Charles

An Exciting Past Few Weeks!

2006-11-01T00:55:00-06:00

These past few weeks have been very exciting. I have been making preparations for graduation which will be December 16--wow I am finally geting to the end! Monday, I ordered my graduation announcements. One more month and I will be done with this stage of my education. In the spring, I will start my master of engineering degree at NC State University. That will definitely be a new challenge.
In the midst of this, I have been involved in helping our congressman, Charles H. Taylor win the election this year. It is because of his educational visions that Western Carolina has grown leaps and bounds in the area of engineering and technology. Today, I went to campaign rally where I was able to meet the First Lady Laura Bush. I even had the opportunity to shake hands with her. She came to Asheville today to give the Taylor effort her moral support. That was an exciting event.
Well, I better log off now its about time to go to bed so I can be fresh for work in the morning.

Charles

Staying Busy

2006-10-05T02:00:00-06:00

Well, despite the fact that I am only taking two classes this semester, I have been extremely busy. I have spent a lot of time trying to make sure that everything gets lined up for graduation in December. This Monday, I paid for the graduation fee. Now it is starting to set in that I will be graduating in two and a half months.
Both of my classes have been going very well. Today, I am having to do some research for my quality class. The teacher wants us to find other applications besides manufacturing in which quality can be used. At the present, I am attempting to do a paper on how quality can be applied to orange growing. So that should be very interesting. I think this semester is going to be quite the learning experience.

Charles

An Enjoyable Semester

2006-09-22T00:57:00-06:00

These past few weeks have been very busy. I am now working part time at the facility where I did my internship this summer. I work there Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. On Tuesday and Thursday I have classes. I only taking two classes this fall--Engineering Technology Seminar and Quality Systems. The seminar class involves mostly reading articles on current trends in technology and doing discussion and debate on these issues in class. The discussions can get pretty interesting sometimes, especially when ethical issues are brought up. The quality class is very enjoyable. I never realized the extreme importance of assuring quality. Much to my utter amazement, I have learned that quality is not something that is implemented solely by the quality department within an organization, but rather it is a factor that must be taken into consideration at all levels--from the CEO down to the laborer. Through this class I have been able to read about ISO documentation and prodecures. I think that is really interesting.
And in the midst of all this ,I am tentatively preparing to begin graduate school in the spring. I think I might carry on this phase of my education at a slower pace as compared to my undergraduate studies.

Charles

Back to Work and School

2006-08-24T01:17:00-06:00

This week I start my last lap in aquiring my degree and then I graduate. This semester I am only taking two classes - Engineering Technology Seminar and Quality Systems. Tomorrow night I start the seminar class at A-B Tech in Ashville and on Tuesday night I start the Quality class at the Isothermal sight in Rutherfordton. In the midst of all this, I am still working part time at the lock manufacturing facility in Greenville, SC where I did my internship this past summer. So, I think its going to be a relatively busy semester, but the good news is that I am graduating in December. This last lap will be the best yet, because soon I cross the finish line.

Charles

Brazil Trip

2006-08-16T00:54:00-06:00

Well, I had an eventful and exciting trip to Brazil. I spent a lot of time in the country side near Sao Paulo. There are a variety of unique trees. One day, I went on a trip to Mogi which is just beyond Sao Paulo. Going through Sao Paulo was quite the adventure. Skyscrapers were all over. In major cities of the US skyscrapers are usually located in clusters. In Sao Paulo, skyscrapers line the city’s landscape for miles. Cars were all over the road and motorcycles drove where ever there was space especially in between cars that were side by side. It was quite often that I would hear a little beep-beep and then all of a sudden a motorcycle would go on the double yellow line whizzing by our car.
I also spent a lot of time in Belo Horizonte. That is quite a beautiful city. Trees line both sides of the road including the median. The main part of the city is well laid out. One Brazilian told me that the city plan was copied from the lay out of Washington D.C. Needless to say, I also ate a lot of delicious food. We went to several high end restaurants that served flavorful cuts of meat. I could keep going and going on all the highlights of the trip but I better get to bed since I just got home today.

Charles

Another Semester Completed

2006-08-05T13:43:00-06:00

Let me catch you up on what had been going on with me these past few weeks. We have been working hard to get production started on a new contract. No doubt, there are a lot of kinks to work through when taking on a task at such magnitude. Meanwhile, I have continued to convert 2D drawings into SolidWorks drawings. This past week, I completed my last class for this semester. Now, it is time to take a few weeks off. I got some exciting news this week. The company at which I am doing this internship is allowing me to work there until I graduate in December. This internship has been one of the best learning experiences of my whole college career thus far. I think that one of the most valuable things I have learned is how engineering relates to the business world. That is one of the factors that you may not be able to grasp in a college class.
The fall semester is going to be somewhat easier than previous semesters. I only need one more engineering course to graduate. However, there is a slight possibility that I take a masters course. Tentatively, I am considering going to graduate school at UNC Charlotte this upcoming spring. I feel that taking one masters course this fall might give me a good intro. So with all this said, I have had an eventful and exciting life these past few weeks and I am excited about what lies ahead.

Charles

My Seventh Week at the Internship

2006-07-06T00:46:00-06:00

This week was very similar to last week in terms of the activities in which I was involved. Let me begin talking about my safety class. Last Thursday, I turned in my three evaluations and received my test results from the previous week. For most of the class period the teacher lectured on various safety standards and regulations.
My internship continues to be a learning experience. I have been involved in helping get a new project into production. One of the things I have realized is the amount of planning, team coordination, design, and time that goes into a relatively simple comodity that we use everyday such as a lock. However, after a month of working at this company, I have learned that hundreds of things can go wrong with a lock. No doubt, a lot of engineering is involved and a high level of precision and accuracy is required. Today completes my seventh week at this facility and I have learned more there than any college class.

A Busy Week

2006-06-26T23:14:00-06:00

This week has been very busy. I am really enjoying my safety class. One of my assignments this week was doing some safety evaluations. So, I did these evaluations at the facility where I am doing my internship. Last Tuesday, I did a process evaluation where I observed two ladies at a work cell. In this evaluation, the teacher provided a table in which to fill but I had to come up with my own categories and subcategories that were pertinent to the work cell. On Wednesday, I did an ergonomic survey on a lady hand assembling locks. This evaluation was a little more simplistic given the fact that I used a checksheet that contained all the categories necessary for the evaluation. On Thursday, I did a product evaluation on a rack plating line. This was probably the best evaluation in terms of all the safety features that it contained. All in all I am learning a lot of valuable things from this class. I am seeing the importance of understanding safety issues especially as it relates to engineering.
My internship is going quite well. As always, I learn new things everyday. I have spent a lot of time lately on putting together spreedsheets on the properties of the various parts that I have been modeling. This becomes very important for the plating department.
I am looking forward to the exciting things in store at work and school this next week!

Charles

An Eventful Week

2006-06-15T01:30:00-06:00

Much like last week, I spent a lot of time on SolidWorks. However, I was performing other responsibilities as well. Thursday morning, I was invoved in a design project for a locking truck handle. At 1:00pm, I was in a research and development meeting. That was really interesting. Friday, I became involved in another project. Within this project, I had to draw a new cam that would fit the proper specifications on a present assembly that has been running on the floor. I finished the cam drawing yesterday and took it to the floor for test production. My manager approved the samples today, and they went in full production. The cams are scheduled to be attached to the assemblies tomorrow and then be shipped by Friday. I enjoy seeing a project go from design to finished product. That is what is so rewarding about it all.

Charles Davies

A Week on SolidWorks

2006-06-08T01:43:00-06:00

During these past two weeks I have spent a lot of time on SolidWorks. At present, most of the parts at this facility are drawn in a 2-D design program like AutoCAD. Here shortly this program will no longer be supported. Therefore, I have been working on converting these drawings to SolidWorks files. However, there is another reason for this. This company is presently installing a new plating line. It is crucial that the surface areas of these parts be determined so they can be platted to accurate tolerance. SolidWorks has the capability of finding surface areas of models. So, my job has been modeling these parts and then transfering them onto engineering drawings. This has required much patience and time. I have learned to have a critical eye. In the lock manufacturing industry, componants have to be manufactured within thousandths of an inch accuracy. I have observed instances where parts were a thousandths of an inch off and the lock would not function. So with that said, engineering is a field that requires observance to detail.

I’ll end this blog with one final note. I am really glad that the Western class I took last semester introduced me to SolidWorks and other 3-D modeling programs. I am beginning to apply what I learned in the classroom to the engineering world.

Thinking engineering? Think Western.

Charles