Engineering Co-op 1
Timothy
Experience Information
Employer: MEC
Job Title: Tool Designer
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Received Credit: Yes
Paid: Yes
Abroad: No
Description of the Organization
The team at MEC in Byron Center consists of about 170 manual laborers and 50 office employees. The office staff is composed of teams for engineering, information technology, accounting, purchasing, and sales. I worked on the engineering team as the tool designer. My supervisor--Doug--was a project engineer and I had no subordinates.
Description of the Tasks/Projects Completed
My main assignments were designing weld fixtures to help make parts for several of our customers. I worked with the engineering team to gather data and direction along the way. I conducted design reviews for each fixture to bring the team up to speed and to make important decisions. I also helped our machinists in the tool room with the assembly of this tooling. Beyond weld fixtures, I designed check fixtures for a number of the parts we manufacture and I produced overlays of old and new parts from customers to investigate the changes between revisions. In addition, I helped one of the engineers to program a tube bender.
Skills/Knowledge Gained Through The Experience
I learned how a tube bender operates and how the programmer instructs it. I also learned more about machining processes such as reaming and the implications it causes for my design work.
Favorite Part of the Experience
My favorite part was helping my associates at work with my knowledge and skills while broadening my professional horizons. Doing so grew my competence and confidence.
How the Experience Influenced Future Career Goals
This co-op experience has helped me to define my professional interests. I now have a greater understanding of which fields I would be interested in working in once I graduate.
Internship Format
In Person