Month: October 2018

Finding the right major, even if it isn’t before I get to college.

I always think back to high school when I knew I wanted to major in engineering.  I picked mechanical engineering because I knew that it was the broadest and would most likely match up to my theme park design aspirations. Throughout my first year, although I got off to a rough start, I feel like I got a good idea that I wanted to stay in my major. However, this fall, it hit me that I wasn’t in the right place for myself to truly thrive.

I examined my talents and aspirations again and soon came to the conclusion that my true passion lied in Civil Engineering from the beginning.  I now wonder why I didn’t enter this major, to begin with.  After re-evaluating my academic plan and looking through the possible classes I could take, I re-fell in love with my major. The classes were things that I found much more interesting than I ever did with mechanical engineering.

This idea played into the Engineering Expo career fair at Ohio State.  After talking with employers that were looking for civil engineering majors rather than mechanical engineering, I realized that this was the industry for me.  I can’t wait to see where this change in my academic career takes me.  Going forward, I have a much stronger feeling of motivation, because I know that I’m working towards something that I am more passionate about. I am confident that I made the right choice changing to civil engineering, and I encourage anyone to remember that it is never too late to start all over!

Sauder Manufacturing Company Internship – Summer 2018

I often find myself forgetting all of the opportunities that I have for myself in my own hometown.  I was able to put this thought behind me and embrace these opportunities this past summer while working for Sauder Manufacturing Company in my hometown of Archbold, OH. Through this experience, I was able to get a grasp on all levels of engineering that play into running a manufacturing company.

From working with maintenance to ensure that all the machines are running properly, to helping design prototypes of furniture pieces going into production, I truly got a view of all areas of the company from the “blue sky” stage to the production stage.

I especially enjoyed my time in new product development as the New Product Development Assistant.  In this position, I was able to put my previous SolidWorks experience to the test by designing new prototypes of a new sleep chair that was going into production.  Through this, I was able to learn more about technical communication through the assembling of the bill of materials as well as using SolidWorks PDM to be able to organize the work and optimize the process between all members of the new product development team.

Because of this internship, I became a better version of the engineer that I aspire to be.  Classroom knowledge is vital when it comes to an engineering profession, but some of my most valuable lessons thus far have come from professionals that mentored me and worked alongside me.  I cannot be more appreciative of Sauder for allowing me to learn so much from them.  I cannot wait to see what the future holds thanks to this amazing opportunity!