ISE 433: Computer Simulation

Joe Schilling, Senior, Industrial and Systems Engineering

Athens, OH 29 September 2011 – One of my classes this year is ISE 433, Industrial Computer Simulation, which focuses on modeling a system. This could either be from a manufacturing or a service type system. One of our weekly projects focuses on the service industry and requires us to build a model for a ficticous restaurant called “King’s arm”. The restaurant has four barmaids and fifty drinking classes in the system, the objective is to find the utilization of the workers. The main tasks of the workers are to pour drinks for patrons and wash the glasses. These tasks are assigned certain distribution times located within the model logic.

The program that is being utilized is called SIMIO. In the screenshot you can see customers entering and leaving the system, as well as patrons at the table area (this is represented by the cans in the queue). The main focus of building these models is to show how long customers might have to wait to get a drink, as well as the worker utlization. In this model it was discovered that less than 50 glasses could be used, reducing the amount of inventory needed on hand. Also worker utlization was increased after I added a second serving station. Models such as these give engineers valuable tools to make decisions or to relay information. They can help save costs and increase productivity for various systems.

Starting the Job Search

Annye Driscoll,
Senior, Computer Science

Athens, OH 23 September 2011 – This September I began my senior and final year at Ohio University and will be graduating in June with a bachelor’s degree in computer science. Of course the last year of class means added stress for me: what am I going to do after I graduate?!

Luckily there are plenty of ways for graduating students (or even students looking for co-ops and internships) to find work without leaving campus. The career fairs, both the campus-wide fair and the one specifically for Russ College students and alumni, are great ways to network and earn interviews. Career fairs are a lot of work and are pretty stressful, but nothing really beats meeting a recruiter face to face and handing him or her your resumé yourself.

My favorite way to job search, however, is through the Bobcat CareerLink. The Bobcat CareerLink is a database of jobs created just for OU students and alumni. It’s super easy to use; you just put in your resume, your degree, and your GPA and you can apply for jobs with just one click. There are a ton of jobs, and you can even schedule interviews through the website.

I’m a little sad to be graduating this year, but I’m also really excited to be job-searching and working on starting the next part of my life. My home here in Athens will always be special to me, but I’m ready for something a little higher than my college student income, and I know my dog would love to have a yard to run around in! Luckily, the Russ College and Ohio University is helping me work toward that next step.

Summer Internship at AEP

Emily Bryan, Senior, Electrical Engineering

Athens, OH 23 September 2011 – This past summer I interned for American Electric Power in Columbus, Ohio. This was my third time back with AEP and my first time working with the Instrumentations and Controls group. I was a bit nervous as to whether or not I would like I&C, since I have never taken a controls class, but I am glad I tried it.

I was involved with two main projects and I really enjoyed working on both of them. The first project I was involved with was a classified study that I am unable to discuss, but for the majority of the summer I worked on removing the luffing capabilities of the gypsum radial stacker out in the landfill. For this project, I had to work with other engineers in different parts of the company, such as the Structural group and the Electrical Systems and Equipment group. I&C was needed for this project in order to take out all of the vertical controls in the logic. In order for me to do this, I had to first understand how the logic works with the luffing and then I had to remove portions of the logic without interfering with the other controls of this machine. I was unable to see the full completion of this project, but was glad I was able to finish my portion. I really enjoyed working with my team and learned that I like the I&C group more than I thought I would.

ETM Summer Internship

Bradley Lang
Senior, Engineering Technology and Management

Athens, OH 18 September 2011 – This past summer I finally was able to work an internship. I was always so worried about it because I always thought that people wouldn’t hire me because I didn’t have any work experience in the Engineering and Technology field. This was one of my big concerns for when I graduated also but when I was looking last spring and nothing seemed to be working for me. My dad called me up and asked if I was still looking for an internship. So I ended up getting an interview with Cool Containers in Marietta, Ohio.

I was so nervous for my interview but I must have done something right because I was hired for the summer. It is a small company so I was thrown right into the fire and started designing, checking out the design, and checking out if the design worked in the units we were producing. The work environment was not as scary as I thought it would be and I learned so many things that will help me receive a job after I graduate. This summer internship was one of my best experiences that I have received while I was at Ohio University.

Summer PBIO Class

Eric Biggens, Senior, Engineering Technology and Management

Athens, OH 15 September 2011 – Last year I decided to stay and live in Athens for the summer to get a few classes out of the way instead of going back home. I enjoyed my time here so much that I decided to stay again this summer as well so I could take an English class I need in order to graduate.

I took the opportunity to sign up for a Plant Biology class for fun that sounded interesting. The class focused on medicinal plants and their many uses from our region. We met for five hours in the afternoon for just two weeks and went hiking in the woods at many different parks and trails around Athens County. Not only did I end up learning to recognize over 120 common plants and various uses for them but the class really gave me the chance to explore southern Ohio. After living in Athens for over three years now I’ve realized that there is so much to do here and so many different places to go check out. Taking the Pbio class ended up being so much fun and it gave me the chance to get out and see a lot that Athens has to offer.