August 23, 2024

Meet Jack Fels, a junior majoring in electrical engineering. As a member of Mizzou Racing, Fels decided to pursue electrical engineering because of his interest in working with computer hardware.

“Ever since I was a kid, I always liked computers and technology,” he said. “Circuit boards always seemed like magic, and I wanted to learn how to make my own and fully understand what they do.”

This summer, Fels was in Kansas undertaking an internship at Garmin. We asked him a few questions about the experience.

Tell us about your internship at Garmin. What’s your role and primary responsibility?

My internship at Garmin involved aviation electrical design engineering with the sensors and actuators team. I have been working on prototypes, testing platforms for inertial sensors and flight controls and updating some data analysis tools to be more user-friendly. Most of my projects involved schematic and PCB design in Cadence before the assembly process and testing of the units.

What’s a typical day like?

What I do day-to-day changes pretty often. During the design phase, I will spend a lot of time at my desk in Cadence. I will also confer with my mentor and other engineers on the team whenever I have questions about a design or need advice. I start with schematic design, sometimes adapting proven designs, sometimes designing circuits from scratch. I then move on to placement and routing, and decide things like PCB shape, part locations, design constraints and how each trace should be routed. Everything goes through a design review process before it can be purchased and assembled.

During assembly and testing, I spend a lot of time on the workbench troubleshooting issues and reworking solutions. I also spend time configuring software to work with the hardware. Day-to-day, I use Cadence and Python as well as writing documentation.

How did Mizzou Engineering Career Services assist you with securing or preparing for this internship?

I wouldn’t have been able to get the chance to work here if not for the Career Fair. Being able to walk up to employers, show my work to them and participate in next-day interviews is invaluable for getting jobs and career development. Career Services’ dedication to maintaining relationships with recruiters is what allows for events like career fairs.

What have you enjoyed most working at Garmin?

I enjoy the level of work I am receiving. From day one, I was given the reins of real projects that benefit the team and future projects. It feels good knowing my work won’t disappear as soon as I leave.

The company culture here is also great. Everyone I work with is driven and committed, and I haven’t met a single person who doesn’t like their job. Everyone here is welcoming and wants to help you succeed.

What have you learned from your internship experience?

I have learned a lot about electrical design. One of the most important responsibilities of my team is ensuring the reliability of systems. I have been learning about how to make electrical systems as reliable as possible and all of the best practices that come along with that. I’ve also learned how to make engineering software tools, allowing computers to do the heavy lifting when it comes to data analysis and visualization.

What advice would you give other students wanting to undertake an internship in this area?

Get some projects under your belt. For me, Mizzou Racing allowed me to learn a lot about PCB design before the internship. If you know even just the basics, you will stand out to recruiters as someone who takes their education into their own hands and has the knowledge and experience to have a successful internship.

Thanks for sharing!

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