Final Blog

 

Nick Bollinger

6/1/22

Hawken Project

Final Blog

Final Cres Cor Blog

Over the course of the past three weeks I learned what it takes to run and operate a manufacturing plant. I learned the entire manufacturing process where the product starts as raw materials and leaves off the loading dock in a box ready to be shipped to the customer. I am grateful for my experience as I hope to enter the engineering and manufacturing industry post college. I am very glad that I chose to make my senior project meaningful and impactful because looking back on it, I know for sure that I want to be a part of the manufacturing industry when I am older.

If I had to give advice to younger students on their senior project, I would say to do it in the industry that you either already really enjoy, or could see yourself enjoying in the future. For me, I had never been a part of the manufacturing and engineering industry but I had always thought it was interesting. I worked every day with my mentor who was the plant manager and was able to observe what it really meant to be in a leadership role in a professional setting. I really enjoyed getting to work with other people in similar roles and seeing how each person chooses to manage people and the process they are in charge of. One of my favorite parts of every day was doing the shop walk through and talking to all of the workers. By the end of the three weeks, every conversation I had with Brenda, Diane, Bobby and Johnny were always spent laughing, talking about baseball, or fishing. I am going to miss the maintenance meetings where Joe and Tony would tell me about their weekend plans and what they have going on tonight.  At the end of the project, I no longer felt like “just an intern” but rather a part of the team that works hard every day.