Pathways to Success

Garden Spot High School

Dakota Cox – Engineering Internship

Hello, my name is Dakota Cox. I am currently a senior at Garden Spot High School in which I am fortunate enough to be a part of the Internship Program. My internship is at M.H. Eby Truck and Trailer Co. in Ephrata, Pennsylvania. I work in their Engineering Department with my mentor Dylan Garber to design, model, prototype, and even 3-D print parts for the company’s aluminum bodies and chassis. In addition, they design parts and assemblies to make the shop worker’s jobs more efficient. When the team needs new parts and designs, Dylan and I work to design and prototype them as needed.

Dylan and I work to assess what is needed, whether that is a new part, a whole assembly, or a redesign of an already existing part. Each day I enter the building, I sit in the Engineering Department offices, on my dual-screen monitors, and work with different programs. Starting with a 2-D Model, we work in a design program called DraftSight to make a sketch of an extrusion that is needed. We then take that 2-D model and transfer it into a 3-D Program called Creo 7.0.0 to create a prototype rendering of a part. Parts can then be placed into assemblies and assemblies into other assemblies to create larger designs. Together we brainstorm different ways to accomplish problems such as extrusion designs, shop part designs, and even products to be sold. I am currently working on my own project of a shop cart that will assist the shop workers in moving/storing larger aluminum pieces. This whole experience is helping me to learn to communicate with a team as well as work individually.

This experience has been tremendous in allowing me to find what I want to do with my career after graduation. While I enjoy sitting down and designing products on the computer, I have found that this isn’t exactly the job I was looking for. I have found the designing process enjoyable and learned a lot from it. However, I want to be a person who not only designs but fabricates the products he helps design. I prefer hands-on work over office work any day and while I do not get much physical work at my internship, I have found this to be a great experience. To become successful, I need to not only know one side of the scale as a physical worker but the other side as well as a designer and planner. This greatly helps me in everyday life as well as in my future career I believe.

Overall, this experience in the Internship Program has been fantastic in helping me to grow in many different ways. It has helped me grow in my knowledge of CADD as well as manufacturing. The chance I was given to work after finishing my last two required classes has helped me to grow for my life after graduation.

engineeringmanufacturing

jhackman • April 23, 2021


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