My STEP project included me completing a semester long co-op/internship at Cooper Tire and Rubber Company in Findlay, Ohio. During my time with Cooper, I completed many projects that helped me grow my skill set as an engineer and future employee. I completed projects that allowed me to use my skill sets I learned in the classroom in the real world including the global standardization of critical indirect materials, curing optimization efforts, and the development of an analytical testing method for thermal conductivity.

During my time with Cooper Tire, I grew in many different ways. The major area I grew in was how I professionally communicated with engineers and vendors/ manufacturers that Cooper bought indirect materials from. My main project was placing SAP controls for all critical indirect materials used in the US plants. From the beginning to the end of my co-op rotation, I could tell it was easier for me to communicate and ask questions to people to gather the information I needed. I also grew my ability to solve problems on my own and be confident in my answers. My mentor even mentioned my growth in these two areas on my end of term review.

Over this 17 week period, I also gained a better understanding on how to be adaptable. During my co-op rotation, I had to learn how to be adaptable on if I was working from home or working in the office. During my rotation, the corona situation constantly changed the workplace dynamic. As the rotation progressed, I learned how to prioritize certain tasks and projects on days when I was working in the office and other task on days when I was working from home.

This internship was my second rotation with Cooper Tire and Rubber Company. My first rotation I was in the lab and stayed to myself. I completed the routine testing and did not have to talk to many people. However, this second rotation that I completed through STEP, involved me talking to vendors, manufacturers, and engineers that I have never worked with. This communication was needed to complete one of my projects. I had to develop professional relationships with vendors and manufactures in order to gather information and data I needed to finish my part of the project. Each time I talked to a different company, I got better at how I asked my questions and how I approached the problem at hand. I also observed how my mentor and manager talked to suppliers to help me become better at this.

As mentioned in question 2, I also grew in my ability to solve problems on my own. My second project I worked on was developing a method to analysis thermal conductivity of bladder compounds for the Clarksdale Mississippi plant. In order to train this plant lab on the method, I had to find creative ways to communicate with them. In order for easier training I ordered the plant lab a video camera and had them download Microsoft teams on to the computer they were running the software on. They also had software issues that I had to solve. I communicated back and forth with the Clarksdale plant lab, engineers at Cooper, and the contact with the software company to solve the issues they were experiencing. I organized teams meetings between these people in order to solve the problems they were experiencing. By the end of the project, I was considered an expert at the method I developed.

Another big thing I learned to do was to ask questions and ask to do things I thought would beneficial to the me as an employee. When I was under assigned work, I reached out to my manager and received some really cool projects to work on. One of my projects even received the annual Extra Mile Award that Cooper Technical gave out every December. I also asked to go out into the plant so I could better understand the manufacturing process. Everyone in my department was very understanding and always answered my questions.

This experience is very significant in my professional career as a chemical engineer. I will be able to talk about this experience in all my full time interviews. The projects I worked on gave me a wide range of experience that hit a different aspect in a career as an engineer. These experiences also grew my character and gave me better communication skills. It is my goal to graduate from OSU with a full time job offer and this experience helped strength my resume for when I apply to full time jobs both at Cooper and outside the company. It also confirmed that this is the right career path for me.