For my practicum I worked in a machine shop at On Demand Pharmaceuticals in Rockville, MD. In the machine shop I had a very unique experience where I had freedom to do projects the way I wanted to without having someone watch over my shoulder the entire time. I found this very enjoyable as I was able to experiment and try different ideas using various manufacturing techniques.
Some of the key components of the machine shop were a Haas VF2 CNC machine, OMAX water jet, robotic arm, lathe, knee mill, 3D printers, saws, and a large variety of hand tools. I was able to learn how to use and operate these machines on my own. I spent a lot of time working with the robotic arm, which is shown below. It was something new the company had bought but had not yet figured out how it worked. I was determined to push its limits so I spent lots of time watching tutorials learning how to teach and program the arm to do simple tasks. Eventually, these simple tasks became quite complicated and the robot was at a point where it could be used to autonomously do tasks that normally a human would have to do. In my 12 weeks at the internship I learned that a project is never perfect. Even though I made the robotic arm complete a task, it can always be made better. It can do the project faster, more efficiently, and more accurate. There is ALWAYS room for improvement. I think it is extremely valuable to have this knowledge because I will carry it with me throughout my career. In the very short-term, I might even be able to apply my knowledge at TerrapinWorks! This experience has been more than I could have imagined. It was a perfect fit and I really look forward to working in/around a machine shop as a part of my career. During the remainder of my time at UMD, I plan on expanding this knowledge further to master the ability to design and produce a large variety of different things.
This internship helped me grow as a person, student, and professional because of the value in the knowledge I gained. As a person, a dream of mine is to be able to bring my ideas to life. Many people become engineers and design things, but do not know how to actually produce their idea. Many other people know how to produce parts, but do not know how to design them. I aspire to bring the two worlds togeter. In combination with my creativity, I will be able to use my degree in engineering to design parts, and my knowledge of how to produce things in a machine shop to take an idea in my head and turn it into a physical entity. As a student, I now have knowlegde that many of my peers do not, which I can use to help teach other people and guide them to help them produce better work. As a professional, the skill I have obtained will be utilized in my job in the future as I hope to have a large impact on whatever industry I end up in. I found this internship by looking on the UMD Careers4Engineers site. This was actually the only internship that responded to me even though I applied to over 10. For anyone looking for advice on how to find an opportunty, I say you can't rule it out until you try. While it's tough for freshman and sophomores to find good real-world internships and experiences, apply to all of them, even the most ambitious ones, because you never know if you'll get lucky and receive an offer. There is absolutely no harm in applying. My resume after my internship is can be found here