Finding family in an engineering internship
This summer, I worked at Geocosmos, a satellite photography company in Yerevan. I am a sophomore studying aerospace engineering at the University of Illinois, and most of what I know about engineering I learned in classes, so working around real engineers was highly beneficial. I applied for the engineering experience. I did not expect how much of the summer would end up being about the people.
The first project I worked on was a CAD model of a ground station that Geocosmos uses for imagery, along with an add-on ultra-high-frequency, or UHF, antenna. The difficulty of this project was ensuring the CAD model had the correct measurements and range of movement for the UHF boom arm. I had to go to the ground station and manually measure every part to create an accurate digital representation. Using Onshape, I built a working model of the ground station and how its az/el motor rotates. Then, using that digital ground station, I was able to create the UHF boom arm add-on and check wind loading, ground clearance and other constraints.
Next, I built two software tools: Geo-assist and ME-assist. Geo-assist is a fully local AI tool that runs on the in-house virtual machine. Its primary purpose is to ingest sensitive documents and allow users to prompt the system about those documents. It also cites the source it uses, lowering the amount of time needed to sift through documents on OneDrive. The other tool, ME-assist, is a mechanical engineering assistant that is not local. It uses API keys to answer mechanical engineering questions and pulls from reference information built into its code. It gives the team a reliable application to check against.
My last project was developing an inspection and maintenance procedure for one of the ground stations. It includes weekly, monthly and annual checklists, a master log and many procedural walkthroughs. The final maintenance document was more than 100 pages, detailing how to maintain the station, address software alerts and replace consumables. This is the document that keeps the station running, so I could not afford to guess on any step.
Outside of work, our group traveled all over Armenia, and my favorite place was Karahunj. Karahunj is a field of standing stones in Syunik. Researchers believe the holes bored through these stones were used to track the sun and stars thousands of years ago. The wind ran through my hair as I looked out at the lavender flowers and mountains in the distance. Apart from its history, it is the most beautiful place I have seen.
If asked about the best part of this experience, I would have to say the people. My coworkers were very warm and went out of their way to include me even though I was struggling with the language. One memory that will stick with me is when our team finished a meeting and went to a mall to get food and play VR laser tag. I was two weeks into my internship, yet it already felt like I was part of the family. That is the best example I can give of the warmth of the Armenian people.
