Written by Brandon Chan, OSU MECOP Intern, 2025
On my third day of joining the company, one of my coworkers had coordinated to have an April Fools’ themed potluck. Although I didn’t have much prepared, just a box of chocolate macnuts from back home, they welcomed me with open arms and let me join in on the fun. And after seeing the cake disguised as kitty litter, spaghetti disguised as cupcakes, and the devilled eggs (completely normal, but very suspicious), I knew I was going to enjoy the next 6 months at this company.
Hi. My name is Brandon Chan, a third-year electrical engineering student from Oregon State University participating in my first MECOP internship at Concept Systems. With this internship being my first steps into engineering as a career, I can say with certainty that learning about and experiencing engineering are two very different things. In school, we are taught the fundamentals; this is so that no matter which career path we take in that engineering degree, we have the background knowledge to succeed. However, this can’t cover all the technical skills you may need on the job. I may have learned what a network is and how it connects computers and devices, but the creation of networks and connecting said devices requires different skills, tools, and knowledge that isn’t always covered in class. With Concept, the projects I’ve participated in not only developed these skills but also helped develop the habits needed to pick up these niche skills. For example, wherever I end up, I may not need to program PLCs in ladder logic like I have done at Concept, but being able to pick up different languages quickly will be needed wherever I go.
During my time at Concept Systems, a single day didn’t pass without me learning something new about engineering. Granted, going into this internship, I didn’t even know what controls engineering was (so finding anything new to learn wasn’t too hard), but all the support I received for my projects and the patience they showed was amazing. Whether it was helping me wire my test setup or teaching me the ins and outs of motors and contactors, there was never a time I felt I was wasting their time. Multiple times throughout my internship, two of my coworkers would come up to me asking if I knew anything about this one interesting device they were using in their project, then teach me everything they knew about it for the next hour or two. Funnily enough, while writing this excerpt, one of said coworkers pulled me into a project using thermocouples and HMIs. The six months I’ve spent here have been the most informative and fun six months since the summer robotics classes I did as a kid. But, instead of paying for the said classes, I get paid here, which is a big win. Thank you to Concept for letting me work here this summer, and maybe in the future I’ll see you all again!
P.S. Here are some fun pictures of me this summer
