Evan Arnett

Internship Summary
4/29/20
Internship Summary

My internship experience has been extremely beneficial. The company I have interned

at is called Trimble. Trimble is a broad company involved with many industries. It is considered

a software and technology company, offering technological solutions globally. The sector that I

have interned in is the construction and civil engineering sector. The products most popular for

this sector consist of GPS and laser positioning solutions, surveying equipment, and heavy

machinery systems. The specific group that I worked in is the applications engineering group.

This group focuses on producing heavy machinery systems.

The products that my group develop are considered “smart” construction products.

Primarily machine control products. These products enable precision earth-moving with

machines including to, but not limited to bulldozers, excavators, graders, and scrapers. One task

of the group is to make our developed machine control systems work with specific machine

models, by means of creating machine-specific brackets, hydraulic hoses, and other

components in order to install the machine control systems. As an example, a typical machine

project would consist of multiple steps. The applications group is tasked with everything from

scouting out potential new machines that we can offer a solution for, all the way to seeing the

newly developed parts for that machine into production. The process is as follows. I would visit

a machine to document what is needed to outfit our systems and also take measurements.

From this information, I would develop a specific kit that will work to install the system on that

machine. I am then tasked with completing an engineering install on that machine, where I

verify all components developed will work. Once the kit is tested and the installation is done,

any changes to the kit would be made. From there, I am able to work with our product
Evan Arnett
Internship Summary
4/29/20
suppliers to ensure the components will be able to be manufactured for a reasonable cost.

Engineering drawings and specifications for the product all need created to give to the suppliers

so that the have instruction on how to make the products, package them for sale, and what

standards they are being held to in order to create the parts and components. From there, I get

to work with buyer/planner’s and manufacturing employees to ensure there are specifications

and directions for packaging the components, as well as forecasting their future predicted sales.

Being an application engineer in this group is a diverse position! I am fortunate for this aspect,

as I get to do a broad range of tasks and most projects are all different in their own ways.

Projects that I have worked on at this internship are diverse. Some examples include

creating the kits that I detailed above, creating engineering drawings, creating instruction

manuals, installing and removing hydraulic control systems, kitting parts to make them sellable,

designing bracketry and cables/harnesses, testing new designs, and creating new electrical box

concepts. My favorite aspect of my internship to date is the hands-on work. Installing hydraulic

systems in heavy machinery interests me, as I have a background of hands-on machine/auto

repair.

This internship has taught me many things about professional aspects and working in

teams. The team that I work in relies on one another heavily for solutions and opinions. Many

important decisions, such as those that shape our product solutions overall, are made as a

group. I have learned that the power of group decisions and brainstorming is crucial to

providing quality, competitive products. My abilities to work in a team setting have improved

greatly by being immersed in this environment for the past year. From learning to trust others
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Internship Summary
4/29/20
work and time management, to overall professional communication skills, I have a different

attitude towards teamwork in a positive way.

Another aspect of this internship that has benefited me for future professional work is

time and project management. I have improved in both of these greatly since starting at

Trimble. Meeting deadlines/ pushing to get products to the market quickly was a requirement

of me in the position that I held/currently hold. This forced me to adjust how I normally handle

tasks, and I am thankful for that! Methods such as organization, time-planning, and overviewing

tasks were able to make me adjust to the new atmosphere. My view on project management

also was adjusted. Before, I struggled with delaying tasks, then pushing quickly to get them

completed. I have learned it is better to spend a bit of time here and there on major projects

and allow time to reflect instead.

Overall, I am very grateful for my internship at Trimble. They have allowed me great

freedoms in what I do for them. I complete projects similar to those that work as full-time

engineers. To find a position that allows for that while I am only still an intern is great, as it

shows they trust my abilities and appreciate the skills and work that I have to offer. I look

forward to continuing my internship with Trimble in the same position for the remainder of the

time that I am in school, as I still work for them part-time remotely while I attend school full-

time.