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Rebecca Stakes |
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Participants Summer Internships 2002 Main Page
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My position at AES placed me in the technology department where I stepped in for a woman on leave. Here I was able to participate in a long-term field study of pipe seal materials. For this application, it was crucial to have strong rubber qualities while also possessing the strengths of plastic. While I did not make up the batches or run the tests, I saw the mass amounts of data, and my task was to organize that data and help decide on which new formula to use for pipe seals. I was introduced to the JMP software, a statistical analysis package and, using this tool I was able to make recommendations as to which material should be used for the pipe seal based on trends shown such as relative hardness, tensile strength, compression set, and resistance to wear. As a result, I was asked to write a company report to submit the findings of the study. During my tenure I was also introduced to a few different machines including injection molders. Injection molders are machines that inject liquid material at high temperatures into a mold to form a product. This is done at a fairly high pressure, as the material is fairly viscous. I ran a small observational study on material that was shipped to a larger manufacturing plant. I was looking for defects in the material, as these defects could conceivably be dangerous, and the optimum manufacturing conditions. Defects could include moisture in the material that caused the injection molder to spray hot steam out, pitting of the material, not forming complete parts, and burns on the material. One other thing that I helped with was another research and development type problem. One product had come back from a customer with the problem that it was not adhering to another component. My job along with a senior engineer was to figure out a way to make it stick. We tested several different “glues,” over the course of the summer. I found this was a very difficult task. At first I thought that it was going to be easy, but the material we were working with does not adhere well to other products. It was challenging to even find a product that even remotely worked. When I left AES, there still was not a recommendation made as to how to fix the problem. Overall, working at AES was a very good experience. I was glad to have to opportunity to work there. I worked with many different people on many different projects. It was very interesting to see some of the things I was learning in school being applied in the work environment. If asked to do it again, I would definitely say yes. |
During the summer of 2001, I had the opportunity to work for a
small polymers company by the name of Advanced Elastomer Systems in Akron,
OH. AES is a limited partnership between Exxon Mobile and Solutia Inc and
have offices in Akron, OH, Belgium, Singapore, and Japan. AES is a
leading producer of TPEs or Thermoplastic Elastomers. These materials are
found everywhere from your toothbrush to your tires. Different grades are
manufactured using slightly different chemistry in order to achieve the
different properties necessary for each job.