<Ron's Summer>

	How I spent my summer… Ron Gicka Junior, Electrical and Computer Engineering St. Petersburg, FL During the summer between his sophomore and junior years, Ron participated in an internship at Rockwell Collins where he assisted engineers by inspecting the parts of the company’s avionics products. Rockwell Collins is recognized as a world-class provider of aviation electronic and communication solutions for government, the world's aircraft manufacturers and more than 400 airline customers. In his spare time, Ron also breeds Campbell Russian dwarf hamsters. Here are excerpts from Ron’s summer blog about his internship with Rockwell Collins: 5/24/05 After a few weeks of phone tag, interviews and putting "the moves" on local employers... I am officially an employee of Rockwell Collins! Not as lucrative pay or position as Northrop Grumman, but I start making the $$ next Tuesday (and it ain't sellin’ shoes)! In my position, I’ll be a materials test engineer. I will be working with current employees to ensure the quality of products that come into the plant from different vendors to make sure that the avionic equipment produced is as reliable as possible. I will be communicating with engineers and plant employees at Rockwell Collins and also with vendors themselves as Rockwell takes an internal look at not only what materials we receive, but how they are produced. If there is a flaw, or a lack of quality, we will get with the vendor and work with them from the inside out to improve the material produced. It sounds like it will be a fun little project! I am actually heading in for a meeting tomorrow morning and will get to meet some of the people that I will be working with. So to put this all in perspective with Florida Tech… Florida Tech is giving me a great background to enter the work environment— even before I complete my degree. As an intern, my skills are in demand not only in the local community, but across the nation! 6/9/05 Now that I have been here for just over a week, I am getting to really see how things work around here and what role I am playing in the process. Many of the avionics parts that Rockwell Collins produces are called Loss of Life (LOL... no joke). This means that they need to be 100% inspected down to every nut and bolt to extreme accuracy measurements. I am learning about how this is done and helping to identify problems with some SERVOs that control some of the flight controls. I have been able to inspect some of these parts and run some analyses on the measurements taken. Being in a room with about $5 million worth of equipment and being able to play around is definitely cool! I have also been running some reports on vendor supplies. When an order comes in, it is inspected to meet Rockwell standards. If it is defective, it must go back to the vendor. I have been compiling reports on the results of these inspections and how "effective" a supplier is. The reports that I make are used in meetings with engineers from suppliers and also by management to discover how suppliers are performing. Makes me feel important :) Also - There is a new batch of hamsters! A litter of three, get them while they're fresh! 6/17/05 Fourteenth day on the job and I am still learning so much here! The best thing about my job is that, as an intern in the quality-engineering department, I get to see the “big picture” of how a product goes from conception to production. I look over reports on materials received and help inspect parts that are defective with state-of-the-art equipment. I also get to learn a lot about customer interfacing, how to tell a supplier that they were wrong and request corrective action. After a product is shipped, I handle some statistics on how that product performs. The labs at Florida Tech really got me ready for what I experience in the inspection area. Being familiar with the electric equipment and the general lab procedure, working with soldering irons and probes is like second nature. Looking forward to getting in for more! 6/24/05 Things are heating up here! I’ve been doing some analysis for a product line at Rockwell and am involved in an APA (Advanced Process Analysis) effort. I am required to gather information on parts coming into the factory that will go into the assemblies and then analyze the completed assemblies to determine if there was any effect with certain values coming close to or exceeding tolerance. My attendance is required and input is valued … it is a great experience! Keeping up dialogue with vendors as well. While technical skills are a must, verbal skills as well as a touch of etiquette are also required. Trying to gather information about quality procedures from many different corporations is difficult especially when trying to deal with many people. Communication is important! Still having a blast though! There is nothing like knowing that you are working on parts that cost thousands of dollars with machines that cost millions. I’m glad that Florida Tech’s reputation and curriculum has helped me jump in and keep up with the engineers here! And, btw... I am helping the hamsters take over the world :) 7/12/05 I'm getting a really well-rounded experience at Rockwell. Aside from hands-on experience with mechanical and electrical inspection, the high standards Rockwell adheres to really keeps everybody at the top of their game. As part of the quality team, I am helping reduce the number of defects that come into and leave our facility. That means if there is a manufacturing problem, or if a part is shipped in with the possibility of not meeting spec, or even if one of our customers reports a failed unit, my team will be one of the first to respond, and the group looked to for answers and action plans. When I accepted the job to be a quality management intern, I was afraid that I may not get as much of an experience as I would have otherwise. This internship has proved me wrong! I am finding myself at the heart of issues that can mean hundreds of thousands of dollars (if not millions) in profit loss or gain. I am inspecting parts that each cost thousands of dollars (almost as much as my car in the palm of my hand). It is really a mind-blowing experience. But by far one of the most interesting things about my internship is the reaction engineers have when I tell them I’m at Florida Tech. There are interns from other schools here for the summer, but when I say that I am studying at Florida Tech, the staff knows that I am already in the game and bringing successful skills and a strong background to the table. So just another short blip :) I was talking to another manager who told me that he had the best intern at Rockwell (from UCF), but after finding out that I was from Florida Tech, he immediately said that I definitely had a leg up on his intern. Definitely made my day! P.S. – Know anybody who wants a hamster? :) Juliet had two more babies last Saturday morning. I counted three, all were white, two had black eyes and one with red eyes. The strange thing about this litter is that the genetics of these hamsters specify white with black eyes as being albino, so I have two albino and one … regular. This makes a total of 7 babies for the summer. I am looking for homes for them now, and Romeo (did you guess that he is Daddy?) is in a separate cage. They breed like hamsters! I am going to donate some to a teacher who is looking for things to set up her classroom with. They will have lots of love from the kids :) But, that’s all that’s up in the hamster world! 7/25/05 So this week has been a change of pace. In order to satisfy requirements for an upcoming audit, we need to have up to date information on the quality systems of our suppliers. This may not seem daunting at first, but considering the 500 suppliers for this plant, it is a serious undertaking! The most effective way to get our answers is to put out a questionnaire to every supplier. But come to find out, not everybody likes questionnaires! Many forget to answer questions or describe their answers properly, and I am responsible for not only getting these forms out but also, combing through the returned questionnaires and communicating deficiencies with each vendor specifically. A long and tedious task, but at the end of the day, progress is made so I'm happy. My supervisors even want me to speak with the auditors later this week. Yikes! I did go to my first meeting without a supervisor last week. The great thing was that while my supervisor was busy inspecting parts for assembly lines that were held up, I was able to present on a different issue, and keep my supervisor abreast of action items and progress. My input is important and trusted—I feel this is more so due to my serious background at Florida Tech. There is even talk about part-time semester work!! On a different note, the hamsters are doing well. Unfortunately, no homes for them yet. I may have to wait until school starts up again to find some freshmen :) But needless to say, Romeo and Juliet are in their separate cages for a while! 7/29/05 Well, another week is done. Not very much exciting this week… As I have gotten deeper into updating our quality surveys from suppliers, I have realized how unkempt the system was. I have sort of indirectly become the chair of getting that system back on track and implementing a process. About a third of the suppliers are done, but it takes a lot of time! What I have really learned is the importance of teamwork. The tasks at hand are everybody's responsibility. While I could be doing other things, the most efficient thing for me to do is quickly get this process on track for the auditors, as our corporate managers have been anxious to get this task done. It is kind of like a niche from which I can better Rockwell. Pretty cool when you think about it. I did go to another meeting this week and got my first action item! I think people are starting to depend on me! And for the hamsters.... Well, they don't seem to be selling. So I have 11 :) Not that I mind the company!! I think I am going to make some shirts and get an e-mail address to advertise them :) Anybody want a hamster? My latest marketing idea - In a few rare colleges students will get accessories (i.e. a laptop) when they enroll. Imagine every student getting a dwarf hamster! What could make the dorms more inviting? One per room! 9/02/05 Well, the summer has finally come to an end. Starting to move the more functional things out of my cube, but some will still remain. Everything has gone so well this summer that Rockwell has decided to keep me on for one day per week until the end of the fiscal year. Sweet! Things have gotten even more fast paced (if possible) these past few days, as everybody is realizing that the extra pair of hands won't be there full time anymore. It really proves that I have made a positive impact in operations here at Rockwell. Finalizing audit updates, processing analysis data, incoming part issues that need final resolution. It is all coming together. Looking back, I am really amazed at how efficient modern day manufacturing is. Every part of the production line, from when parts come in to when products go out has been analyzed and streamlined. I am really glad that I got a chance to get out and see what my major is all about, and that my resources and background at Florida Tech helped make it a reality. Hamsters are still available! No more babies thankfully. Pinky is turning more of a mottled pink/white, but is still "lookin’ good". I think the pink has done some good for his character. We had a little talk earlier and he told me that he appreciates me and life much more now as a pink hamster. :) Anybody want a blue or green one?

Ron

Ron 2

Ron 3

How I spent my summer…

Ron Gicka

Junior, Electrical and Computer Engineering

St. Petersburg, FL

During the summer between his sophomore and junior years, Ron participated in an internship at Rockwell Collins where he assisted engineers by inspecting the parts of the company’s avionics products. Rockwell Collins is recognized as a world-class provider of aviation electronic and communication solutions for government, the world's aircraft manufacturers and more than 400 airline customers. In his spare time, Ron also breeds Campbell Russian dwarf hamsters.

Here are excerpts from Ron’s summer blog about his internship with Rockwell Collins:

5/24/05

After a few weeks of phone tag, interviews and putting "the moves" on local employers...

I am officially an employee of Rockwell Collins! Not as lucrative pay or position as Northrop Grumman, but I start making the $$ next Tuesday (and it ain't sellin’ shoes)!

In my position, I’ll be a materials test engineer. I will be working with current employees to ensure the quality of products that come into the plant from different vendors to make sure that the avionic equipment produced is as reliable as possible. I will be communicating with engineers and plant employees at Rockwell Collins and also with vendors themselves as Rockwell takes an internal look at not only what materials we receive, but how they are produced. If there is a flaw, or a lack of quality, we will get with the vendor and work with them from the inside out to improve the material produced.

It sounds like it will be a fun little project! I am actually heading in for a meeting tomorrow morning and will get to meet some of the people that I will be working with.

So to put this all in perspective with Florida Tech…

Florida Tech is giving me a great background to enter the work environment— even before I complete my degree. As an intern, my skills are in demand not only in the local community, but across the nation!

6/9/05

Now that I have been here for just over a week, I am getting to really see how things work around here and what role I am playing in the process.

Many of the avionics parts that Rockwell Collins produces are called Loss of Life (LOL... no joke). This means that they need to be 100% inspected down to every nut and bolt to extreme accuracy measurements. I am learning about how this is done and helping to identify problems with some SERVOs that control some of the flight controls.

I have been able to inspect some of these parts and run some analyses on the measurements taken. Being in a room with about $5 million worth of equipment and being able to play around is definitely cool!

I have also been running some reports on vendor supplies. When an order comes in, it is inspected to meet Rockwell standards. If it is defective, it must go back to the vendor. I have been compiling reports on the results of these inspections and how "effective" a supplier is. The reports that I make are used in meetings with engineers from suppliers and also by management to discover how suppliers are performing.

Makes me feel important :)

Also - There is a new batch of hamsters! A litter of three, get them while they're fresh!

6/17/05

Fourteenth day on the job and I am still learning so much here!

The best thing about my job is that, as an intern in the quality-engineering department, I get to see the “big picture” of how a product goes from conception to production. I look over reports on materials received and help inspect parts that are defective with state-of-the-art equipment. I also get to learn a lot about customer interfacing, how to tell a supplier that they were wrong and request corrective action. After a product is shipped, I handle some statistics on how that product performs.

The labs at Florida Tech really got me ready for what I experience in the inspection area. Being familiar with the electric equipment and the general lab procedure, working with soldering irons and probes is like second nature. Looking forward to getting in for more!

6/24/05

Things are heating up here! I’ve been doing some analysis for a product line at Rockwell and am involved in an APA (Advanced Process Analysis) effort. I am required to gather information on parts coming into the factory that will go into the assemblies and then analyze the completed assemblies to determine if there was any effect with certain values coming close to or exceeding tolerance. My attendance is required and input is valued … it is a great experience!

Keeping up dialogue with vendors as well. While technical skills are a must, verbal skills as well as a touch of etiquette are also required. Trying to gather information about quality procedures from many different corporations is difficult especially when trying to deal with many people. Communication is important!

Still having a blast though! There is nothing like knowing that you are working on parts that cost thousands of dollars with machines that cost millions. I’m glad that Florida Tech’s reputation and curriculum has helped me jump in and keep up with the engineers here!

And, btw... I am helping the hamsters take over the world :)

7/12/05

I'm getting a really well-rounded experience at Rockwell. Aside from hands-on experience with mechanical and electrical inspection, the high standards Rockwell adheres to really keeps everybody at the top of their game.

As part of the quality team, I am helping reduce the number of defects that come into and leave our facility. That means if there is a manufacturing problem, or if a part is shipped in with the possibility of not meeting spec, or even if one of our customers reports a failed unit, my team will be one of the first to respond, and the group looked to for answers and action plans.

When I accepted the job to be a quality management intern, I was afraid that I may not get as much of an experience as I would have otherwise. This internship has proved me wrong! I am finding myself at the heart of issues that can mean hundreds of thousands of dollars (if not millions) in profit loss or gain. I am inspecting parts that each cost thousands of dollars (almost as much as my car in the palm of my hand). It is really a mind-blowing experience.

But by far one of the most interesting things about my internship is the reaction engineers have when I tell them I’m at Florida Tech. There are interns from other schools here for the summer, but when I say that I am studying at Florida Tech, the staff knows that I am already in the game and bringing successful skills and a strong background to the table.

So just another short blip :) I was talking to another manager who told me that he had the best intern at Rockwell (from UCF), but after finding out that I was from Florida Tech, he immediately said that I definitely had a leg up on his intern. Definitely made my day!

P.S. – Know anybody who wants a hamster? :)

Juliet had two more babies last Saturday morning. I counted three, all were white, two had black eyes and one with red eyes. The strange thing about this litter is that the genetics of these hamsters specify white with black eyes as being albino, so I have two albino and one … regular. This makes a total of 7 babies for the summer. I am looking for homes for them now, and Romeo (did you guess that he is Daddy?) is in a separate cage. They breed like hamsters! I am going to donate some to a teacher who is looking for things to set up her classroom with. They will have lots of love from the kids :)

But, that’s all that’s up in the hamster world!

7/25/05

So this week has been a change of pace.

In order to satisfy requirements for an upcoming audit, we need to have up to date information on the quality systems of our suppliers. This may not seem daunting at first, but considering the 500 suppliers for this plant, it is a serious undertaking! The most effective way to get our answers is to put out a questionnaire to every supplier.

But come to find out, not everybody likes questionnaires!

Many forget to answer questions or describe their answers properly, and I am responsible for not only getting these forms out but also, combing through the returned questionnaires and communicating deficiencies with each vendor specifically. A long and tedious task, but at the end of the day, progress is made so I'm happy. My supervisors even want me to speak with the auditors later this week. Yikes!

I did go to my first meeting without a supervisor last week. The great thing was that while my supervisor was busy inspecting parts for assembly lines that were held up, I was able to present on a different issue, and keep my supervisor abreast of action items and progress. My input is important and trusted—I feel this is more so due to my serious background at Florida Tech.

There is even talk about part-time semester work!!

On a different note, the hamsters are doing well. Unfortunately, no homes for them yet. I may have to wait until school starts up again to find some freshmen :) But needless to say, Romeo and Juliet are in their separate cages for a while!

7/29/05

Well, another week is done. Not very much exciting this week…

As I have gotten deeper into updating our quality surveys from suppliers, I have realized how unkempt the system was. I have sort of indirectly become the chair of getting that system back on track and implementing a process. About a third of the suppliers are done, but it takes a lot of time!

What I have really learned is the importance of teamwork. The tasks at hand are everybody's responsibility. While I could be doing other things, the most efficient thing for me to do is quickly get this process on track for the auditors, as our corporate managers have been anxious to get this task done. It is kind of like a niche from which I can better Rockwell. Pretty cool when you think about it.

I did go to another meeting this week and got my first action item! I think people are starting to depend on me!

And for the hamsters....

Well, they don't seem to be selling. So I have 11 :) Not that I mind the company!!
I think I am going to make some shirts and get an e-mail address to advertise them :) Anybody want a hamster?

My latest marketing idea -
In a few rare colleges students will get accessories (i.e. a laptop) when they enroll. Imagine every student getting a dwarf hamster! What could make the dorms more inviting? One per room!

9/02/05

Well, the summer has finally come to an end. Starting to move the more functional things out of my cube, but some will still remain.

Everything has gone so well this summer that Rockwell has decided to keep me on for one day per week until the end of the fiscal year. Sweet!

Things have gotten even more fast paced (if possible) these past few days, as everybody is realizing that the extra pair of hands won't be there full time anymore. It really proves that I have made a positive impact in operations here at Rockwell. Finalizing audit updates, processing analysis data, incoming part issues that need final resolution. It is all coming together.

Looking back, I am really amazed at how efficient modern day manufacturing is. Every part of the production line, from when parts come in to when products go out has been analyzed and streamlined. I am really glad that I got a chance to get out and see what my major is all about, and that my resources and background at Florida Tech helped make it a reality.

Hamsters are still available! No more babies thankfully. Pinky is turning more of a mottled pink/white, but is still "lookin’ good". I think the pink has done some good for his character. We had a little talk earlier and he told me that he appreciates me and life much more now as a pink hamster. :) Anybody want a blue or green one?