- Major: Industrial & Systems Engineering
- Company: American Accessories International and Bridgestone
- Graduation Year: May 2022
- E-mail: tbrown97@vols.utk.edu
Profile
Nashville, TN
I recently had a co-op with Bridgestone Americas at the Warren county truck and bus radial (TBR) tire plant this past summer (Summer 2021) as an Industrial Engineering Intern. In this role, I was tasked to take studies of machine performance and to create Power BIs and Excel documents that summarized and analyzed data received from the machines. I also had a co-op with American Accessories International, LLC for two rotations as a Product Development Intern. In this role, I was tasked to create unique product design concepts for clients and multiple industries and to assist the marketing team with sampling and presenting ongoing projects.
I decided to co-op because I wanted to find the right path to pursue after graduation. As an industrial and systems engineering major, you can pursue a career in supply chain, healthcare, manufacturing, research, and so much more. I wanted to co-op with companies to understand what field I best fit in.
During my co-op with Bridgestone Americas, I learned how to use data and visuals to tell a story. I learned how to create visuals and pivot tables in Excel and learned how to use the Power BI software. By visualized data, one can easily spot the bottlenecks in the system to increase throughput and overall performance. During my co-op with American Accessories International, I learned the importance of communication with your team and clients. Being able to effectively communicate with your team reduces errors in projects and increase productivity. Being able to effectively communicate with your client allows more detailed description of what they want and possibly future sales.
Although I was once hesitant of taking on a co-op/internship because I did not want to delay my graduation time, I am now so incredibly thankful for this program. This program taught me how to create my resume, polish my elevator speech, and practice having job interviews. In addition this program, this program gave me clarity with what field I wanted to pursue a career in.
When I am not busy studying or working, I enjoyed being involved in student organizations. I am currently the Vice President of Internal Affairs for the Panhellenic Council and the Communications Coordinator for ME4UT. I also enjoy traveling and going on walks with my Great Pyrenees puppy.
