The Process of Obtaining Employment at Mega - Essay Example

To review the process of obtaining employment, and to develop strategies for the next employment encounter Before I obtained my first job at Mega, the process I went through was quite long. I recall that there was a long holiday, about half a year before immigrating to Australia. I had studied mechanical engineering at university so I decided to look for a job related to the engineering field for my intern in order to gain some experience prior to my visit to Australia. I used the internet to search for the position I wanted and I sent my resume to different prospective employers. My resume was designed in such a way that it would give the prospective employer an idea about my capabilities. Each week, I sent emails to different companies but kept on getting negative responses telling me that intern places were full. Lack of experience in engineering was the major problem impacting on my chances of getting the position I wanted. I realized that I had knowledge in CAD drawing which I started learning when I was 10 years old and was also capable of using hand and power tools. So I started looking for a place for intern from another angle. Significant Events First design improvement task Compared to other job tasks such as parts drawing, handmade work and documentation I was used to, I found the task of designing to be quite complex. This task was the most important job that I had been given during work and it was related to improving the oven door design. The purpose of this task was to improve the existing oven door to further decrease the surface temperature of the glass when the electrical oven was working at a high temperature of about 250C. Moreover, this was designed to meet the new amendment A13 in Euro which introduced new requirements to deal with the hazards that may occur to children who are close to these appliances without supervision or to other vulnerable people. Decreasing further the surface temperature of the glass was one of the requirements in amendment A13. Lucky enough, my supervisor had already provided an idea about how to meet this requirement base on the existing design which included the two layers of glass door. The first step of improvement was to cut a column of holes with oval shape along the frame of the door on top and bottom side (appendix), then put a plastic film in the middle of the inside and outside glass（appendix）by using four screws at each corner to fasten it to the frame. After testing the effectiveness of this design, we noted that the surface temperature decreased from 110 C to 75C. However, another problem was noticed following the use of this new design. This was related to the film that corrugated when tested in high temperature. Again, my task was to find and test a plastic film that could meet this requirement. I started the process of selecting the required plastic by directly enquiring the plastic film manufacturer. I asked them the kind of material that could meet this requirement. Then they sent me the film they thought would be able to meet this requirement. However, I noted that all of these films get corrugated after high temperature heat (appendix). Accordingly, I switched my focus on why all of these films would get corrugated. I found out some information in high polymer material books which stated that all the materials even for the high polymer products have particular internal force between each chemical bond. I noticed that these chemical bonds would release the internal force when heated to a specific temperature and this mainly depend on different materials. Thus, the solution of this problem was to reduce the internal force. I had not studied anything about high polymer material so I had no idea about how to solve this problem. Nevertheless, my supervisor suggested to me to communicate with the engineer in the plastic film manufacturer. I briefly described the problem that happened after we tested the material and the requirements of the film that we needed. The engineer asked me to try a film which is called SiliconizedRelease Liner. “A release film is a paper or plastic based carrier web material, which is coated on one or two sides with a release agent, which provides a release effect against any type of a sticky material such as an adhesive or a mastic. Release liners are available in different colors, with or without printing under the low surface energy coating or on the backside of the liner. Release is separation of the liner from a sticky material. A liner is the carrier for the release agent.”(www.wikipedia.org) Finally, SiliconizedRelease Liner film favourably reached our expectations (appendix).I also used four springs instead of the screws to fasten the film on the frame to make appear more flat due to the spring force applied equally in each corner (appendix). Although I spent two months on this task, I still feel satisfied because I was able to complete such a big task and my supervisor was also pleased with my performance on the task. Most of the tasks that I performed during my intern were related to different things I had learnt from university. For example, I used heat transfer knowledge to calculate the thickness and coefficient of material that was required in the design. I also applied mechanics or electric knowledge on calculations. However, during this work experience, I found that all the knowledge I had acquired from university was about basic things. I believe that I have significantly improved some of my engineering knowledge gained during my intern period working at Mega. Reuse material on side panel My work experience is about designing high standard electrical appliances to our clients. As an employee, I must make sure that I am producing high quality products that meet the standard expectations of the customers. Consumers often purchase the product for its effectiveness and functionalities as a result of the fact that it would improve their living standards. Social well-being is a term which covers a large area in modern society. In terms of social well-being at my company, we would look at things like “responsibility and faith.” Without these, our company would face many problems. Our company has strict requirements to manage the work environment. We have to use some of the following equipment for safety: gloves, goggles, face masks, air vents, and emergency stop buttons for all the machines such as the milling machine, punch and component preloading. Satisfying these safety regulations would help us to achieve a safe environment at our work place. I believe this covers the safety factor of societal well-being at my workplace. On the other side, sustainability becomes more significant to human beings. An increasing number of people are recognizing it and I think there were some examples of being sustainable in the design process although the contributions we made were slight. I recall this from our company which ready to produce a smaller size electrical oven, the size which was only one third of the normal domestic electrical oven. The main proposition of this model was concerned with small consumer food items such as bread and cookies. Compared to the normal size of electrical oven, the advantages were saving energy and could be easily stored in the kitchen. It is then that our department was given this task to design such a product. During the design process, I mentioned to the engineer that we can use the leftover bits and pieces metal from the normal size oven to make both side case panel. Because the panel sizes are only 15cm*18cm, there was sufficient to reuse in this task. Moreover, we had already saved extra prime cost for the company and made this model a source of competitive advantage as a result of its lower price due to the fact that we reused the metal. This helped to protect the environment. Up to now, this oven is still manufactured using leftover metal on making both panels. Although I did not make a big contribution on the sustainable aspect of manufacturing, from the company perspective, I had made some contributions on cutting down the prime cost. Also, I learnt that thinking in a sustainable way not only good for the environment, but would also bring other benefits to the company. Technology in the modern world is expanding at an incredible rate but we should find ways of keeping pace with this without impacting negatively on the environment. I believe there is always a new way to advance our sustainability, which is through revolution and the use of modern technologies in the current. To recognize and adopt appropriate ethical behaviour Defining something that is ethical is always a challenge to me but I would like to believe that it refers to laws and standards that guide us to follow certain specifications to act responsibly. Although there are some situations that have no legal support, I think the best way is to follow this principle “do not cause harm.” The first instance about ethical behaviour I encountered is when the manager gave me a task to find and test a plastic film. The aim of this task was to reduce the glass surface temperature during the oven baking in high temperature (around 250°C) under a long duration (about two hours). That was the hardest task I had never been given before because the requirement of the plastic film should be highly lucency, heat-resistant, up to 250°C without corrugation after baking and the thickness was supposed to be within 0.01mm-0.5mm. I spent 2 months on this task, tested more than hundred films from different materials, and finally I found one that matched those requirements. Few weeks later, the model of an electrical oven with this new design was released. At the same time, manager invited me to join the appliances exhibition with him to introduce this new model oven. One day my manager left earlier from an exhibition and another business man came and tried to inquire about how the new oven was designed. However, I felt that it was unethical to divulge company information to other third parties and I did not give him the information. The other example of ethical behaviour I have shown is when at times there is not enough equipment for every person when we are performing certain tasks. Some people are selfish and they do not want to share with their colleagues. However, I would share with them since I believe that it is ethical to share the equipment at work if it is not enough for each individual member. I was just thinking about the way about how I could solve this problem without causing trouble. I thought I was going to speak with the purchasing manager about this problem, then ask him to buy more equipment for us so that there will be enough for each co-worker. After speaking with the purchasing manager, he agreed and brought the equipment we needed. I think this was appropriate and it showed ethical behaviour. To identify connection between personal, organizational and wider social issues and discuss strategies to develop understanding During the three months of my work, I was usually assigned to do some jobs that were not related to my position or major by my supervisor. For example, I was working on fiber glass cotton assembling which involved cutting fiber glass cotton then wrap it around the inner case of the oven. This could irritate the skin once on contact and those tiny fiber glass particles would disperse into the air. This was very bad for me as I already had a rhinitis problem. I soon started to wear extra protective clothing like long sleeves shirts and pants along with protection rubber gloves and face mask. The process of wrapping the fiberglass cotton involved learning how to stick the fiberglass with metal together and required to pay attention to the thickness of the cotton otherwise the oven surface temperature would be too high and become a risk to the costumers. I picked up these skills quickly and soon wanted to tackle something more challenging to activate my mind but I did not want to be rude and ask to be taken of the task. Instead, I reminded the manager that I was a mechatronic student and would also love to learn handwork skills too. Thus, I would advise the supervisor about the problem and how it was affecting me. However, this was not adaptable with the work since it had its advantages and disadvantages. I decided that I would not change the way to handle with this situation because I feel that would make me look as if I am not flexible at work. The way I would change would be to improve myself with the process and safety involved then gather all safety protective equipment I need to prevent injury during work. Read More