From my experience at TPI Composites, I learned so much about manufacturing composites and worked with some incredible people.
As the intern, I was assigned some mundane jobs that the other engineers didn’t want to touch. Like redesigning the plastic insert for the main spar core layup — a simple design I measured with a caliper and drew in Solidworks. But, I also got to help with some harder problems like the wrinkles at the root of the skins of the turbine blades and the trailing edge bond cap.
I decided the best way to solve the issues with the trailing edge bond cap was to roll up my sleeves and do the layup with the associates while documenting it. I started with the low hanging fruit like labeling for ply orientation and sorting out work instructions. Then, I went to work fixing the wrinkling at the trailing edge of the part. Many solutions were tested, but the best one ended up being the simplest one and reduced post-layup repair time by half.