Archived 5/9/2025

Process Engineer

January - April 2024 • Cleveland, OH

What I liked

My advisor, at Pursuit Aerospace, took great care in giving me tasks to teach me different aspects of the plant and department I was in. He insisted I attend meetings on subjects I may not be able to contribute anything too, but were invaluable in the information I could learn. Besides the daily meetings, my time was mainly consumed by large projects, with daily pop up tasks being rare. Focusing on these large projects allowed me to dive in fully to what I was working on. One of the first tasks he gave me was to simplify a series of operational sketches; each step of this project taught me crucial lessons about what the operators have to focus on, what the process engineers have to focus on and how to communicate with our quality department and supervisors. This and the other big projects encouraged me to work with other departments and to communicate with operators. The focus of not narrowing my view to the office space and understanding the people doing the job gave me a lot of insight into the factories daily operations.

What I wish was different

My week at the plant was narrowed to a small section; myself and three other co-ops with little to no experience in manufacturing were tasked with improving flow of parts through this area. Unfortunately I had a narrow view of what my resources were and what the overall ecosystem of the plant was. If I had a little more time to learn the floor and the day to day of operations before being sent on a project, I imagine I would have had more success. That being said, my mentor made sure to direct me to the source of whatever problem I pointed out, and was patient with explaining things to me.

Advice

There are lessons that can only be learned out of a classroom. You can read as many books and take as many classes as you want but hands-on experience is priceless. This lesson rings especially true with individuals looking to go into design, rather than manufacturing. Having hands on experience with manufacturing, or being there to watch the process yourself can show details that would never be thought of in a drawing room. I was with Pursuit Aerospace for 4 months, and it feels like I’m leaving with 4 years of schooling.

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Continuous Improvement Technitioan

May - July 2021 • Newburyport, MA

What I liked

The job was rewarding and never dull. The more time you put into your work the better the lives of other people in the plant and that feels great no matter how small the task. Overall, it was a great experience and I am so glad I did this internship.