A Year With KMI
A Year With KMI
Joe Giroux, KMI Intern
2 minute read
There has not been a single day of my life that I have not wanted to be an engineer. From a young age, I loved ripping things apart and seeing how they go back together. When I reached my junior year of high school, I needed to figure out my schedule for my senior year, but due to declining funding and student population, I had run out of relevant classes to take at Ishpeming High School. That year, while attending a job fair at Northern Michigan University, I met Liza Fust, KMI’s Director of Operations. She explained to me what KMI does, and I immediately knew I wanted to work with them. Through the following summer, along with Marquette-Alger Regional Education Service Agency (MARESA), we organized a two-hour daily block internship to serve as a class credit.
When I started my internship here, I had little to no experience in Computer-Aided Design (CAD). With the help of the KMI engineering team, I soon started designing my own projects in CAD and bringing them to reality through 3D printing. In early September, I was given my first real project: helping Tom Ziegler, KMI Electrical Engineer, and Sam Cassidy, KMI Mechatronics Engineer, design a capture target for different REACCH prototypes. After three renditions, I was finally happy with the design I came up with and presented it to Sam. They continued to use that project throughout the early stages of REACCH testing.
Throughout the 2024-25 school year, I started working more and more independently. I went from working directly under the engineers to working alongside them. As the year concluded, Sam or Tom began to give me only vague descriptions of projects before allowing me to lead the task on my own to help me develop my research and design skills. Due to this, my abilities have grown significantly.
When I started at KMI, I knew I wanted to be an engineer, but I didn't know what kind. At the beginning of my internship, I was leaning towards becoming a robotics engineer. Throughout the year, I was exposed to the pros and cons of several engineering disciplines. Working with Tom, I experienced many aspects of robotics and electrical engineering; working with Sam, I learned all the ins and outs of mechanical and mechatronics engineering. Because of the experience I have gathered, I will be starting my freshman year at Michigan Tech as a Mechanical Engineering major.
I could not be more thankful for the opportunity to learn from KMI’s engineers. It is because of this internship that I not only know what I want to do with my career, but also have more experience in engineering than most entering college. I would once again like to thank Austin, Sam, Tom, the Directors, and all of the other engineers and employees I have worked with through the past nine months. I look forward to staying in contact and working with KMI in the future.
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