National Security Innovation Network
Mechanical Engineering Intern
Department: 28th Maintenance Squadron at Ellsworth Air Force Base
My experience
Overview
I ran SolidWorks FEA on a B-1 filter to find areas of high stress and factors of safety and used the results to design three alternative versions of it. I also co-authored a decision matrix and report evaluating eight reverse engineering CAD softwares. Lastly, I co-authored a Siemens NX reverse engineering user manual for Ellsworth AFB engineers and recorded nine NX video tutorials for them as well.
Pros
Ellsworth Air Force Base will actually use the NX user manual and video tutorials and will test out a few of our team's alternative designs of the B-1 filter.
Cons
I didn't have much interaction with my project sponsors besides a few times on Zoom and my team trip to Ellsworth Air Force Base. I would've liked to get to know them better.
Impact of work
Time spent working
How did working remote affect your experience?
I still gained the engineering experience I was looking for (CAD, CAE, technical writing, etc.) and produced the results my project sponsors were looking for (CAD files, software evaluations, etc.), but I didn't have as much communication with my project sponsors as I would have liked since they are very busy with their jobs on base.
Interview advice
How did you find the job / apply?
Interview Rounds
Interview type
Interview questions
Tell me about yourself, how do you think you would contribute to X-Force or national security innovation?
Advice on how to prepare
Be able to clearly explain how you can apply your technical knowledge and skills to solve national security problems and give examples of how you have previously applied your technical knowledge and skills. For example, I said that I could use CAD to drive innovation and talked about my CAD experience for Formula SAE and NASA Student Launch.
More questions? Send the reviewer a message!