The Cutting Edge — September 2003

Education & Scholarship

This summer, Accu-Router sponsored Tennessee Tech Mechanical Engineering student Philip Huss, for a 60-day internship. Diving right in, Mr. Huss actually wound up taking over the job of an Accu-Router employee half-way through the summer. After reading the report on his summer experience, you may ask yourself, “Who is the next valuable employee who is going to walk through MY door?” WMMA’s Education & Scholarship program could introduce the two of you, if you choose to participate…

MORE THAN AN INTERNSHIP
By Philip Huss, August 8, 2003

I came to Accu-Router, Inc. unsure of what to expect in my new position and what was expected of me. All I knew is that mine would not be a gofer position, but one in which I would confront real problems and then come up with plausible solutions. On arrival, I saw some familiar faces from school (Tennessee Tech – current M.E. is recent graduate). While nice, it was a little weird to work under someone who I went to school with.

After the first week of interviews and being shown around, I began to tackle some research. This research gave me ideas for future spindle and testing possibilities. In between those searches, before being given another topic, I’d look up information on spindles. I also spent some time in the spindle facility observing and asking questions during assembly of production and R & D spindles. This helped greatly in quickly becoming familiar with my future responsibilities.

Soon we began testing our latest R & D spindle, making incremental changes to make positive changes in its operating behavior. Some of these changes worked, and some didn’t, but the process of changing one variable at a time gave me a better idea of what effects can be brought on by given changes. When our spindle consultant visited in June, I had high hopes to hear his ideas, the analysis equipment that he would bring to bear on our spindles, and his positive involvement with our R & D effort. I was not disappointed. His equipment was impressive, as was his knowledge on how to understand the data. He did provide us with worthy advice that did speed along our R & D process, but more than anything he told us we were on the right track.

Shortly after that, the mechanical engineer I was working with unexpectedly resigned. While I assumed that a replacement would be hired prior to his departure, I started to prepare to take over the position. As it turned out, a replacement was hired, but three weeks after the former mechanical engineer left. That left a three week period where I was de facto the spindle mechanical engineer!

Everyone helped out to ease the learning curve. As the job progressed, I learned more and became more proficient in my new and unexpected responsibilities. While the first spindle from R & D was cutting and doing well, our lead spindle builder constructed a second unit. I took a hands-on approach assisting the spindle builders. I began to formulate what this position should be like, and it differed from the way that others that had held it in the past. When not busy with something, I would go to the spindle facility and help out where I could. I eventually progressed to the point where I was building spindles. The second R & D spindle ran great!

With all my new responsibilities, I began to enjoy the job a lot more. When the replacement spindle mechanical engineer came on board in late July, I tried to ease him into the position as I had been. He started out reading some of the articles I had found on the Internet. As time went on, I would put more on his plate. We worked a lot in the spindle facility to start with. I think this helped him get a better idea of how spindles go together and how they are designed.

We have just gotten our third R & D spindle together. While initial operation is exciting, much testing needs to be done before a determination can be made. After internal testing to determine its cutting potential, it should go out to the field for testing to see if there are any issues before going into production.

I have greatly enjoyed my time here. I stand by my first assessment that Accu-Router’s greatest asset is its people. The designers and builders vast knowledge of not only their responsibilities, but the system as a whole, makes all Accu-Router’s accomplishments possible. Both this and the environment that they create have made this an enjoyable experience. I wish both the company and all who work here the best, and look forward to the possibility that I may become one of them. Thank you for this opportunity.