My name is Tadg Manna, a mechanical engineering student at Cornell University who’s been spending the summer as an intern at the Pittsburgh office. I’ve been interning as a mechanical engineer for the Manufacturing Infrastructure Service (MIS) department. As a mechanical engineering student, I’ve always been interested in how I can use principles of science and math to solve practical problems through design. This summer, I’ve been able to do just that by working to support piping system design efforts for industrial applications.
A Day in the Life
Working with MIS at CEC is exciting, and no two days are completely the same. Typically, I arrive in the morning and check my email for updates before looking at drawings and check prints to see if any comments have been made by others on the team. From there, my workday largely depends on what project I’m working on. Some days, I’m working on CAD drawings for piping systems. Other days, I could be modelling those same systems in Pipeflo to run fluid flow calculations. Besides that, I’m attending meetings, talking with senior-level team members, or reading through piping product catalogs to try to learn as much as possible about the industry.
Highlights and Surprises
One of my favorite parts of my internship has been getting to contribute directly to CEC’s projects. For example, I created the piping general notes for a pharmaceutical laboratory project. Additionally, I had the opportunity to model pipelines for process gases and water to determine pipe sizes for a facility producing pig iron.
A big surprise to me during my internship has been just how different it has been from my engineering education at college. I’ve had a lot of experience solving problems using engineering first principles at school, through both my coursework and extracurriculars. During my internship with CEC, though, I’ve really enjoyed the hands-on, experiential learning that comes with actively working on and contributing to projects. I’ve gotten firsthand technical experience in areas like drafting with AutoCAD and Plant3D, system modelling and flow calculations in Pipeflo, and simulation and analysis in Caesar II. Furthermore, I’ve also attended meetings and witnessed the actual workflow that goes into a project, including collaboration from different departments, project managers, and clients.
The Future
With that in mind, I feel very prepared for my future engineering career thanks to my time thus far as a mechanical engineering intern at CEC. My internship has allowed me to develop important skills like drafting and analysis. In addition, working in a company that has so many projects has allowed me to learn so much about the workflow for different tasks throughout the entirety of the project lifecycle. It has been interesting to see how important communication is for so many different professional relationships, from collaborating with coworkers on a project to communicating with a client to understand shifting project goals.
Overall, I’ve really enjoyed being an intern at CEC. My internship has allowed me to grow in my engineering career, and I have felt the immense satisfaction of contributing to a variety of meaningful projects.
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