Today I was able to arrive at the Clayton Machine Development Center problem free (thanks to my early accidental sneak peek yesterday morning). Matthew, Atticus and I met Ms. Viviane Guessi and Mr. Collin Walther for the first time — they are both currently working as test engineers.
Side note: Many of the people I met and shadowed were part of a program in Caterpillar called ERDP — Engineering Rotational Development Program. In this program, people are able to rotate through different departments. They are able to explore and figure out which department they would like to work in permanently, while also building a network with people in other departments. Mr. Walther and Ms. Guessi are not permanently working as test engineers, but are currently in that rotation.
First, we were given a thorough safety presentation. We learned about the different alarms, exits, emergency equipment, and how to stay safe around the machines. Mr. Walther and Ms. Guessi then gave us a presentation on the different products being made and tested at the site — backhoe loaders, small dozers, mini excavators, small skid steer loaders, etc — and they taught us about the different machine groups, engineering roles, and facility capabilities. After the presentation, we suited up with our vests and safety glasses and went out to tour the fields of the facility. I can’t reveal a lot of what I saw — for the company’s privacy — but Mr. Walthers gave us a very interesting tour. It was really amazing to see the massive machines up close and to see how they test them — I have a lot of respect for the machine operators. After the tour, we came back to the main building and three of Caterpillar’s model interns gave us a presentation on how to prepare for college/internships and how to get involved in college. It was a really helpful talk — I will definitely keep their advice in mind while touring colleges and building my applications over the rest of the summer. I really enjoyed hearing about some of the programs they are involved with at their schools — engineering racecars with formula SAE, finding friends and making connections with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Society of Women’s Engineers, and even just branching out and getting involved in sports teams and Greek life. I really appreciate them taking the time to share their own experiences! After their presentation, Ms. Guessi took us to a different room and assigned us an Engineering Challenge. We were tasked with building a bridge over a 40 cm space between two tables with only dry spaghetti, rubber bands, and a little bit of masking tape. We had to make the bridge stable enough to hold up multiple books. Matthew, Atticus and I had a few disagreements at first, but after a lot of discussions, we were finally able to agree on a design. We created a couple of thick bundles of spaghetti held together with rubber bands and arranged them to fit between the two tables. We had two bundles held together on top of two smaller bundles (for stability) in the middle. We designed the bridge for the string holding the bucket of books to attach from the two opposite sides of the bridge — after testing it out, this bridge was incredibly stable. But, we then learned that we had to attach the string from the middle instead. This was a little concerning, but after testing the bridge in a legal way, it held up with all of the books. Even after adding all of the extra weight they could find, it only collapsed after overbending (and slipping from the tables), but the bridge itself stayed intact — a complete success! It was a really fun and rewarding experience.
After lunch, Ms. Guessi and Mr. Walther gave us a presentation on test and development. We got to learn about the different tools they use to test their machines and the different ways they measure and record data. Mr. Walther taught us about some of the things they measure in tests and showed us the kinds of calculations they make based on the measurements. Ms. Guessi then let us play around with a steering cart hooked up with different sensors. Following her instructions, Matthew put in the necessary parameters and changes, and we were able to see the live measurements and recordings from the sensors on the cart. We got to tinker with a strain gauge and pressure sensor — we turned the steering wheel (which either applied pressure to the left or right, measured with a yoyo) and tried to bend a piece of steel (the strain gauge measured the tension and compression). After tinkering with the sensors a bit, Mr. Walthers took us back out to the fields to watch him do some testing. It was really fun to watch him work — he also talked with us and gave us a lot of useful advice for engineering.
It was an educational and fun day — we got to see (and get into) some of the action of the more hands-on side of engineering. Thank you, Mr. Walthers and Ms. Guessi for teaching us so much!
