The Polytechnic provided me with so many opportunities to dive into the real-life applications of the theory we discussed in lectures. These experiences led to internships, and the internships led to job opportunities!
Eryn Sitar
Mechanical Engineering Technology, Automation and Systems Integration Engineering Technology '21
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Eryn Sitar

Mechanical Engineering Technology, Automation and Systems Integration Engineering Technology '21
Engineer I for Matrix Technologies, Inc.

Who would you like to thank as you finish your time at Purdue and start your career?

Mom & Dad – without them being my huge support system, I wouldn’t have pushed myself as hard as I did to achieve as many things as I have. They always helped me with everything from homework to speeches for clubs.

Dylan Imbus & Baylen Jobe – TAs for labs – they were incredibly helpful when I didn’t understand what was happening and made harder concepts seem easy to understand. They were also willing to discuss things like grad school which peaked my interest at one point in time.

Paul McPherson – not only for being one of the best professors I have had the opportunity to learn under, but also being incredibly helpful in the search of internships, jobs, or with school work in general. He is a huge support system in itself for MET students.

What specific classes helped prepare you for your new job?

  • MET 284 Introduction to Industrial Controls – inspired my passion for automation systems
  • MET 245 Manufacturing Systems – inspired my desire to work on a manufacturing floor
  • MFET 344 Automated Manufacturing Processes – deepened my understanding for the automation behind manufacturing products
  • MFET 374 Manufacturing Integration I – introduced me to the networking side of things, how computers communicate with automation systems
  • MFET 248 – introduced me to robotics and sparked more interests in them
  • ENGT 480/481 Capstone I & II – developed more of an understanding regarding the entire project: research, planning & development, and testing

If you had a favorite class, project, experience, or professor, what/who was it, and why?

My favorite experiences were the oxyacetylene torch lab in MET 143 and the hammer project in MET 245. The torch lab was just a super cool experience at a way to cut metal. The hammer project was interesting because we learned how to use so many tools such as Vericut software to program g-code, quality measuring tools to test the accuracy of the cutting tools, and the lathe and CNC machines to cut the material.