BGSU engineering major excels during summer co-op at Johns Manville

Senior Tim Pozda credits his comprehensive BGSU education with preparing him for the opportunity

Bowling Green State University senior Tim Pozda entered into his summer engineering co-op with Johns Manville feeling both excited and anxious about the coming months of work with the manufacturing giant.

As the mechanical and manufacturing engineering technology major quickly learned, he would be on the front line, involved in lab work, testing, process changes and expected to help guide a significant project at the company's Waterville, Ohio, facility near Toledo.

“You go into this kind of internship knowing what to do since you’ve had the classwork and the training, but it is both exciting and a little shocking to see the responsibilities that come your way,” Pozda said. “At this point in your life, in some ways, you still feel like a kid. But you also realize this is the real world, where you put everything you have learned into practice.”

This fall, BGSU will offer three reimagined engineering programs in the School of Engineering that strategically align with growing industry demands. Among them is the mechanical and manufacturing engineering degree, which will build on the success of its previous accredited mechanical and manufacturing engineering technology degree.

The shift is being driven by the escalating requirement for mechanical and manufacturing engineering across northwestern Ohio, the Midwest and the nation in semiconductor, electric vehicle and appliance manufacturing.

Valuable experience

Within the first few weeks of his co-op, Pozda was involved in a large project that included running a secondary line of piping through the manufacturing facility to serve as a backup system. He also conducted tests on building products and checked for possible defects.

Another major project that Pozda worked on during the co-op involved updating an older chemical storage tank to safely store new chemicals. In addition to inspecting the tank for structural integrity, he oversaw the removal of old piping and the installation of new pipes.

“This was an $80,000 project that involved a lot of contractors, and I was in charge of them,” Pozda said. “It was a lot of responsibility, but very encouraging to see the level of trust they have in my education and my ability to do the job.”

Tom Matthews, a process technology leader at Johns Manville, said Pozda provided exactly what the company looks for in its summer co-op hires and has been a great addition to the Johns Manville team.

“The skills he brought from his undergraduate experience at BGSU allowed us to give him a fairly complex project,” Matthews said. “Tim quickly learned the ropes and was able to completely execute his project. Having him on the team was a huge benefit. Not only did it provide a great experience for Tim, it was also a benefit for the overall team, as it allowed each of us to mentor Tim and guide him through the project.”

Pozda said lessons from many of his BGSU classes have come into play throughout his co-op. He said his classroom experience in drafting, AutoCAD, fluid dynamics and the property of materials provided a solid foundation for everything on which he has worked this summer.

When he returns to campus this fall for his senior year, Pozda expects to share many of the experiences and lessons from his co-op time with his fellow engineering majors.

“My classes really set me up for success. It is almost shocking how well prepared I was going into this co-op,” Pozda said. “I have been amazed at how well this company handles safety issues. I’ll also take with me their emphasis on utilizing a proper management structure and how you manage a factory and its efficiency to run a well-oiled machine.

“The co-op has been a very valuable experience for me in so many ways.”