Charles (Chad) Volk
Mechanical Engineering Professional
Phone:
440-530-0609
Email:
LinkedIn:
www.linkedin.com/in/charlesvolk/
Graduation:
April 2021
About Me
As an engineering professional with skills in multiple CAD software, I am eager to apply my experience with design processes and new product development in the mechanical engineering industry. During my co-ops at Chase Doors and Emerson, I gained knowledge in project coordination/testing and the design of custom-order doors, which catalyzed my passion for the development of new products. My ideal position would combine my enthusiasm for innovation, working on the development of new products, and being an integral part of the design process.
At UC, I have been involved with the College of Engineering and Applied Science (CEAS) Tribunal, as well as currently being a Committee Head for the CEAS Engineering Diplomats. Outside of school I enjoy going to CrossFit, hanging out with friends, going to UC sporting events, trying out new recipes, playing video games, and exploring the outdoors. More recently with the COVID-19 pandemic , I have been going on backpacking trips around the Midwest with my friends. My most recent trip was in the Nantahala National Forest in North Carolina. I experienced for the first time what it's like to sleep outside at temperatures below freezing. I cannot stress enough that it is better to have a heavier backpack with warm clothes, than it is to wake up in the middle of the night cold!
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Co-Op Experiences
January 2019 – December 2019
Mechanical Design Engineering Co-op
The role of my design position was to produce drawings for custom order steel sliding doors and swing/sliding cold storage doors. The design process required me to be constantly working with AutoCAD and Inventor. This would start with the initial communication with customers to determine the specifications for their requested door. After an order was placed for a custom door, that would then come to my desk, where I would draft all the drawings that were needed for the door to be fully manufactured. This co-op taught me how to think outside of the box when it comes to design work. As each door is custom ordered, it required innovative solutions to meet the customer's needs.
May 2018 – August 2018
Mechanical Engineering Support Co-op
Through my second co-op at Emerson on the Refrigeration Engineering Support team, I gained experience with competitive testing through the tensile testing of mechanical copper fittings used in the HVAC-R industry. This project involved the cutting of copper tubes to industry standard sizes, ranging from ¼” to 1 ½”, and using a RIGID press tool to crimp the fittings onto the tubes. The testing was completed utilizing a MTS tensile testing machine. From the results, Minitab was used to determine the statistical significance as well as creating charts to be used in a formal report.
August 2017 – December 2017
Refrigeration Scroll Engineering Co-op
My first co-op consisted of one large project and a few smaller projects. My largest project was the pilot testing of a new compressor model and is discussed below. This co-op taught me a lot of non-technical skills. With this being my first job in the Engineering industry, it taught me how to learn from other engineers, ensuring that I ask questions if I feel something is missed, and to also fully understand the scope of a project with the reasoning behind it. One other thing I valued about Emerson was its wonderful workplace culture. I am grateful for the many experiences that contributed to this as it has given me a high standard that I look for in potential employers.
Projects/Involvement
SENIOR DESIGN PROJECT
My senior design project involved 5 other mechanical engineering students. Our goal was to convert a standard industrial platform cart into a fully electric, self-propelled cart that may eventually be sold by the manufacturer. This project is sponsored by Hamilton Caster, who manufactures carts and trailers. The basic requirements of the cart are that it will be able to achieve a minimum speed of 3 mph up a 3° incline, carry a 4000lb load, and travel 10 miles between charges. This project consists of two teams, one mechanical, and one electrical. Being on the electrical team is very interesting, as there are many required skills that I have not learned throughout my undergraduate career. Choosing the batteries required creating a calculator in MATLAB to determine number of modules needed in series and parallel based off our torque/power calculations. After choosing the batteries, we selected other electrical components such as a current sensor, battery management system, motor controllers, and an Arduino Mega. Once all the electrical components were selected, wires were cut and soldered. This was done to connect the batteries, motors, microcontroller, and other controls components.
ENGINEERING DIPLOMATS COMMITTEE HEAD
During my time at the University of Cincinnati, I have also been involved within the engineering community. I have been a Committee Head for the College of Engineering and Applied Science (CEAS) Engineering Diplomats for nearly two years. The role of the Engineering Diplomats is to help the Chinese students who are participating in the Joint Co-op Institute (JCI) program. The JCI program is where the engineering curriculum at Cincinnati is exported to Chongqing University (CQU). Those students will then come to Cincinnati for their senior year and receive their degrees from the University of Cincinnati. In this role, I have gained experience working on budgeting and planning of events that were attended by over 60 students. I also collaborated with other committee heads and CEAS staff on the successful arrival of 79 Chinese students from CQU by organizing events to welcome the students on campus. With the completion of each event, I presented to the JCI faculty the results of the event and how to improve them.
PILOT TESTING
During my first co-op at Emerson, I individually managed the pilot testing and qualification of 54 new compressors that were developed by my manager. This project frequently required me to work with other departments such as the Sound and Vibrations Department, where the compressors were individually tested in multiple anechoic chambers at Emerson. This collaboration involved working with technicians to ensure the correct set-up of testing procedures. This project opened my eyes to the different fields within mechanical engineering, as I had only completed one year of college up until that point. While I did not get to complete this project, as my co-op rotation had ended before it was completed, I valued the interdepartmental and project management skills that I gained.
Resume
