Bronco Spotlight: Jeromy Dobbin
Bachelor of Science, mechanical engineering, 2016
Product Engineer at Hi-Lex
I design and test window regulators that will be installed in Honda, Audi, Volkswagen or Toyota vehicles. I use Catia V5 CAD software to design 3D models per customer standards. I build and test prototype window regulators with guidance from the customer. I also perform stress analysis on all components within the design to determine life cycle and reliability of part.
What is the most rewarding and the most challenging part of your job?
The most rewarding part of my job is the ability to work within a team on a design and receive input from each member of the team. Being able to see a design that I have worked on for months finally put into a prototype design and being tested helps me learn the benefits and flaws of my design. The most difficult part of my job is dealing in a customer driven business where cost and time are the highest priorities, which make it more difficult to have many solutions to a problem. Also a challenging part is dealing with customers that are located in different countries that speak different languages, as the language barrier is sometimes difficult to overcome.
If you had a campus job or internship, how did they impact your career development?
I had an internship every summer during my time at WMU, and it greatly aided in the skills and knowledge I have now. I worked at a water heater manufacturing facility (Bradford White), a fire protection research and development group (Viking Corp) and an injection mold/machine build group (Summit Polymers), which helped broaden my knowledge in the process of how my degree could be applied in different ways. These places were critical in helping me using my studies from school and apply those skills into the 'real world'. I was able to determine that I excelled more at CAD, and now have a job that I am able to use the design skills I learned at in all the different engineering groups I worked for.
What advice do you have for others pursuing a career similar to yours?
A piece of advice that I would give for someone pursuing a career in CAD or especially in the automotive field is make sure that this is the field you want. I would definitely try to obtain an internship in the automotive field. It is a difficult business, as price and time drive the automotive field. For the CAD side of my career, make sure you have a passion for design work. Whether it is reverse engineering a video game controller or a remote. Make sure you enjoy the CAD side of it. If you have a passion for CAD and striving to make improvements any time you can, then this is the profession for you.