My name is Khiem Nguyen, and during the summer before my Junior year at ASU, I had the opportunity to join MJS Designs as an Engineering and Design Intern. This experience really was one to remember, thanks to a team that was welcoming and helpful, so I wanted to share a bit about my experience at MJS Designs.
Starting out, my schedule was booked with tours designed to help me get acquainted with colleagues and understand the complete PCB assembly process. The team was quite welcoming giving explanations of each machine, the process, as well as answering any questions that I had. It was really cool being able to see all of the machines such as the pick-and-place, reflow ovens, AOI, X-ray, and the Flying Test Probe. In between tours, I sat in on meetings to see how decisions are made and learn about MJS Designs’ business model.
Once orientation was over and I settled in, I went straight to the Design department working on PCB layout. Since I already had experience working on PCB layout from classes and clubs, I hit the ground running. My first project involved integrating additional circuitry to an existing design to increase functionality. The board was the largest and most complex I have ever worked on up to that point and honestly, I was a bit intimidated at first. Those jitters quickly faded, however, when I realized that while the board was massive, the specific circuitry I needed to implement was very manageable. While doing so, I got a great deal of help from Albert, the CAD Design Manager, guiding me to take into account criteria such as signal speed, trace length, orientation, and mechanical spacing.
Moving over to the Engineering department the following week, I received mentorship from Director of Engineering, Devin DeGarmo, who tasked me with creating a schematic from scratch. Up to this point, I only had experience analyzing circuits in school, so the task of designing a schematic was an exciting learning opportunity. The board focused on relay control for an industrial system, so Devin walked me through all of the unfamiliar components as well as the fundamental circuity required to accomplish the task. In addition, my time in Engineering was filled with diverse tasks from 3D modelling a shipping and washing fixture to writing code to implement SPI in an existing embedded system.
I also deeply appreciated how the team encouraged me get involved outside of engineering tasks. I got the opportunity to go to the E-Mobility and Clean Energy Summit, as well as participated in company tours to network with other industry professionals.
It was clear that the MJS team genuinely cared about making the most of my internship. They always strived to provide a wide variety of experiences, and I learned more this summer than any prior because of that fact. I’m glad to have been able to contribute to the MJS team, and I am so incredibly grateful to MJS Designs Inc. for giving me the opportunity to learn and develop in a professional engineering environment.
