Benjamin Steger

Mrs. McGrath
Gifted English 9
4-23-11
Reflection

On the 21st shado!ed a tool design engineer at Boeing named Meghan "in#elmann.
She is c$rrentl% ma#ing tools to &$ild 'arts for the (-1) 'lane. *he analog% she $sed to descri&e
!hat she did !as ma#ing a model. She said that !hen %o$ ma#e a model %o$ ha+e all the 'arts
%o$ '$t together and her jo& is to ma#e the tools to &$ild those 'arts li#e molds and 'aint. She is
in a rotation at Boeing !here e+er% eight months she s!itches jo&s to tr% a different t%'e of
engineering and at the end she !ill choose !here she !ants to !or# 'ermanentl%. *his is the first
rotation and she !ill s!itch in a fe! months. ,s a tool engineer she has !or#ed on the --1./ (-
1)/ .0./ and might !or# on a 'art for the S'ace Station soon.
n a t%'ical ho$r a tool engineer co$ld do +ario$s things. sa! her do man% different
acti+ities1 changing the design of a tool that a factor% made a mista#e on so the% co$ld $se it
an%!a% as a tool an%!a%/ designing a tool $sed to add !ires to the f$selage of the (-1)/ and
organi2ing a gra'h to see !hat their gro$' has finished and !hat the still need to do. *he% also
ha+e a lot of meetings and !or# !ith their gro$' together to ma#e different tools the% need.
reall% enjo%ed shado!ing at Boeing. Meghan and the other 'eo'le in her gro$' !ere
+er% nice and ta$ght me a lot of things a&o$t &eing a tool engineer. !atched them !or# for a
long time !hich !as +er% interesting &eca$se the% e3'lained !hat the% !ere doing and it !as
cool seeing !hat the% !ere ma#ing and learning ho! the tools are $sed. tho$ght it !as reall%
interesting !hen to$red the man$fact$ring line !ith another engineer. *he% sho!ed me things
that the% designed and told me !hat it did. sa! the different 'lanes getting &$ilt from seeing a
design of a tool to seeing the tools !ith 'arts of the 'lane &eing made to seeing the finished
'lanes and seeing one getting tested at the end. *he onl% thing didn4t reall% li#e !as that
didn4t onl% shado! one 'erson shado!ed a lot of different tool engineers. !as ho'ing co$ld
see !hat one 'erson !hat do in a da% &$t it !as act$all% hel'f$l getting to tal# to a lot of
different engineers &eca$se got a fe! different +ie!s of &eing an engineer.
learned so m$ch a&o$t engineering d$ring m% shado!ing. ,t the &eginning #ne! a
little &it a&o$t aeros'ace engineering &$t no! #no! so m$ch a&o$t the man% different careers
%o$ can ha+e as an aeros'ace engineer. 5$st in ma#ing one 'lane there are s%stem engineers/
design engineers/ tool engineers/ test engineers/ str$ct$ral engineers/ and man% more. Since
Meghan !as doing rotations she #ne! a lot a&o$t the different jo&s and e3'lained !hat the% all
did and ho! the% !or#ed together to ma#e a 'lane. also learned a lot a&o$t !hat tool engineers
do e3actl%. *he% ha+e to design the tools to &$ild 'arts as !ell as ma#e s$re all the tools !or#
and the% ha+e to fi3 the designs if the% don4t. *he% also said that the% li#e their jo& &eca$se the%
feel li#e the% are hel'ing and a &ig 'art of ma#ing things for the arm% and hel'ing ma#e 'rod$cts
for Boeing. ,lso the% li#e &eing a&le to !al# to the ne3t room and see all the tools the% j$st
designed &eing $sed to ma#e ne! 'lanes. learned good colleges to go to and starting salaries
thro$gh &eing 'romoted to a le+el fi+e em'lo%ee. learned so m$ch a&o$t Boeing too and
e+er%thing that the% ma#e and do 6e3ce't the to' secret st$ff7 li#e !hat the% ma#e/ !ho the sell
too/ and their histor%.
Before this !as not s$re a&o$t !hat career 'ath !anted to ta#e. !as thin#ing a&o$t
&eing a m$sician/ a scientist/ or engineer to name j$st a fe!. 8o! after shado!ing thin#
!o$ld &e reall% interested in &eing an engineer of some t%'e. 4m not s$re !hat t%'e of engineer
!o$ld &e &$t thin# some t%'e of ,eros'ace engineering !o$ld &e a good jo& for me. Boeing
seems li#e a good 'lace to !or# &eca$se the jo&s there are +er% interesting/ the% 'a% 'rett% good/
and the% ha+e a good !or# en+ironment. 4m still do not #no! !hat !ant to do for s$re &$t this
is definitel% a 'ossi&ilit%.
thin# &eing an engineer fits m% 'ersonalit% for s$re. am reall% good at math and
science !hich is hel'f$l for engineering. ,lso li#e !or#ing alone as !ell as !or#ing !ith
'eo'le !hich is also good &eca$se Meghan and her gro$'ed !or#ed together a lot &$t the% also
did some 'rojects alone. also am +er% anal%tical and logical !hich is another im'ortant trait
engineers ha+e. li#e thin#ing a&o$t things and fig$ring o$t 'ro&lems !hich is e3actl% !hat the
tool engineers shado!ed did.
ha+e &enefited a lot from this e3'erience o+erall. reall% enjo%ed it and learned so
m$ch. ha+e ne+er reall% tho$ght +er% m$ch a&o$t !hat !anted to ha+e as a jo& &$t this ga+e
me an idea of jo&s as !ell as colleges. learned so m$ch a&o$t &eing an engineer and co$ld
definitel% see m%self &eing an engineer in the f$t$re. also no! #no! a lot a&o$t Boeing !hich
co$ld ma%&e !or# at. also learned a&o$t colleges that are good for engineering li#e Rolla and
Mi22o$ !hich is !here the engineers !ent and the% also said "ashington 9ni+ersit% and St.
:o$is 9ni+ersit% had great engineer 'rograms also. reall% enjo%ed jo& shado!ing and am
reall% glad did it. thin# it !as +er% hel'f$l.