3rd Co-op Rotation
Freddy
Experience Information
Employer: GVSU
Job Title: Electrical Engineer Co-op
Major: Electrical Engineering
Received Credit: Yes
Paid: Yes
Abroad: No
Description of the Organization
The Magna Mirror North America Engineering Center has about 130 people working on site. There are different teams of engineers such as Advanced Product Development, Product Development (Inside Mirrors, Outside Mirrors, Electrical, and Software), and Validation. The company recently moved to a new facility doubling in side.
Description of the Tasks/Projects Completed
I have worked mostly on Outside Mirror products in my three co-op rotations. In this last one, I worked on debugging PCB boards using oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzers and DMMs for some projects that are currently being developed. I was part of the testing process in which involves learning customer's specifications and concepts such as EMC and best design practices on the automotive industry. With the Outside Mirror product line, it involves a good amount of building harnesses, making prototype boards and helping the Validation group with any test that needs to be done.
Skills/Knowledge Gained Through The Experience
I think that one of the most valuable things I learned is how fast-paced environment the automotive industry is, and how engineers face the day-to-day problems. I learned engineering concepts such as radiated emission, conducted immunity, conducted emission, EMC transient pulses and ESD. I was also able to apply some concepts learned in class in cases like debugging a board and trying to figure out what the problem is. I also learned a lot about the products the company and how they go to provide those products to customers.
Favorite Part of the Experience
My favorite part of the co-op was to have a great supervisor/mentor in my three rotations. He has been great at giving me advices, sharing some things he learned in the industry and willing to answer all questions I have. I understand that this point is not up to the students, but I also think the idea for students to get out there and observe, learn and even do research outside of office is what makes a difference in the co-op experience.
How the Experience Influenced Future Career Goals
This has been great for my career as it gave me a great exposure of the industry, gave me hands-on experience on real world problems from the engineering perspective and gave me guidance on what I can improve to get better in my profesional career.
Internship Format
In Person