Students improve production, negotiate deals and land jobs
OXFORD – Eighteen students in the University of Mississippi's Haley Barbour Center for Manufacturing Excellence spent their summers solving real-world problems for Mississippi manufacturing companies.
Sponsored by a $200,000 Robert M. Hearin Foundation grant, the students interned at small-to-medium facilities with limited funding for summer internships.
"The support of the Hearin Foundation has provided an outlet to expose our students to the wealth of career options here in Mississippi while highlighting our smaller manufacturing firms which are so crucial to the economic health of our region," said Scott Kilpatrick, CME executive director.
Karson Wardell, a senior mechanical engineering major from Laurel, worked in Clinton at Taylor Power Systems Inc., an industrial generator manufacturer.
"They make anything from small residential generators to generators they use in oil fields," Wardell said. "Each generator is custom, where the client has a plethora of options for how each unit is manufactured. A unit may never be made again, so it's a complete learning curve each time."
Karson Wardell, a senior mechanical engineering major at the University of Mississippi, completed a summer internship sponsored by a Robert M. Hearin Foundation grant at industrial generator manufacturer Taylor Power. Wardell was so successful in his internship that the company has offered him a job after graduation. (Submitted photo)
Wardell conducted several time studies, wrote work instructions for new assembly operations, worked to improve production flow and implemented quality checks.
"This internship gave me a rare opportunity to go into a company with the freedom to voice my ideas," he said.
Steve Duke, director of Taylor Power, praised Wardell's manufacturing knowledge and ability to acclimate to any assignment he was given.
"Karson was invited to some of our weekly production team meetings and was fully prepared with reporting on his work and on his findings," Duke said. "Karson showed up to work daily ready to go, had a positive attitude and dressed in a manner that portrays him as a leader.
"The best compliment was his supervisor telling me that Karson is the type of project leader and worker that we need on the Taylor Power team."
Though the internships ended Aug. 11, many students will have to access to more opportunities at their companies. Taylor Power has offered Wardell a job following graduation.
"As many organizations around the state are working to slow down the trend of 'brain drain' here in Mississippi, we are seeing the CME students that take part in this program not only gain applicable job experience through these internships, but many of the host industries are extending additional opportunities for extended co-op experiences or even full-time employment offers upon graduation," Kilpatrick said.
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