AAE student becomes first Purdue student to win Cooperative Education and Internship Association award
The sight of fighter jets over Ross-Ade Stadium set Marek Gibson on a path to aeronautical and astronautical engineering (AAE) at Purdue University. He wanted to fly those jets. Understanding their engines and systems was his first step.
Once in West Lafayette, Gibson discovered a passion for propulsion systems, uncovered by Purdue University’s Co-op Program.
During a four-rotation term with Cummins Inc. in Seymour, Indiana, Gibson worked in manufacturing engineering and supply chain for the company that dedicates its resources to creating clean power, constantly challenging its own protocols and products to be even smarter and more efficient. His work varied from improving safety mechanics to testing propulsion engines in-house.
Gibson’s fifth Co-op rotation at Rolls-Royce in Indianapolis allowed him to apply the skills he had learned at Cummins Inc. as a manufacturing intern. He became responsible for tool inventory, updating usage certification for manufacturing devices and report his progress and findings to a team of peers, from other interns to longstanding Rolls-Royce employees.
For his work in both of those co-ops, Gibson will be honored with the Cooperative Education Student Achievement Award at the national Cooperative Education and Internship Association (CEIA) annual conference April 8 in Tucson, Arizona. Gibson will be recognized as a student who “excelled in or made significant impact in work-integrated learning” with “distinguished achievement and excellence.” The award includes $500 and a commemorative plaque.
Gibson is the first Purdue student to be a national recipient of a CEIA award.
“It’s a unique honor and a great distinction that sets me apart from all the other Co-ops,” Gibson said.
The Co-op Program, through the Office of Professional Practice, allows students to gain real-world experience with a significant and competitive salary before they graduate. The Purdue Co-op Program, a model for similar co-ops nationwide, typically involves students completing 3-5 work sessions with the same employer that allows students to gain a long relationship with the employer, work on more projects and take on increasingly responsible roles in work sessions.
Doing the heavy lifting
Once Gibson had a semester to settle into the Purdue Engineering experience, he attended a Co-op Days Virtual career fair in February 2021. He was on the hunt for a job that, at that time, was hard to find: an in-person, on-site experience.
Cummins Inc. was one of the few companies offering such an experience. They were looking for co-op students, which inspired Gibson to become one. He received a Co-op offer from Cummins a few weeks — and interviews — later. After connecting with a Co-op coordinator to navigate the offer, he spent the summer of 2021 in Seymour, Indiana, working in manufacturing engineering and supply chain.
The first problem to tackle was connected to transportation. When moving large plywood boxes in the warehouse, containing Cummins-manufactured QSK19 and QST30 engines weighing anywhere between two and four tons, operators and hourly workers needed to hold the boxes in place to be lifted or even lift them as a team. Each 8x8-foot box weighed over 100 pounds and left workers with strains or stubbed toes, and it was Gibson’s task to find a way to lower the risk dropping boxes and injury.
Gibson worked on a safe solution, amidst other projects, for four of his Co-op rotations with Cummins.
“I made use of lifting straps and then an overhead crane within the facility and then some lifting slings. We used that system to lift the panels rather than having the operators lift it themselves,” Gibson said. “Not only did we make the process safer but faster and from a four-man job into a one-man job.”
Thanks to Gibson’s new system, he said Cummins saved almost $120,000 in equipment and energy usage to date. The lift was an ergonomic insight that would affect warehouses and workshops globally. The Seymour Cummins was awarded the North American Ergo Cup Impact Award for this improved safety protocol in 2022.
It was not the only lasting impact Gibson would leave at Cummins. He also worked with safely recording military-grade engines’ throttle with test cells. At the time he started, an operator would have to be in the same room as the V903 engine to flip the lever and start recording data. It was unsafe in the long term and the best solution, to integrate new machinery that would flip the switch, was going to be expensive and complicated.
Gibson had to completely redesign the project using materials he had quick access to and make flipping the switch on a hot propulsion engine safe and cost effective.
The pivot was overwhelming. But Gibson was determined to make Cummins the safest it could be.
“I had to work on the fly because the deadline didn't change, even though everything that (Cummins) wanted did,” Gibson said. “It was a lesson in being flexible and not to be too rooted or too tied to one solution. There’s always a different way to do things.”
Gibson took all that Cummins taught him — including a newfound passion for propulsion systems — and applied it to a new Co-op position in Rolls-Royce. The device-lifting work he had done at Cummins transitioned perfectly into recertifying and refurbishing out-of-commission lifts, putting Gibson squarely in more managerial and leadership work than he had at his previous rotations.
“He was a leader of his fellow students and spoke in front of peers every Friday with weekly recaps and goals,” wrote a nominator from Rolls-Royce. “His co-workers included a team of around 35 hourly and salaried employees within a fast-paced and ever-changing manufacturing environment.”
Rolls-Royce also introduced Gibson to software management and cataloging as another way of updating and maintaining devices. He created extensive logs and lists that detailed manufacturing parts’ and products’ locations, components and even a check-out system for limited tools.
After graduation, Gibson will work at Rolls-Royce in manufacturing engineering, continuing to improve building and shipping processes to make engines even better.
“It was always my goal coming into Purdue to work in the aerospace industry and work with specifically propulsion systems,” he said. “Working at Rolls-Royce accomplishes both those tasks, and I'll be being able to stay close to home.”
Giants in West Lafayette
Gibson credits friends and co-workers in OPP with profoundly supporting his success. He has been an enthusiastic tutor and Professional Practice Ambassador since he joined OPP in 2021.
Associate director of cooperative education and career readiness Jenny Strickland considers Gibson the “resident expert” and master connector for aerospace-minded students looking into Co-op experiences. As a tutor who has helped students from pharmacology to fundamentals of engineering to philosophy, Gibson has had the opportunity to guide many first-year students into their dream paths while still at Purdue by introducing them to the Co-op Program.
“I am always so humbled to hear him speak about his experiences and be so encouraging toward first-year engineering students who are interested in Co-op,” Strickland wrote in a nomination letter.
In Gibson’s mind, supporting young OPP students was a given.
“At the end of my first set of Co-op rotations, my mom and grandma both passed away within a week of each other. I had just joined the Professional Practice Ambassadors. They made sure I was going to social events and provided a solid support structure,” said Gibson, whose grandfather was a Purdue alumnus. “I've seen the importance of what that social network did for me beyond a professional sense. I want to make sure that undergraduate students or high school students, if they choose to come, to recognize that the Co-op Program offers more than just getting a job.”