Ryan

What exactly does an engineer do?

I started my co-op with the Test Development team at Axcelis in May 2022. I collaborated with engineers across manufacturing to implement test solutions. I started off my co-op shadowing engineers on the test dev team, eventually taking on projects of my own.

Investigating Problems

One core function of testing is to validate parts. Parts should at least be able to handle their intended operations, and if not, we have a problem. Some problems were on-going and well known, and some problems required looking through manufacturing's incident reporting system to find notable failures to target for analysis.

Once a common failure was found, I used Python and SQL to automate the data processing and PowerBI for dashboards showcasing my findings.

Developing Tests

I built test fixtures, creating BOMs, CAD schematics, and test procedures for each test. For some projects, I worked with senior engineers analyzing data and revising existing tests. I also helped implement and improve manufacturing test infrastructure. Throughout my 7 months at Axcelis as a Test Dev. Co-op I learned and practiced engineering principles like Six Sigma, RCA, and 5S.