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Josh’s Quotes #17

[16-24] Early on in the internship, I ended up getting sick and I had to go home. I ended up being out for a week with flu like symptoms. Then, I came back to work and I started to pick up and it was easier to do what I needed to do. Then, my grandmother passed away, which was a minor setback in the work place. I had to leave for a day to come home and take care of that. Then once I got back to work, I didn’t really have anything else going on. That learning curve was also starting to, like I said, level out. Work started to get easier and I started to enjoy it a lot more of the time. Not to say I didn’t enjoy it before, but it definitely, like I said, at points was frustrating. Then as the job got easier, I enjoyed it more.

[191-207] The learning curve began to level out because I kind of figuring out little tips and tricks. Just doing it, taught me how to do it. I don’t want to say I was very quick to go ask for help. Because I would look at a problem and I would try to fix it myself before I would ask and bother someone else and waste their time. But my mentors and co-workers were always there to help me when I needed it. If not right away, within 15, 20 minutes. I leaned on them, they came and helped me. Every time something went wrong, I’d fix it and then maybe a few days later I’d get the same problem and I’d be like, “I remember how to fix this now.” Everything started coming together.

It came together for me in two ways. The first way is that, obviously you have a powerhouse. I’m sure you can imagine there’re hundreds, thousands if not millions of components in that structure. There are a lot of parts to learn. As I’m learning more parts of the powerhouse, and I’m understanding the parts, it makes it easier for me to design it because I know what I’m looking for at the end. That came together, but also learning how to use the systems where we store drawings. Learning how to make a bill of materials. As I started to see how the systems integrated into each other, I was like, “Okay, because I’m putting this in this system, then it can show up here so that this department can know that they have to do X, Y, and Z.” It was all of those things kind of together and not one really outweighed the other. They all kind of just kind of worked at the same pace to get me to the point where I was.

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Josh’s Quotes #18

[67-77] Another aspect where I had to adjust to while working at the company was the 3D modeling software. At school, for reference, the 3D modeling software that we use is called SolidWorks. This company uses Solid Edge. It’s the same concept, different application, different buttons, pretty much how everything else is on a computer. But at first I had to learn that, which was not that difficult. But as I had mentioned before, the difficulty kind of came when I had to learn all of their specific systems. In the sense that, they have a system where they store all of their finalized drawings. I had to learn how to go in there, how to make a drawing and there are certain steps. You have to have certain things set right when you create the document. It has to be a certain type of document. Once you’re done with it, you have to make sure it has a certain name based on what it is for what project. Then you have to promote it to somebody. Then once they approve it, then someone else has to approve it. Then you have to, I think, release it one more time. There was a lot there.

[78-87] Then there was another program called SAP, which is kind of where all the intricate things came in. If you have a drawing with something that you build, you have all of these individual components that go into it. SAP is where you store all of the bill of materials for these components. Again, you have to make a bill of materials, you have to fill in certain things. They have certain call-outs for specific parts. Whether it’s because it’s like a bolt or a nut, or it’s because it’s in a certain part of the powerhouse. Learning all those short names, learning the process so I don’t mess it up or so that there’s less to fix later. Then the same as the other thing, someone else has to check it. I have to update it and then release it and go through all those steps. Learning those systems I think was the most difficult aspect of the internship. I did end up having difficulties with Solid Edge. But it wasn’t necessarily with learning Solid Edge itself, I think it was more so the specific project I was working on.

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Josh’s Quotes #19

[88-100] I think I had difficulty with Solid Edge because it was probably the biggest project I think I’ve worked on in my time. I was given a drawing that was made in 2000 of what’s called a discharge ring. It’s a roughly 140-inch diameter ring that goes out at the bottom of the turbine as the water is discharged, hence the name. I had to model the whole thing. Without getting too intricate, the way it was modeled has to follow a guideline by the company. Of course, this is in an effort to make it more standardized and make it easier for people to look back on what was done moving forward. Because I had to do it a certain way, it took a little longer. Then, when there were issues, I would have to lean on my co-workers to help me.

The company actually assigned me a mentor. I meet with him weekly to discuss anything I’m working on, any questions I have. He usually tells me a few things just in general about powerhouses. He’s like, “I remembered this thing that happened, and I wanted to share it with you.” I can go to him anytime.Then, we also have certain people in the office who are, it’s called key users. One of my co-workers was the key user for Solid Edge. He was the person who taught me how to use it, led me to the tutorials that I had to complete. Then when I had questions, he was most of the time, the person I went to.

[134-157] I should clarify, the discharge ring […] When I say design project, I mean in the sense that I have creative input into how it is designed. With the discharge ring, I was given a drawing and they said, “It’s got to be the same, so make it.” Then I had to use the existing drawing to make a drawing with the right dimensions. But with the design project, one of the types of turbines has blades that can rotate. Inside the hub of the blades there are links that move with the motor to cause the rotation. In assemblies, these links themselves can weigh about 200 pounds. The problem becomes, what you have to do is you have the shaft that the blade is on and then you have a shaft that you have to connect the links with. Basically, you put the pin through the links and then you have to set the links somewhere so that you can put the next pin through. Because they’re obviously pretty heavy, you can’t just hold them with your hand. We don’t want to let them just rest on the parts because they could cause damage and it’s a very tight tolerance. What we need is something that can hold the links up. What was already in process was the design for what they call the link holder. Where it takes two holes that bolt in on the outside of the hub. Then, it’s basically shaped like an L and you have a stud of sorts coming out of it to […] It’s just a screw, a soft screw so that it doesn’t maybe dent the metal on the link, and then the link just sits on it. I mean, I can talk about it more. There’s a lot more to it. But basically, I was given the design that we had, I was given a list of concerns and what to do about them. I was given also some specific things like, “We need this to be changed to this.” Then I came up with some ideas on how to change it.

After talking to my co-worker who gave me the project and then going to his supervisor who the project is for, they both liked the idea and they said I could roll with it. Along the way, they helped me with the actual modeling and figuring out how I could make what I wanted to make, and giving me tips. If I have my design, they said, “Well, we really liked this design. Here’s something that we’d like you to roll with, with your design and tell us how it turns out.”

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Josh’s Quotes #21

[468-495] For the most part, I had positive experiences with the people at work. However, I also worked with an individual who wasn’t as helpful as others. For the discharge ring, I worked with, not a lead engineer, but I think he’s an engineer too. But he’s a lot older than me. He’s probably in his late 50s. He might even be 60. I’m not sure. But that’s very different than talking to my mentor who’s five years older than me. There are times when I was doing that, like when I was modeling this discharge ring, I kept running into problems because I didn’t know the software. I wasn’t sure if I was doing this math right or something, and I would go to him. Sometimes I’d go to him and most of the time he’d be like, “Just do this and that.” It was very easy said and done. But sometimes I would say something and he’s like, “It’s pretty simple. You just got to figure it out.” It was times like that where I got frustrated because I’m like, “Well, I’m kind of asking for help. I don’t think I’d ask if I didn’t need it. It’s obviously not that simple.” But that’s one thing. Like I said, that wasn’t all the time. It was just sometimes.

But then I did have interactions with my mentor. There were a lot of other people that were around that age that were hired around the same time. When talking to them, it’s a lot more nonchalant. They sit down and they want to have a conversation with me as well as do the work or tell me what I need to do. We have Skype for Business in the office. I can send them a message or I can walk to their desk or I can send them an email. But I mean, sometimes we have a conversation on Skype. I might text them and be like, “How do I do this?” They’ll tell me and then they’ll say something and maybe I’ll make a joke and we’ll have a back and forth while we’re working. I don’t know. But it varied a lot. I had both ends of the spectrum. I had, “You’re a kid. I’m an adult. Let’s be sure that you’re the intern here.” Not in a sense I felt like, “Man, I got to get out of here.” Just I was like, “All right, you just got to stick up your butt and I’m just going to do my job anyway.” But I had that end and I had the end of the spectrum where the people were willing to be patient and learn with me.

There were some things where we had a problem and I was able to figure it out. Or I found something in Solid Edge for example. There was a shortcut button. I don’t remember what it did, but I found it and I started using it. The keys user for Solid Edge was like, “I didn’t even know you could do that.” He’s like, “That’s really interesting.” He’s like, “I’m going to remember that.” A lot of spectrums, I guess, crossed in the interactions with my co-workers.

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Josh’s Quotes #22

[500-526] When I experienced difficulties with the lead engineer, at first, I would kind of just go back to my desk, look at it again, and then I’d have to go to a different co-worker. Because if I can’t figure it out and I got to get it done, and I have to do something. I would tell him, I’d be like, “Yeah, I asked him this and this is what he said.” They would give me … If they could, they’d say, “Well, let’s try this and see if that works.” Or they would go and ask him themselves after they tried it and they couldn’t fix it. That happened.

But we had another project, I was working with the same guy and it was the same powerhouse. It’s a part that’s attached to the discharge ring, but a different model, a different drawing. I was looking at the drawing he gave me and I made a model and then I made a drawing, and the dimensions didn’t match up. Yet when I checked it, everything should have been correct. Then I found that there were […] I kept trying to change the models. I changed a lot of things and then I sat down and I did the math again. I realized that there were dimensions on the drawing that either the way they were rounded or the way they were put on the drawing, they conflicted. They weren’t possible dimensions to make what was on the drawing. In that case, when I started having issues, I didn’t want to go to him right away because I knew I was probably going to get a, “Figure it out.”

I went to my co-worker and he looked at it and I told him, I was like, “I’m not going to go to him first. I want to make sure this is wrong before I say something.” He took a look at it himself. I did those calculations. I took a lot of pictures exactly where the problems were. I just went up to him and I started to tell him, I was like, “Look, I’m …” I kind of mentioned it before and I had gotten the like, “Use this dimension.” He told me, “Use this dimension and it’ll work out.” Now that it didn’t, I told him, I was like, “I’m still having trouble with this.” He’s like, “Well, you just got to look at the drawing and make sure the …” I don’t know exactly what he said. But basically, the thing that I didn’t want to hear. I kind of said, I was like, “I tried that, but actually I found this.” Then I told him and showed him what I found. Then he was like, “Let me take a look at it.” In 30 minutes, he was like, “Just do this instead.” Thinking back, it’s just a waste of time. I don’t think I […] I shouldn’t probably have to have those interactions. I shouldn’t have to make a case just to ask a question. But most of my co-workers I could just go to and they would fix it right away or help me right away. But with him I had to really make my case and double check that I wasn’t incorrect when I went to go ask him my questions.

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Josh’s Quotes #24

[396-421] Although I had an internship this semester, I originally planned to participate in student senate, but I found out that my work schedule would put me coming home right when the meetings were starting every week. I have a position that needs to be there at least 30 to 45 minutes before the meeting. I decided to step down because I could’ve made it work. I could have asked my friends to cover for me and they offered to cover for me before I even asked them. But I felt that the position should be given to somebody who has the time to put in, because they’re going to be more passionate and they’re going to be a better asset to the team.

Even though I didn’t do that though, I still know everyone in the organization pretty much. I’ve gone to a few of their events. I showed up to their meeting one day when I got off of work a little early and I stayed in touch with them. But they are also kind of in cooperation with our campus activities board. I have continued my involvement with them. I still do their … You have to work an event every month. Which isn’t a problem because I usually do the trivia night, which is Friday, around 8:00. It’s way after work, I can still do what I need to do and then enjoy my evening. I did that. I’m trying to think if there was anything else. I mean, I still talk to the alumni department. I’m not part of that organization anymore, but I still support it, I guess as a third party. If that’s the correct way to phrase it.

I mentioned in one interview that I was a part of a thing called road crew. I wasn’t in that this year because I had my internship and I had to be available for that. But their last stop was in downtown near the school where I was living and it was right when everybody came back to school. I went there and I was able to talk to all my friends and support the organization and support my school. We have what’s called the Day of Giving. Where it’s how the college makes its money because our college is not for profit. I participated in that by donating some money, which is typically something that they ask people who are in the organization or have been in the organization. I donated and did a few other things. I showed up to an event across campus one day just to support them and say, “I’m here.” I have even begun talking to them about coming back to the organization next year when I have more time. I don’t think there’s anything else though. I think those are the only things that I’ve been able to maintain with the time that I had leftover in my day.

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amanda quotes

Amanda’s Quotes #26

[380-387] In my first semester it just started off with a ton of homeworks and assignments and test it was a big, big workload so I was kind of forced into it. With my personality I’m always trying to do my best even though it would be enough to just get a passing grade on an assignment. I would not complete an assignment with something I didn’t think I was going to get 100% on. That’s how it started off. That was very annoying. I didn’t like it at all because I came here for soccer and the engineering took over when I didn’t want it to. My last year, my senior year, has been more focused on the engineering but that’s because I wanted it.

[350-353] I would either pursue a master’s in mechanical engineering since I’m doing my bachelor’s in it, or I was thinking about sports engineering but the industry for that is much smaller and maybe not be a good idea to do a master’s in it if it’s difficult to get jobs. One other alternative is industrial engineering and management which is basically a combination about engineering and economics.

[358-363] Before I got here [United States], I applied for different programs back home in my home country and then I applied for industrial engineering and management just because it’s always something I’ve been interested in like in engineering economics as we talked about before. Then, I got here [United States] and after like a couple of semesters I realized I sports engineering was a thing and that is something I’m even more interested in because I love sports. I do enjoy using my brains to solve problems. To put those two together would be something I would enjoy doing.

[375-376] I came here [United States] for my soccer experience and then the engineering has just become a lot bigger than I expected. I spend much more time on it than I expected. I have liked it.

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Josh’s Quotes #27

[536-547] Overall, I think the internship was crucial and it’s definitely a big stepping stone in my professional development, but I’m definitely not ready to step out into the engineering world yet. It’s helped me to narrow down what I desire from an employer and from a workplace culture. It’s also shown me what things I don’t want to deal with. If I do deal with them, how I want to deal with them. But it’s also shown me that there are a lot of things I have to learn. In any field that I go into, there’s going to be nuances and little things that’ll take years to learn. I mean, there are people at this place that are still learning new components and they’ve been there for 30, 40 years. It’s taught me to really value my education and to not be afraid to ask questions. Because learning more really only helps me. Because even if it’s not something that applies directly, maybe it’s a skill I learned that I can use elsewhere. I think it’s just been a significant stepping stone. Not the final stepping stone, but just a significant stepping stone towards that degree in my hand and a future on the road. Which my current plan, which is new as of a few months ago, I’m intending to look at PhD programs out of college.

[583-607] Something that I’ve always felt in school is, I enjoy helping others or teaching others. I’m not sure what the best word to choose would be. I don’t always understand things quickly, but I can generally get a base idea of things in class. Once I understand something, I usually find it pretty easy to explain because I feel like if I can understand it, I should be able to explain it. Because of that, it’s brought the thought in my head. I’ve never really thought of being in education. I just said, I was like, “I don’t really like teaching people all the time.” I enjoy helping them occasionally, but I don’t think I have the patience to do it all the time. But that doesn’t change the fact that I enjoy what I’m doing at school. I thought, “Well, maybe it’s just education that I like. Maybe I just like learning.” Yeah, helping people is great in general sense. I’m sure anyone gets joy from that. But it made it difficult because I really didn’t want to go into teaching. I was like, “I don’t want to be a teacher. I just don’t see that being a future I enjoy.” Other than the social aspects, I just think it’d be too stressful. Then I started questioning, “Well, what do I really want to do after school?” I’ve always felt that if I stop going to school, I’m not going back. Because I feel like it’s a rolling stone, I’m going and if I stop, it’s going to stop. I guess if I take a break, I’m not going to want to go back. I’m going to get lazy and I’m just going to want to stay inside all day. I’d rather just bite the bullet and get education done so I can coast the rest of my life. I had always consider doing a masters. That had always been my next step.

Honestly, the change really happened when I talked to my friend. I had mentioned I went to the last road crew pit stop in January. That’s where I had the conversation with this peer of mine. It really was, right there, he said it. He said that’s what he was doing, why he was doing it. It kind of just set off a light bulb in my brain. Kind of it just felt right. I was like, “That sounds exactly like what I need.” I didn’t know it before, but it feels right. I thought about it more and more, and I came to the conclusion that I think that’s what I want to do. I don’t necessarily want to go into education, but if I get the doctorate, I think it allows me the opportunity on top of opening a lot of other doors that might be interesting.

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Joy’s Quotes #1

[197-202] When I came into college, I had already taken Calculus 1 and Physics 1, as well as AP Physics. But in order to try to make my first year a little bit easier, I just decided to take them again. Turns out that that was helpful because I did not do, I didn’t get like, you know, 100% in Physics, so that was kind of a big jump between high school and college and like the workload required.

[229-231;239-242; 242-250; 262; 264-265; 289-300] Reflecting back to freshman orientation they said, “Look to your right and left, and in four years the person either sitting to your left or your right will not be here.” And I was like, “Yeah-” … I mean, yes. That is true.  I’ve gotten used to this now. But, yeah, freshman engineering, probably the hardest part was having all of my friends on campus not understand why I couldn’t hang out with them all the time or do things. This ‘midwestern university’ is a very social campus, similar to all campuses.  When my friends from the wing or the floor asked, “Can you hang out?” Whenever, I had to say, “No.” They were like, “Why can’t you just push it off?” Engineering is not like other majors where they complain about giving three-minute presentations. I think it was hardest having people get angry at me for trying to do my homework.

So yeah. I guess, socially was probably the hardest part of being a a freshman. Instead, I am very close with the other engineers. The juniors and seniors reach out to the younger people, as well, and are usually studying in the same places that we are. We study in a lab room all of the time including working on our design projects. For example, we had to design a laser gun that shot a specific frequency, but then we had to design a boost forward and receiver to responded to that specific frequency, as opposed to any other person’s gun or a solid beam of light. Then we competed with other teams.  Another project involved designing a plant watering system. We had to implement like four loops in C++. It was supposed to be 10 lines of code and ended up being a lot more than that. Letting freshmen pick their own projects is not a good idea. They over shoot and it makes life very difficult.

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Joy’s Quotes #2

[301-311] The majority of our time is spent on projects. We usually have one hands on project where we are responsible for creating a poster and designing a PowerPoint presentation for the end of the semester. Most of the time, we are focused on homework. The classes require 40 hours per week including lab assignments and lab reports. We had to spend many hours outside of the lab working on them. Then it took five to six hours to write the lab report and they ended up being fifteen to twenty pages. I shouldn’t have to go through that again. I’m very thankful because it kind of destroyed all of us.

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