- Major: Mechanical Engineering
- Company: Nissan, Advanced Catalyst, Malibu Boats
- E-mail: estrick6@vols.utk.edu
Profile
Hello, my name is Ethan Strickland. I’m originally from Murfreesboro, TN, and I’m a senior majoring in mechanical engineering.
I have worked 1 full year co-op and 3 internships. My internships lasted 3 months each. The first was at Nissan as a Field Quality and Quality Assurance, and my second internship was with a company called Advanced Catalyst. My last co-op was at Malibu Boats in Process Engineering.
In my first internship with Nissan doing Quality Assurance, I was tasked with programming and fabricating a new digital acceleration program for torque quality checks on all the engine manufacturing lines. This included documenting and recording all fastener installation along with the desired torques and torque sequences. After creating the first revision of each program, they went through two revisions before being finalized. I created technical reports documenting how to modify these programs and how to use each of the smart torque tools. While I was there, I had the opportunity to take a FANUC robotics programming training course and also received my Takumi engine assembly certification (certifying I can completely disassemble and reassemble a Nissan engine). I helped in other departments such as forging, casting, and DYNO with various other projects.
In my second internship at Advanced Catalyst, I helped fabricate catalyst frames by running CNC, plasma cutting, and water jet cutting equipment. I helped design these frames and get the drawings approved by the requesting companies. I also learned G-code and helped to create cut programs for frames. I was responsible for quality checking the frames and confirming they were within the sixteenth of an inch needed to meet the manufacturer requirements.
In my time at Malibu Boats, I was able to perform time studies amidst model changes to help optimize the manufacturing process flow of all departments. I did this for the Malibu Monsoon Engine manufacturing process as well as the subassembly and assembly processes at the main boat facility. Optimizing the processes and changing daily schedule allotment based off different models and their possible configurations was very eye opening into how all the manufacturing processes and design components come together to effect how quickly, cheaply, and effectively a product can be produced. During the year I also had the opportunity to conduct resin trials (for manufacturability) and modify fiberglass kits in AutoCAD/Pathfinder for the lamination department for 15 different models. I also designed and fabricated jigs/fixtures/static assemblies for the Malibu Engine, subassembly, assembly, and hole cut departments. Examples of some things I designed include a static roll table assembly created for retaining up to 8 large fiberglass rolls and allowing them to be pulled out and rolled on bearings, a tower delivery cart that statically holds the tower at its center of gravity so that the tower does not swing when lifted from the cart (also smaller square footage than the prior revision), a tower speaker/amp test station to test Malibu tower speakers to confirm their functionality at subassembly prior to the assembly line (experience reading electrical and technical drawings), a jig for drilling the shock hole in M-series glove boxes, and multiple other fixtures/carts to hold and transport different fiberglass small parts such and rear seat backs, and surf gates. I also had the opportunity to help improve the manufacturing process at the Malibu trailer shop where I focused on 5S, created a work instruction manual and a color-coded list for all the jigs for Malibu/Axis trailers. I also fabricated work instructions for six new MY25 components.
In my final internship at Nissan as a Field Quality Investigator, I was tasked with creating a standard operating procedure for using a new AI tool that gives suggested issues based off DTC data given from the Nissan CAN network. This procedure was given as a "roadmap" of using the tool to 4 other departments (OCQE, ADAS, Powertrain, and PQA), and presented to the vice president and director of TCS. This roadmap has helped drive productivity in finding and solving warranty parts before they ever become a ‘true’ problem (Indicator lamp). Outside of my main project I worked with FQI engineers in testing incident parts for failure and analyzing part failures to work with RND and process engineering to help improve whatever issues were causing the warranty claims. This involved dealership ‘scrambles’ to go get hands on vehicles, resident supplier meetings, as well as requesting warranty parts for further testing and analysis.
With my internships and co-op’s, I have gathered great manufacturing knowledge and now feel comfortable entering the workforce after graduation. This is the most valuable takeaway that one can receive from taking the time to get an internship or co-op. I ended up pushing my graduation back a year to complete a co-op at Malibu Boats to gain experience. In the end, I’m glad I did because taking the time to get experience shows what you would like, and what you would not like, as your career. This along with giving confidence to enter the workforce after graduation are extremely valuable.
My career plan is to hopefully work my way into a R&D position as I have found I genuinely enjoy designing and testing parts/assemblies.
Outside of classes, I enjoy working on my car and boat, fishing, working out, playing video games, and hanging out with friends. Also, most importantly, watching Tennessee football (and other sports, but mostly football). I am also an undergraduate research assistant in Dr. Duty’s additive manufacturing polymer composite lab.
