Intern Spotlight: Spencer Holgate
Every summer we cannot wait to welcome back interns into our building. Although this summer looked a lot different due to COVID-19, we are so excited to highlight each intern we had this summer!
Spencer Holgate
School/Degree: University of Minnesota – Computer Science and Chinese
Internship: Mechanical Engineering Intern
Spencer attends the U of M and is expected to graduate in 2022. When he is not working or in school he likes to hang out with friends and play video games. Spencer also enjoys distance running and cooking.
Spencer started out on the production floor building and wiring panels. This experience brings in a unique perspective to the engineering team as he has used the documentation and processes developed first hand. His understanding of what production needs has helped create very detailed, yet simple to follow work instructions for products that have requirements that are difficult to capture outside of a work instruction. In addition to manufacturing engineering, Spencer has recently been able to shift gears and get involved with software development. He is working alongside of our Automation Engineer Zach Rausch to develop additional functionality in our label automation package.
What are your career goals going forward and how did this internship prepare you?: I think it would be awesome to find a way to integrate my Programming and Chinese degrees. This internship was great and I got a lot of experience with coding in a practical setting compared to my academic experience.
Does This Internship Change Your Thoughts on Manufacturing and Your Opinion on Manufacturing as Career?: I now realize how useful it is to be experienced enough to make software to assist the manufacturing process.
Highlights of the Summer Here: It has been a unique experience having many people working from home and adapting to the situation.
What Are You Looking Forward to in the Next Year: I’m excited to expand my knowledge of programming and reaching a fluent level of Chinese.
Typical Day as an Intern Here: Typically, I will meet with Zach – one of our Automation Engineers at some point during the day. We go over the structure and development process of features we are adding to the Label Manager. Then we work on completing those tasks from the existing code.
Favorite Thing About Design Ready Controls: I really appreciate the work environment and how flexible it is for me to adjust my work responsibilities to better suit my newly switched major to Computer Science. It really made this summer a valuable experience for me!
Favorite Thing About Internship: Everyone I work with is really great and cooperative which really makes this a good place to work!
What was it Like Having an Internship During COVID-19?: Having to learn things on my own was definitely a challenge while people were working from home.
Key Takeaway?: I am just happy I got the chance to spend the summer here and focus my work tasks to better suit my major change. I really appreciate the opportunities I’ve been given here at Design Ready Controls.
