Part of our four-year Mechanical Engineering studies program at HAN University of Applied Sciences is an internship in the second year.
When searching for a shared internship, we came across an interesting assignment at MPS Systems within their Engineering department, provided by HAN. After meeting with André Verkuijlen, Development Engineer at MPS and our supervisor during the internship, we began our program in September 2018.
For six months (until February 2019) we would work at MPS three days a week, combined with two days of studying.
Understanding Printing Productivity
Our assignment at MPS is to investigate improvement opportunities of print quality, by measuring certain parameters of the press and giving our recommendations.
The first step of our internship was to learn more about the company and the printing process.
During the first few weeks, we learned a lot about the flexo printing process, and the way MPS presses work. Especially interesting to us are the technical details of the press, as the machine consists of many driven and rotating parts — a great example of fine engineering!
After running multiple measurement tests on the printhead of the press, we analyzed the results and made a design for an alternative attachment of the mandrel. Using a CAD program, we made a 3D design and a prototype.
With this prototype, MPS can take our recommendations further into their R&D process.
Experiences as MPS interns
It was fascinating to watch a product evolve at MPS, from scratch to a running machine.
As every step of the development process is done in-house, we could learn how a project is first drawn out in Engineering, and then makes its way through Purchasing, Planning and Assembly, until finally assembled into an impressive new printing press.
Our MPS colleagues have been very helpful during the internship period.
Everybody is willing to share their knowledge and experiences with us, and patiently show how everything works. We’ve also had great support from André, our company supervisor!
Although the assignment was quite challenging and very high-level, it has been a rewarding and educational time for us both. Cooperation between us also went really well, and we learned a lot about each other!
We would definitely recommend other students to consider an internship at MPS, as long as the assignment is well-described and is a good fit with your studies.
Are you interested in an internship or dissertation at MPS? There are many possibilities! Click on the image below to get in touch.
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