Engineering Internship Experience and Reflection
Concrete Experience:
On my first day of internship at ApprovalMark International as a lab technician, it was one of the most memorable days of my time at work. It was my first day at the workplace so I was very nervous and worried about the new environment. After being introduced to everyone, I was handed to the technical engineer in the laboratory to work on the product testing, in which I have to operate the machine, need to take several readings and product dimensions. My co-workers in the laboratory were very happy and also for my opinions to contribute as much as I wanted to, and were open to any suggestions and ideas. This instantly made me feel comfortable and definitely made me feel as though I was part of the team. 
Reflective Observation:
During the first week of the internship, I saw that our company does not have any easy system to keep data accurate for the incoming and outgoing sample for testing. My co-workers always use to write on the whiteboard for the incoming and outgoing sample for testing. So with the help of my technical knowledge and software, I created an Excel Data Spreadsheet for the Product sample record. All my co-workers were very happy for me that I created a new thing for the company and make the system easy. After that, I was overwhelmed by the work and the responsibilities that were placed on me, but with the help of my technical engineer and the directors, who have had years of experience in the industry, I felt more confident and supported as I knew my work would be double checked and any uncertainties were explained. By observing and learning from them, I managed to pick up tips and learned different types of skills, from learning to communicate and deal with another testing, to reading and deciphering many different types of plans.
Through experience and observation, another valuable lesson that I learned that while working at ApprovalMark International was that in projects, especially when working in primary stages of the certain project, things can change very quickly and dramatically. Another lesson I learned through this was that if there are any uncertainties, from whether an observation of reading was off by a few numbers, to if materials chosen for a certain aspect of a project were unsuitable, it always has to be checked numerous times and from senior-level sources before any conclusions can be made, especially if they are to be presented to a client.
Abstract conceptualization:
Now I was willing to experiment and implement my new knowledge to the different situation.
I am willing to be a faculty advisor in SAE Baja and I want to take responsibility to provide technical knowledge to the student for design a car and another situation I faced was my last exam in which I was failed. Both situations were very different from each other and from the above original event.
In the first situation, When I will be appointed as a faculty advisor, at that time I need to apply my knowledge and skills what I learned from the previous experience. I need to make some improvement in my performance from the experience. I need to do some research on my technique like,
Problem-based learning is a technique which uses course related to practical business issues. Students are encouraged to collect and analyze data about that issue to propose alternatives and arrive at a solution.
Seminar and discussions: are generally used to integrate and share experience on the concepts which are going to be to use for vehicle design.
Single and double loop learning: I first briefly introduced the subjective terms and concepts of single loop and double loop to the students in simple language using relevant day to day experiences. I then divided the entire class into teams and then ask each team to think.
How to gain more technical knowledge by reading books and I am also willing to discuss with an experienced colleague who is already a faculty advisor for Baja.
In the second situation, I was failed in a subject last semester and now I am going to take that subject in my upcoming semester again. To pass this subject in my upcoming semester I need to create some plan and strategy for the subject. What plan I need to make for my future study are the following techniques:
I need to attain all class lectures and online quiz
Need to focus on assignment and need to ask more and more questions to faculty for the difficulties
Also, need to include more class exercise and participation opportunities.
Simplifying course content emphasizing the quality of content instead of the quantity of content and using more visual aids like videos, role plays, teamwork and class discussions.Active Experimentation
I have always wanted to work as an engineer in my mechanical field. My degree helped me to develop key creative and organizational skills, while the experience that I gained from the internship has been the ideal preparation for a career in this field. I’m a driven person who works hard to attain my goals. The ability to overcome obstacles and follow things through to completion has always been a strong point of mine. However, I am aware that as a perfectionist my delegation skills could be improved.
This experience and new behaviour will defiantly go to work for my future goals because In starting the week of my internship I observed many things and create different new things at the workplace and also all my co-workers were very happy for me that I created a new thing for the company and make the system easy. After that, I was overwhelmed by the work and the responsibilities that were placed on me. Personally, the situations in which I work was very suitable for because I always work hard to attain my goals.