Chemical engineering sophomore Jessica Nelson completed a year-long co-op with Malibu Boats. She wrote about her experience below.
I completed a year-long co-op in the process engineering department at Malibu Boats in Loudon, Tennessee. Some of the projects I worked on at Malibu include designing and maintaining fiberglass cutting programs in AutoCAD and PathWorks to decrease part build time and waste; developing work instruction books in lamination, small parts, and hole cut areas to standardize training procedures; and collaborating with production, product engineering, and management on model year changeovers and new model R&D builds.
Since this was my first engineering job experience, it taught me to be a more confident engineer in the workplace. Not only did I learn technical skills from my co-op, such as AutoCAD, I learned soft skills that are not easily taught in a classroom. By interacting with people of all backgrounds (engineers, production operators, etc.), I learned how to be a better communicator and develop solutions that work for all parties involved.
I have had operators thank me for creating lasting solutions to make their work faster and easier, which has been very rewarding for me.
My favorite part about working at Malibu was the culture—it is very authentic and down-to-earth, and the people who work there treat you like family. Coming out of this experience, I have gained invaluable skills that will make me a better engineer in any future positions I hold.