The featured student this week is Yishmael LaMay, a chemical engineering major from Franklin, Tennessee, who worked for Shaw Industries in Dalton, Georgia.
During his rotation, LaMay worked in the fibers division technical group. The department consists of various technicians who specialize in extrusion, synthetic turf, and polymer-based chemistry. His responsibilities consisted of gathering and analyzing data from trials and designing experiments related to stain resistive additives, synthetic turf, carpet fiber performance, and more.
One of the main projects he was tasked with, was to design and fabricate a prototype that could test for resiliency in the different types of yarn. His favorite part, however, was getting the opportunity to see how a manufacturing environment operates and works together to accomplish a goal.
LaMay believes that his co-op experience was extremely beneficial.
“One of the fears that people have with a co-op is that they will not be able to graduate on time,” LaMay said. “As much as that doesn’t sound too appealing, the experience gained is magnified.”
“You also have the benefit of increasing your network base, which can include full-time employment opportunities and building your own professional profile.”