2017 Steffes Internships Come To An End
This week marks the end of our 2017 summer internships. Steffes has been offering a formal summer internship program for college students in a variety of positions throughout the company since 2014.
Our internship program gives college students hands-on experience in their chosen career field and help them develop and improve their skills. They are able to solve real problems within our company by bringing their unique skills and ideas to the table.
Intern Week
At the end of the summer, our interns gathered at our Dickinson facilities for a week of activities as a celebration of their accomplishments.
The week kicked off with volunteering at the House of Manna as community service. They assisted the local non-profit organization by cleaning the facility, organizing donations, and throwing away the large items that were no longer needed.
They came back to Steffes for some friendly competition between the interns and their supervisors at the second annual Intern vs. Supervisor Challenge. This year’s challenge was a ladder golf match in the parking lot.
Wednesday night, the interns went off-site to participate in a team building exercise. They went to Trapped, an escape room mystery challenge, in Bismarck to test their group problem solving and communication skills. We are proud to say that the group got out of the room with only 17 seconds to spare!
Thursday, the interns presented their summer projects to Steffes employees and shared what they have learned from this experience.
Meet the 2017 Steffes Interns
Joe Mayer: Joe, a Dickinson native, spent the summer at Steffes in Dickinson as an intern for the Inventory and Purchasing department. He worked with our purchasing agents to learn the processes for ordering the correct parts, coordinating shipping, and managing vendors. By the end of the summer he took over ordering parts for our ETS department.
He will be returning to University of North Dakota in the fall where he is pursuing a degree in Accounting.
“I really enjoyed learning about the inventory side of things,” said Mayer. “This experience has definitely helped me in my professional career.”
Blaise Stanley: Blaise spent the summer interning at the Grand Forks facility as a Manufacturing Engineer Intern working in general assemblies. During this time, he received hands-on experience in manufacturing and designed various tools to improve efficiency.
“My internship was a great learning experience,” said Stanley. “I was able to gain real world engineering knowledge that will help me in my career moving forward.”
He is entering his Junior year at University of North Dakota and is majoring in Mechanical Engineering.
Dalton Jenkins: Dalton interned at Steffes in Dickinson for a Manufacturing Engineering Co-Op from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. He worked on correcting Corrective Action Reports in our assembly area to improve processes and solve issues. He also designed and implemented production aids that made jobs easier, safer, and less time consuming for assemblers on the floor.
Alec Herb: Alec worked as a Manufacturing Engineer Intern at the Grand Forks facility. During his internship, he spent time operating the brake, building backhoes and stump grinders, and running the paint line. He also developed various gauges and a storage system to improve plant efficiency and product quality.
“I really valued the time I spend on the manufacturing floor,” said Herb. “It was cool to see the entire process from beginning to end.”
He is a Mechanical Engineering major at University of North Dakota and will graduate in the Spring.
Eric Volesky: Eric has been at Steffes in Dickinson as part of a Co-Op since January of this year. He is planning to graduate from South Dakota School of Mines and Technology with a Mechanical Engineering degree in the Spring of 2018.
While at Steffes, he has worked on numerous projects that have been focused on saving production time, creating safer and more organized work environments, and creating better processes.
Some of these projects have included creating carts to transport multiple sizes of skids, creating the process for robot welding of parts, and designing a manifold for saving time on pressure testing.
Joel Erickson: Joel interned at Steffes as a Manufacturing Engineering Co-Op from South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.
During his time at Steffes, he has been designing fixtures to improve and standardize skid assembly processes and creating standard work for pressure testing. He has also been working on Corrective Action Reports in order to improve processes in our manufacturing.
James Ness: James was a Manufacturing Engineer Intern at the Grand Forks East Plant and worked in the code shop. During his time at Steffes, he was focused on improving cycle times in the code shop. He participated in time studies and designed various tools to improve product efficiency.
“I have improved my skills and learned a lot during my internship,” said Ness. “I would like to thank the crew at Grand Forks East for the opportunity.”
He is entering his Junior year as a Mechanical Engineering major at the University of North Dakota.
Tyson Meidinger: Tyson has returned to Steffes as a New Product Development intern from South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. During his internship he worked on a wide variety of projects including testing new products and improving and organizing the New Product Development test lab.
Tyson will be returning to the School of Mines this Fall where he is continuing to pursue a Mechanical Engineering degree.