams is more of my work environment than a small company. Having a workday filled with new tasks and challenges keeps me from feeling my work is getting mindless and having fellow engineers to work with makes for a better workday.
Internship Format
In Person