Chris Stanislawczyk - September 2009

I am a B.S./M.S. student at Drexel University in the field of Material Science and Engineering. As such I receive two, six month internships called co-ops. My first co-op was at a medical manufacturing company, and my second co-op was here, at Boehringer Laboratories. Even before I was hired I knew I would enjoy working here. As I entered the door at the top of the stairs for my interview the first thing I saw was a poster that said “30 years of excellence” and another with the company quality policy: exceed our customer’s expectations, designed to provide superior value, manufactured to rigorous standards, and delivered in a timely fashion. These quality standards are the goals I strive for in every job I perform and found it refreshing to know that all of my possible coworkers would share the same attitude. During my interview I was told that I would be push to the limit of my capibilities. Some might think this a bad thing but what it said to me was that I will be doing meaningful work that has a deadline and is required by others. From these few things I knew Boehringer is a company with a strong work ethic and takes pride in what they do. This fact is what I thought about when I decided to work at Boehringer.

o many other companies rely solely on GPA to make a determination on a new hire but not Boehringer. The result of a mechanical aptitude test has a great influence on a potential hire. One of my friends worked with a graduate engineering student who did not know how to use a ratchet. I thought that was ridiculous. How could an obviously educated engineer not know how to use a simple tool? Having to pass this test reassured me that Boehringer was sizing me up to see if I could handle real engineering work. During my time at Boehringer I have not only used just about every simple tool in the shop but I have made project critical components on some of the more complex machines, the lathe and milling machine. Most of this work was completed on my own, but that does not mean I had to do everything myself. If I wasn’t sure how to use something, someone was always eager to teach me not only how to use it but the theory and mechanics behind it. As a student, I was grateful that machinists and senior project engineers would take the ten minutes to teach me how to do something that would take them only two minutes to do themselves. It was a real world example of teaching me how to fish rather than giving me a fish.

I have heard from many other Drexel students that their co-ops give them busy work “fit for an intern” with no real value. Within my first week at Boehringer the Director of Engineering asked me to design and build a cleaning system for our suction regulators so it can be marketed to work with our infection control agenda. He gave me some advice about how to start and there I was, a first week intern with the task of creating a new product for the company. This was not the stereotypical intern work that so many students have had to endure. I was grateful for the challenge. Through my six month tenure at Boehringer I have brought that project from a concept to a reality. I sourced every component, machined the housing, modeled and drew the schematics in Solid Works (3D modeling software), tested it, came up with a standard cost, made a brochure and formalized an operating procedure. This project was mine form the ground up. I have never heard of another co-op having the same level of responsibility assigned to them aside from the students I replaced.

This one task was not my sole responsibility. I received many smaller projects that included building prototypes, optimizing designs, reducing costs and constructing 3D modeling in Solid Works to name a few. These smaller projects are typical assignments for an engineering co-op, but I also received projects that related to the business side of the company. I was put in charge of the validation of the Electronic Backup System, and the Engineering Change Database. I worked with the quality manager, the IT manager and the resident access database expert to create a plan for testing these systems to ensure complete compliance to their assigned duty. It was my responsibility to manage the day-to-day tasks, interpret the results, and ensure that they were suitable for use. Although these tasks were completely unexpected they were not unwelcome. I enjoyed the chance to learn about the inner workings of an engineering/manufacturing based company.

I could continue to describe my many projects but this short essay would turn into something rather long. In my six month internship I have recorded just about 60 noteworthy projects so I will spare you all of the details. The short of it is I had many responsibilities, I worked in many aspects of the company, and I was not underappreciated or underutilized. I would recommend this company to anyone who cares about what they do and the quality of their work. You will find no one here who puts forth a halfhearted effort or lets anything but the best possible product be shipped to the customer. I am grateful to have worked for such a company.

I have learned that the only limiting factors in the creation of a great company are people who say “It can’t be done.” You won’t find anyone saying that here. There truly has been 30 years of excellence and innovation coming from Boehringer and I am glad to have been a part of it.