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Chad Holman |
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Participants Summer Internships 2002 Main Page
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Most of the summer was spent programming control software, which was a project I picked up last fall during my second co-op session. The programming involved integrating the equipment software and Microsoft Excel into the control software using Visual Basic. This program is used for quality control equipment. A large part of developing the program, beyond it working, was how user friendly it was. I had to consider how easy it would be for operators to use, as well as foresee any problems that could arise and come up with solutions. The coding also had to be written so anyone who needed to work on the program later on would be able to understand what was going on. The last part I worked on was calibrating the system and verifying the results were correct. A short project I worked on was testing six types of catalyst used in hydrogenation of soybean oil. Hydrogenation is the process of forcing hydrogen atoms into the holes of unsaturated fatty acids. This is done with hydrogen gas under pressure with a catalyst. I used a bench top stirred tank reactor to evaluate the different catalyst. The last four weeks of the summer was spent in Morristown, Indiana for a plant start up. At the plant, I worked with the plant operators and contractors to make sure the equipment that went with the program I worked on was installed correctly. I was also involved in tagging and identifying equipment for use with the control software. Most of my time was spent tracing pipes and doing as-is drawings of the pipelines for use in updating process flow diagrams to better reflect the actual layout of the plant. I enjoyed the work I did this summer, as well as my whole co-op experience with Central Soya. Working on the control software was unquestionably the most challenging project I worked on. That project was also the most fun because it was mostly an independent project. I was also able to take it in any direction I wanted, in order to get the desired results. |
This summer I worked at Central Soya, located in Fort Wayne
Indiana, for my third and last co-op session. Central Soya is involved in
the production of food for human consumption. Using raw agricultural
products, they are involved in oilseed processing, vegetable oil refining,
and the manufacture of soy proteins and lecithins. These processed
products are then resold to agricultural, food, and industrial markets. I
spent my summer working in the refined oil department, where I programmed
control software, tested catalyst for hydrogenation, and spent a few weeks
at a plant start up.