Rolling up her sleeves to learn about the product

By Luneta Limbrick  ‘10 - Industrial Engineering major

This summer I am living the life of manufacturing engineer intern at John Deere in Urbandale, a suburb of Des Moines, Iowa - quite a change for someone who grew up in Houston, Texas.

I have several daily duties. The first is being a station boss for the 7760 Cotton picker series and mix model sprayer series. A station boss is an individual assigned to a particular area on the production line to serve as the operators’ guide. I spend about 70% of my day on the production floor making sure the needs of my operators are being met. Some issues that arise are misplaced tools, parts shortages and ergonomics issues. As the station boss, it is my duty to solve these problems and many more. I’m excited to go to work every morning and go down to the line to see what new challenges I will face that day.

This is the first job I’ve ever had where my boss says it’s ok for me to safely crawl under the machine and take a closer look at how it works. Sometimes, to fully understand what’s going on I need to roll up my sleeves and get down and dirty. It also helps give me the ability to explain every detail about the product.

The remaining 30% of the day is spent working on the various projects that have been assigned to me. These projects include working with manufacturing engineers to reduce ergonomics issues, value stream mapping and developing new processes to improve efficiency.

A variety of activities are available in the area after work. One that I find very relaxing is golf. This summer I will participate in my first golf tournament, a scramble comprised of teams that are managers and interns. This event will be a great way to learn more about the culture of the company and management styles, as well as improve my golf skills!

My apartment complex houses other John Deere interns, giving us a great networking opportunity and many fun weekends. Over the course of the summer I have shared many fond memories with this group of individuals from all over the world and will have lasting friendships with them after our session is complete.