JR Automation 2nd Rotation
Nathan
Experience Information
Employer: JR Automation Technologies
Job Title: Controls Engineer Intern
Major: Electrical Engineering
Received Credit: Yes
Paid: Yes
Abroad: No
Description of the Organization
JR Automation is a company originating and housing most business units in Holland. JR has about 1000 employees spread across 8 business units, in Michigan and South Carolina. They design and improve various solutions and are a quickly growing company in the automation realm.
Description of the Tasks/Projects Completed
For the first few weeks, I was placed on a project to get a repeat job's fixture up and running given the PLC and HMI. This was a great refresher and got me back into the controls engineering mindset. Next, I spent a little over a month on a much larger project with various tooling fixtures. This taught me a great deal about the hardware implementation of several devices, while building my PLC and HMI programming abilities. Finally, for the last two months, I have been doing a lot of design work. This included designing electrical and pneumatic prints for various jobs. I learned an outstanding amount about the automation process, as well as electrical and pneumatic functionality.
Skills/Knowledge Gained Through The Experience
1.) I gained a fair amount of PLC programming knowledge. 2.) I gained a fair amount of HMI programming knowledge. 3.) I learned the automation process on a much more detailed level. 4.) I learned about pneumatics and their impact on the automation process. 5.) I learned how to design electrical and pneumatic prints. The process of learning this also resulted in learning an indescribable amount about pneumatic and electrical components.
Favorite Part of the Experience
I think my favorite part about this rotation was genuinely feeling like a full time controls engineer. I was given much more responsibility and much harder tasks this rotation, resulting in me fitting in very well with all of the full time controls engineers. If I had to pick one specific part, it would probably be the day I spent with the customer of project I was on. I felt like I was responsible for the fixture and was capable of assisting the customer in any way she needed.
How the Experience Influenced Future Career Goals
It has definitely made me consider pursuing the controls engineering route when I am done with school. Especially at JR Automation. I always thought I would leave the state once I graduated, but lately I have been contemplating staying in Michigan and attempting to get a permanent job at JR Automation after graduation.