December Arrives, Last Post

Hey everyone, this will most likely be my last post because everything is due by next Friday, so baring anything crazy happening this will be it. When I first started at Levy back in May it seemed like such a long time before I would be done with this Co-Op and starting back at MSU to finish my degree, but just when things seem normal all of sudden it’s over. Now that brings us to here, Yes, I'm very excited to return to School and finish up my degree as well as see all my friends again, however I feel like I will miss the atmosphere around Levy and the relationships I have built with the engineering team. I also feel a little scared because it’s starting to hit me that I've arrived at the point in my life when everything depends on me and the responsibility of life has become more evident than it ever has before. I have traveled a long road to get where I currently am and I can still tell that there is a long road ahead.

As for Levy, this week was a nightmare for commuting to work. Between Roads flooding just about everywhere in the state to the first snow cover, the traffic has be horrible. Some of the projects I worked on this week include more modifications to the Wallace Stone file, as well as the CMS project and wrapping things up with proposal modifications. I've also worked on minor things like AutoCAD drawing modifications and measuring future fencing perimeters for our India site. Most of it was busy work that takes time and patience to do. However as the following weeks progress here at Levy I can honestly say I have learned a ton form my peers. From Engineering Standards that are practiced to simple communication techniques to help with any project.

So closing I would like to thanks Al Popp, he has been a great mentor of someone with great confidence and strength, Also Thanks to John Schwarz, to all the days of working in the field together and learn practical engineering experience, Thanks to Mike Susko for your experience and answering any and all questions concerned with electrical engineering, Thanks to Joe Gretch for help with designs and over views on all projects I've had a part of since stating. I would like to thank the Levy Co. for giving me this opportunity to engage my knowledge and skills with in the company.

Go Green!

Happy Thanksgiving

Hello Everyone, I know this post comes a few days late but because of the short holiday work week I decided to hold off last weeks post and combine it with this short weeks post. Anyways Thanksgiving is tomorrow and I cant wait to get some of moms homemade cooking in me, I can already smell the turkey in oven.

Anyways at Levy I have been super busy, John and I went out to the landfill twice last week to survey elevations, this was a very tough and very cold experience. Before going to the landfill wasn't that bad but add sub 35degree, 30mph wind to the equation everything comes a bit more difficult. So the next time you see a surveying crew just know that the job isn't as easy as it may seem. Also last week I completed work on the 612 conveyor drawing and sent that over to John for approval. The main project I involved myself with last week was the CMS copper plant walkway, Getting this correct and safe are the key focal points of my proposal.

Now onto this short week, one of the main projects going on right now is Wallace Stone Jaw Crusher Replacement. This last week as been filled with computer aided drafting. I have been generating 3D models of the structure, crusher, and many other components. This will be to give others a better grasp of what the changes will be. The 3D generations will be a assets in the construction faze as well. So the better part of 3 days has been dedicated to this project.

Over the last week and a half I have used not only my knowledge in CAD, but also my practical experience  from many past group projects that you attain through different ME classes. Keeping it simple is how I would best describe at how I approached the last week and half. On another note, Levy's office atmosphere has really picked up around the holiday's which has a nice feel to it.

By the way my Spartans are going to the Big Ten Championship Game  as winners of the Legends Division, I cant wait to watch them win it all in Indianapolis. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!!!!! Go Lions

As the Weather Changes

Hey everyone, its been another interesting week here at Levy. This week the weather in Michigan went from cold to out right snow on the ground and old man winter finally making his presence. This is starting to drive me a little mad because people seem to forget how to navigate I-94 when the weather changes. So now I can literally add 25-30 plus mins of morning and afternoon commute from Home to Work and vice versus. If you cant tell this is really frustrating me now more than rush hour traffic has since starting.

Now onto Levy Projects, As I stated last week I was in Charleston, SC and yes the trip was awesome. John and I measured the copper building out to give us and better Idea of what we need to design for the fall protection. While observing the copper building in Charleston we notice the steel structure or for better words the "lack" of steel structure that makes up the skeleton of the building, Seeing this got us very concerned for safety. So once I got back into the office I talk with my supervisor (Al) about the concerns that I had with the building, he suggested that I calculate the Stress/Strain and Deflections on the steel columns and connecting beams. This required me to use my previous class knowledge of Statics(CE221) and Deformable Solids(ME222), this was actually a fun realization that the classes I have took have truly come in hand on this project.(So thank you Professor Baladi and Professor Liu). After crunching some numbers I found the beams and columns were adequate for the loads but only had a 11.5 safety factor(SCARY). So after talking it over with Al we decided that more steel was need to allow us to modify the structure so we could continue our design for the fall protection walkway. I'm currently working on the design in CAD and should have proposal ready early next week.

On top of that I've also been working on a redesign for the engineering office area, so we can add a new cubical for the new Project Manager for the Granulator project at the Rouge Severstal Site. This consist of drawing the modifications into the current floor plan CAD file and ordering the new materials necessary for the construction of the new cubical. Also the existing wall well be torn out and we are having contractors come in next week to give us pricing. We should have this project completed in a few weeks. Below is a picture of the area that is to be converted to the new office.

Also here is photos of the GTMS Copper Plant and the piles of picked shred that has been stockpiled.

Charleston, SC

Hey everyone, tomorrow I will be heading out to Charleston, SC for 3days. John and I will be taking measurements of their copper plant so we can adequately design fall protection for roof access during maintenance. We will be using a array of equipment to attain the correct measurement as well as carefully deciding what the best way to perform the current maintenance jobs is. This trip should provided me with knowledge of another Levy Mini Mill site as well as in field engineering experience. John and I will have to design a easy to install but cost effective design for the plant. This project as been in the discussion stages for about a month or so, and I have brought many ideas to the table, this will be a opportunity to determine if any of those will work. Hopefully looking forward to nice weather and a productive trip.

Stock Piles at Plants 6

Hey everyone, its been a slightly less busy week here at Levy, However I did get to climb some stockpiles for so we could measure them. We use the measurements to give a estimated value of how much material is in the pile so that they can call for a boat to come and take the pile away to be sold. Also this week we retook some arc flash safety photos to help better the Arc Flash Safety training Power Point and make the visualizations a bit more clear. So this week I used basic mathematics to figure the tonnage of the stockpiles as well as my communication skills to relay the info to the plant manager. On thing to mention is this job defiantly requires you to be physically fit as I'm a average athlete and climbing those stockpiles can be one heck of a challenge. On the other hand I'm preparing for my trip to Charleston on Thursday, I will be packing tonight I need to remember to bring certain things, however this trip should be great field experience and I hope to have some fun while down there.

Everyone staying busy

Hey everyone sorry this post comes a few days late, but as you can tell by the title I've been extremely busy and haven't had allot of time to write anything. Anyways to get you up to speed on current events I would like to point out a few projects I've been working on. Last week I worked on throwing together a power point to help with the 3rd quarter presentation. This presentation included a list of all major engineering projects and included photos and videos highlighting certain projects. The presentation was about 25 to 30 slides long and so take at least 30 minutes at minimum to present.

Other projects last week were Wallace Stone modifications to accommodate the changes in their setup seeing they are looking at a different Jaw crusher then what was proposed before. Also John and I went up to the Crow Island site (asphalt) and survey the inventory tanks to start and new batch of data for the elevations of the two tanks. This is interesting because you really get to see and understand how the weight of certain materials can make things shift and cause problems. I also created an excel sheet and graph the difference in height among the 5 points we surveyed on each tank. So all in all I've been very busy, and a little piece of advice for all future CO-OP's if you have a moment for rest I suggest you take it because you never know when you'll have another chance.

Levy = Tigers Playoff Baseball

Hey Everyone, to start this blog off I would first like to say I hope the Tigers win the 2 remaining games against the Rangers to Advance to the World Series, both ALCS games I went to where off the charts amazing. (Pretty Convenient the the stadium is a short drive form work) Go Tigers!!!!

Now onto Levy, this week John and I took the drawing measurements from Wallace Stone and applied them to CAD files we created, now we are just tweaking things here and there to create the proposal that is necessary to get this project rolling. I also contact CSD about possibly completing a in house Levy google search engine of all our compounded CAD drawings off the G drive, they are currently reviewing this and will get back to me as soon as they figure out a good way of feasibly doing this. I also contact Russ Burke at Burns Harbor to see where they were at with my Truck displacement proposal, in which he told me they haven't decided a course action as of yet but they will address the issue at their next Lean team meeting. I was also approached by my boss to let me know that in mid-November I will be travel down to Charleston, SC and doing measurements on the Copper Plant so that we can design and implement Fall protection for annual maintenance that is performed on the Roof's AC units. This week I believe one lesson learned is that the more you communicate with people the easier it is to answer questions, so don't be afraid to pick the phone and make a call because chances are they probably have the same questions on their minds as well.

Just for Fun here was the veiw from my seat at the ALCS Tigers game.

Wallace Stone

Hey Everyone, this weeks post will be a little shorter seeing I've had two rare weekdays off this week, because I will be working over the weekend at Wallace. This week has consisted of travel and more travel. On the bright side however the meeting in Canton, Ohio was very productive and we are working together to come up with a solution to truck bed problem as well as making the trucks more efficient. I learned about working along side your peers in a team atmosphere to brainstorm solutions to a difficult problem. This weekend John and I will be working to attain infortmation necessary to assist in a Jaw Crusher Replacement. This week has been interesting and anything but dull.

Arc Flash Safety

Hey everyone it’s the end of another exciting week here at Levy, and I can tell you it’s been a little slow around the office during the week. On the upside they did have Steak in the Cafeteria this week on Wednesday; you can’t eat that good for 3 dollars anywhere. Anyways this week I helped Mike put together an Arc Flash Safety Power Point that he will be presenting at all the sites around the company.  In that I learned the importance of details and the setup for protection against electrical danger.  I was able to observe and tryout all the protective equipment that will be a part of employee’s everyday life as well as aided in taking photos of the equipment in the field. Advice to you is if you’re given a chance to experience something that may not sound interesting at first you probably should take it, this turned out to be a real interesting and knowledgeable experience that I wouldn’t have gotten elsewhere. On a side note to all you guys in the future looking at new possible job opportunities, if you plan on Commuting to work daily(excess of 30 miles) prepare for some traffic frustration; and it only gets worse as the weather become less friendly, a 45 min commute can easily become an hour and half or more. To cap things off I have a very busy week schedule next week, with trips to Wallace Stone Quarry on Monday, Canton Ohio on Wednesday, and Back to Wallace Stone Friday through Sunday.

Plant 6

Today I will be heading out to plant 6(Severstal Rouge) to measure a conveyor. After which I will draw in Cad so we can make modifications to the slag plant at the Severstal site. This will only be the 2nd time I have gone to Plant 6, so I'm excited to see what has changed since the last time I was there. I will update you once we return.

Update: Just returned form Plant 6, finished measuring conveyor for the slag plant and I shall begin to draw this up in Autocad, it shouldnt take me too long. Once finished John(co-worker) will put this into the structure drawing and set it to fit the application.

The List(so far)

Before I started I was contacted by my supervisor about going to Columbus MS, the week of the 22^nd of May, to get into the field and see one of the current Major engineering tasks they have.

Week 1 5/16

·         Filled out paper work and was introduced to corporate staff, met my fellow engineers I will be working with. Got my Computer setup and my cubicle 10’ x 8’. Discussed with my supervisor what I intend on getting out of my experience with the Company. Also participated in a conference call with the current project, GTMS in Columbus, MS.

·         Aggregates seminar and Conference call with Canton for New Jaw Crusher. Worked with Tata Steel Book-converting documents to Himalaya Steel Mill Services.

·         The Next day I became more familiarized around the office and learned how stuff was stored in the system date bases as well as attended a info seminar on products that this company deals primarily with. I also met with Vanessa Kasa(Performance improvement) and Andy Schmidt(VP of the Asphalt division). 

·         Himalaya Steel Mill Service book, as well as visited plants 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 with the head of Steel Mill Services (Tom Smith). (Attained first Project: research and further explanation at GTMS.)

·         Saginaw Asphalt (surveying 101) Surveyed Asphalt tar tanks located under Zuwalkee Bridge in Saginaw.

Week 2 (Columbus MS, With Supervisor-Severstal) 5/23

·         GTMS-Golden Triangle Mill Service

·         GTMS-Golden Triangle Mill Service

·         GTMS-Golden Triangle Mill Service-Drove 988-G

·         Meeting with Spraying System Co. about design of watering system for GTMS plant in MS, Continued to research materials and design of Project 1.

·         Design Project 1. Meeting with Matt Walter in Purchasing. Met President of company (Edward C. Levy Jr).

Week 3 5/30

·         Memorial Day

·         Worked on Designing Chute modifications for Project 1.

·         Modeled Chute modifications and confirmed materials that need to be purchased and sent to GTMS.

·         Given project to research Agglomerations and pug mills/granulators.

·         Fulton Steel Mill Services

·         Continued Design on Chutes for GTMS.

Week 4 6/6

·         Researched Pug Mills and Batch Mixers. Read Patents for making agglomerations

·         Started redrawing of BH Conveyor and chutes, Worked on Finishing the Modeling Chute Modifications and 2d drawing to apply to book

·         Continued to work on BH conveyor redraw, as well as continued research on crusher and granulators. Research info on Canton Steel Mill Services, researched and looked up info on the Jaw Crusher replacement.

·         Canton Steel Mill Services.(Timken)

·         Attained 2nd project, to design GTMS spraying system.

Week 5 6/13

·         Worked in Aggflow to model Wallace stone operations.

·         Worked on designing spraying system layout for GTMS

·         Worked on designing spraying system layout for GTMS

·         Worked on designing spraying system layout for GTMS

·         Finished BH conveyor redraw and existing chute modification.

Week 6 6/20

·         Conference call GTMS, BH chute, and Crusher research for Wallace stone.

·         Agg-Flow for Menzer, Sun S+G, Oxford, Mesa S+G. Designed and updated drawing info for the BH project.

·         Modeled BH Chute Modification, as well as modified new drawing of Chute System, Met with Joe to confirm the chute design and forward a PDF to BH-Site manager for Bids/ Approvals

·         Conference call Mellot about canton crusher, as well as continued design work on Chute footings for BH.

·         Detailed shoot drawing, redrew drawing to use correct standards, 1/4 inch steel plate; 1/2 AR guarding and 3inch Angle Iron.

Week 7 6/27

·         Worked on Finishing up BH detailed chute, as well as scheduled return trip to GTMS for the week of the 11^th -15^th. Met with Al to discuss project management and what needs to be taught and how we can efficiently do this for newer incoming employees as well as current ones.

·         Butler Mill Services

·         Worked on Drawing Garage Floor Layout. Sent to copy to Butler for them to use at their lean team meeting. Worked with john to prepare Agg-flow for Wallace stone. Conference call with GTMS on Safety and Agenda discussed current open ends and what is need to complete the copper plant and what is need for startup.

·         Wallace Stone

·         Added Dimensions to Butler drawing and sent copy to site manager. He requested that I send him the drawing with basic dimensions of the stationary objects that will not be moved in the garage. Left home early on bosses orders for the Holiday weekend.

Week 8 7/4

·         4^th of July

·         Worked on drawing crusher structure in AutoCAD, Continued to modify the Agg-Flow simulations to fit all the different products that Wallace Stone runs. Also modified watering system drawings and printed large copies to take on trip to GTMS.

·         Meeting with Eriez company and talked about machinery that separates Fe content form BFS, and discuss the possibility of adding one of these machines in the next year. Continued Cad work on the Wallace Stone crusher structure.

·         Worked on Wallace Stone Drawing. Met with Ian Kirk about Mini Mill Services.

·         Landfill-Surveyed all day long.

Week 9 7/11

·         GTMS

·         GTMS

·         GTMS

·         GTMS

·         GTMS

Week 10 7/18

·         Worked on Wallace stone Jeffery feeder drawing and scaled it to fit the Wallace stone drawing for replacing jaw crusher.

·         Calculated the reach for Sennebogen to determine if it would work for loading the hoppers at GTMS with its current boom configuration as well as worked on Wallace stone drawing.

·         Working on GTMS design for gates on splitter chutes and went over check list that AL sent out regarding GTMS start up.

·         Modeled Sennebogen to scale and added it to G drive for future use.

·         Used Sennebogen model to scale on the Feed drawings and made recommendations for slag ramp.

Week 11 7/25

·         Made copies of all Wallace stone drawings and started work on Decatur Mill Services Agg-Flow problem. Conference call GTMS, updated Punch list for plant startup.

·         Drew up modifications for remodel of Mercier test lab(Two new offices). Got this clear with Mercier for floor plan and got purchasing to contact contractors for bidding jobs.

·         Placed tellsmith crusher in Wallace Stone drawing, worked on fitting and placement of crusher as well as figured out any modifications that need to be done.

·         Fulton Mill Service (Six Axis Cutting torch).

·         Work with John to help place tellsmith crusher for Wallace stone. Joe assigned me to modify pot slagger for Plant 3 and to mail info to Jerry Williams.

Week 12 8/1

·         Worked on finishing up pot slagger modification, sent Joe PDF for approval before i mailed it to Jerry Williams.

·         Pot Slagger

·         Conference on GTMS and current situation

·         Calculated total weight of support Structure for the grizzly, as well as went to meeting for the Plant 6 granulator.

·         Worked on Wallace stone crusher placement and photographed new crusher installation at plant 1 as well as went out to plant 3 to discuss survey of storage area for drainage ditch.

Week13 8/8

·         Survey of Plant 3, plotted points of survey in AutoCAD. Went back to plant 3 to stake areas to be dugout.

·         Plant 1 VSI observation

·         Landfill Survey

·         Landfill Survey

·         Plant 1 lean team.

Week 14 8/15

·         Plant 2 Survey, elevation survey to determine the effect of the weight of the surrounding piles on neighboring properties.

·         Marion-LSP, traveled to Marion, Indiana to look at Plant.

·         Marion-LSP, took notes of things that needed to be improved upon at the new site.

·         Levy plant 2 survey

·         Levy Plant 1&2 survey

Week 15 8/22

·         Plotted all survey points for Plant 1

·         Agg-Flow Australia Steel Mill Services

·         Plot of Elevation of Plant 1 Garage

·         Stock pile calculation of Plant 6 & talked with Australian Steel mill services about what they need form the asphalt plant modifications.

·         Model 850 Sennebogen and worked on new ideas for Fe plant beneficiation. I also researched for Ideas on how to keep slag pots cool when fill with a sulfur slag by product….Research on tough ceramics that absorb heat and can with stand high temperatures.

Week 16 8/29

·         Heat Transfer research for Pot Cooling methods.

·         Research for Plant 6 Granulation, and make up of flow chart.

·         Create Flow chart and PDF’s for Plant 6 which included aerial photos.

·         Looked over proposals for Plant 6 granulation and read through all details on project.

·         Survey Plant 2-left early for holiday weekend.

Week 17 9/5

·         Labor Day

·         Read through Plant 6 proposal and charted all survey points from plant 2.

·         Modified HPL AutoCAD file to certain costumer request.

·         Read through Canton Crusher Proposal.

·         Rail Road track Survey with Geology Department.

Week 18 9/12

·         Canton Mill Services

·         Canton Mill Services

·         Canton Mill Services

·         Canton Mill Services

·         Plant 2 Survey

Week 19 9/19

·         Granulator meeting, Slag Scrap truck project. New ideas for water tight seal.

·         Printed structural blue prints for Evan Wiener’s guest home in Teton, Wyoming. Also worked on Scrap truck project proposal.

GTMS Copper Plant Video

Co-Op

Hey Everyone today I'm starting this blog for my erg 393 class and will update you on everything that I have expirenced in the last 3 months as well as any new projects I will be working on. I will also post my reminder logo that I been keeping everyday.(helps me recall my daily activities).

To get you up to speed on things, I'm currently working in Dearborn at Edward C. Levy Compnay. This address  here is 8800 Dix Avenue, Dearborn, MI 48120. This company deals primarily with aggregrates and the Steel Mill industires(Slag Processing). I'm currently working out of the Engineering Department at the Headquaters building, in which I have a office, computer, and a ton of workspace.