Author: Elliott Voelkel

Today I started at Hydromat.  They are a Swiss-American company that makes really high tech and efficient milling and tooling machines that are capable of machining lots of products very quickly (they told me they can do half a million roughly pen sized precision metal parts on one machine in a week and a half).  Thats a lot.  Anyways I’ve been chilling’ with the guys that do more modeling stuff but hopefully I will get to work on the floor at some point with the hands on guys putting the machines together.  It’s also pretty okay because they have an exchange program thing with their headquarters in Switzerland so theres a lot of Swiss people with fun accents, also a lot of stuff is in German because of that.

Today I started my final week at Semco Plastics.  Once again they have me working with the automation team in the machine shop although I may be changing it up later on this week.  So far it has been a pretty good experience as far as hands on learning and I think I’ve gotten a much better grasp of how to troubleshoot problems, even if its on something you’ve never dealt with.  I have also learned that fixing and up-keeping machines for plastics is much more difficult and unpredictable compared to other materials such as metal.  This is due to the fact that plastic can move and change its shape up to 48 hours after it has been molded which can have a large effect on the shape of the part.  This and other things result in many problems for the automation team to deal with every day keeping them thoroughly busy.

This week I have been working with the automation team at Semco that basically just goes around and fixes things that the assembly line people break.  I have learned how to program robot arms, replace a motor, and operate a lathe this week.  I think that next week (my last at Semco) will be the same nature of work just helping fix the machines and keep the plant running smoothly.

My first week of three at Semco I am going to be spending with chief engineer Dave Fisher.  Today I learned how to use their Digital Measuring Machine to measure speaker parts and make sure they were acceptable measurements.  I also worked with their version of CAD and talked with the engineers in the machine shop about their current projects and what they do on a day to day basis.

And so as all things, the week at Formlabs must come to an end.  Today I printed more and learned how to maintenance the Form 2 printers whilst bonding with my fellow work people.  The day had come to a close and, after many emotional handshakes, my week had ended at Formlabs.  I packed up and prepared myself for a week at Semco Plastics next week, following in the footsteps of the greats before me (Aka Liqi).

Things at Formlabs have just been going swimmingly.  I learned yesterday how to print and wash and after much trial and error I actually got a good part that turned out pretty well.  Now you might be wondering Elliott what is entailed in washing a part, well I’m glad you asked.  After the part is printed it is really sticky and is covered in the liquid form of the resin it is made out of which is really gross and stains everything.  To remedy that you have to bathe it in hydrogen peroxide for about 15 minutes which cleans off all the liquid resin and makes your part clean and useable.

Today I assembled optic boards for the laser in the printers and superglued my screwdriver to the table multiple times.  I also learned that industrial grade super glue is no joke.  Tomorrow I will be assembling some other parts for the printer and hopefully I will get to take one apart.

Today I started my internship at Formlabs in Boston.  Formlabs is a small company that designs and manufactures 3D printers that use Stereolithography (STL).  STL is a form of 3D printing (unlike what we have at school) that uses a laser to cure a vat of resin and form it into the desired shape.  The printers are capable of printing rubber, plastic, nylon, and many other materials at a very high level of detail.

The office feel at Formlabs is very relaxed which is very different from last week at MTD, a much larger company with more rules and a traditional business feel.  Here they dress casually, bring dogs to work, and even have a ping pong table and couches in almost every office.

Today I worked on quality control for the vats that hold the resin.  It was a long work day (9-6:30) but with free snacks at any time, music, and couches the need to go home was rather minimized.  Tomorrow I will be able to design and print my own creations as well as helping some other guys around the office with some jobs they need help with.

Today I started my Internship at MTD headquarters. I learned about the design, project build process, and how a standard lawn mower works. I got to learn what a mechanical engineer does on the daily, working on engines and making lawn mowers more cost efficient.

I am going to be spending multiple weeks at four different companies in St. Louis, Cleveland, and Boston. I will be learning all parts of how both large and small companies work, but I will have an emphasis on engineering and mechanical research departments.