Keagan Fredericks MEng Mechanical Engineering / Engineering Management
Internship at Schneider Electric
The most useful skills I gained from my internship are project management, public speaking and teamwork, which I have applied to my degree studies.
What degree are you studying?
MEng Mechanical Engineering / Engineering Management
Why did you choose to do an internship?
I chose to do an internship during the summer of 2017 because I wanted to gain some experience and to have a better understanding of the engineering industrial sector. Additionally, I was interested in a summer internship because I could potentially increase my network as well as expand my professional branding and also strengthen my CV.
Which company did you choose?
I chose Schneider Electric as my internship company. Schneider Electric is the leading company in the digital transformation of energy management and automation in homes, buildings, data centres, infrastructure and industries.
What did the work involve?
During my tenure at Schneider Electric, I was assigned to the Method & Maintenance Department and was given the role of Maintenance Engineer Intern. I was under the supervision of the Senior Maintenance Engineer and Automation Manager. The responsibilities given to me during my internship period were:
- Supporting maintenance activity at the optimum level by reducing downtime, optimizing process flow and optimizing resource.
- Supporting maintenance resource management, including reactive, preventive and predictive maintenance. This included autonomous maintenance using proper methodology and software such as Avantis.
- Supporting the deployment of standard equipment/facility/tools/software, and implementing best practice technology.
Co-jointly, I was given an internship project entitled Minor Stop Analysis which involved analysing and tracking the performance of a Base Sub Assembly Machine. Minor Stop accounts for times where the assembly machine stops for a short period of time (typically a minute or two), with the stop being resolved by the factory operator. Minor Stops are categorized as Performance Loss. Minor Stop Analysis was conducted to lessen the occurrence of minor stops, which gave positive changes to the performance of the assembly machine and overall equipment efficiency (OEE).
What did you learn from your internship?
I attained innumerable knowledge from my internship experience at Schneider Electric, but the most notable ones can be divided into two sections, technical & non-technical.
Regarding technical knowledge, I was introduced and exposed to Facility Maintenance Metrics including Mean Time To Repair (MTTR) and Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF). Both MTTR and MTBF have significant relation to the Overall Equipment Efficiency (OEE).
Concerning non-technical knowledge, I learnt to understand what makes a useful meeting. Some meetings are brief periods of important break-through and productivity, and some are utter wastes of time. Usually, useful meetings are organized, focused, and hold participants to a time period and agenda.
Additionally, I learnt how to accept constructive criticism more appropriately. Feedback from my internship supervisor during evaluation of work performance gave me an insight on how to improve the quality of my future work.
What were the most useful skills you gained?
- Project Management – I enhanced my organisational and time management skills by prioritizing tasks based on deadlines and importance.
- Public Speaking – I was the youngest employee at Schneider Electric Malaysia at that point of time and I was given a chance to speak on ‘Generation Gap’ and ‘How does it feel being in the centennial generation’. Additionally, I presented my Minor Stop Analysis to my colleague during a presentation session with the presence of 10 other maintenance technicians.
- Teamwork - I have learnt how to work as a team purely for the fact that during my internship period, some tasks required me to communicate with other colleagues from various departments (i.e Tooling, Method, Process, Product).
How did it benefit your degree studies?
All the skills and knowledge learnt from my internship period mentioned above had a positive impact on my degree studies. During my academic studies, I prioritised my assignments, coursework, lab reports, curricular activities according to their importance and deadlines. As for group projects and assignments, I certainly ensured that group meetings had specific agendas and time periods to maintain a high level of productivity.
Has it changed your ideas about what you will do in the future?
Most certainly! I sought more internship opportunities during my other summer breaks to gain a variety of experience and exposure before graduation.