Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE - Matthew Anfang's planning paid off when he received a design-engineering co-op internship with Sub-Zero Freezer Company and Wolf Appliance Company, Inc., appliance manufacturers in Fitchburg. Anfang, the son of Frank and Patricia Anfang of Helenville, followed the path of many students at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville - heard opportunities from a fellow student, participated in on-campus interviews, attended the fall Career Fair given by the UWP Career Center and toured and researched internship employers. "The more interviews you do, the better you get at it," said Anfang.

With a major in mechanical engineering and an interest in fluid dynamics and heat transfer, Anfang builds a more diverse skill set on the job. Typically, he conducts various tests on Wolf's products. He ensures appliances adhere to standards (for example, Underwriter Laboratories, Canadian Standards Association and American National Standards Institute) and reports his findings to company clients. "My job is a lot of problem solving," said Anfang. "I have been challenged by getting different projects and having them be my own projects that have an actual impact on the company. It's not just busy work." Anfang describes an on-the-job experience, "One of the first tests I performed in the lab was a flammability test. This type of test is not usually performed so I was very diligent in making sure I did everything perfect. I applied a flame to a wall oven's control plate and recorded how long the flame would persist once the flame was taken away. I had three control plates, one the original and the other two made of new material. The two new plates performed better than the original and in my report I graphed out my data and recommended a change to the new plate."

Confessing he gets a sense of satisfaction after wrapping up a project, Anfang also appreciates the internship's people skills experiences and seeing how the various parts of the company work together. In this internship he has learned to interact more effectively with others. Jim Pelkey, lab/certification manager, and Kimberly Ubersox, of human resources, said, "Upon completion of a student's co-op program, usually six months, the student should have an understanding of how to successfully apply their studies to problem solving, product design and manufacturing techniques that will prepare them for various sectors of industry. We hope that through this program we can keep these talented individuals in our area and communities of Wisconsin - keeping our economy strong."

Pelkey and Ubersox summarize Anfang's job duties in the design engineering test lab to include "computer-aided design (CAD) using SolidWorks, product safety training according to nationally and internationally recognized standards, heat transfer and how it applies to oven and surface cooking and various materials, fluids and flows in a variety of applications, and data acquisition of cabinetry temperatures surrounding an installed appliance as well as surface and component temperatures of cooking products in normal and abnormal usage situations."

From Anfang's perspective, he has "used information from class that he'd never thought he'd use. Seeing 'real world' applications has been interesting." "From Sub-Zero and Wolf's perspective, the co-op program has been a great success for both the students at UWP as well as Sub-Zero and Wolf," said Pelkey and Ubersox.

The company has hired many UWP graduates as full-time employees from their co-op pool. They offer internships to mechanical, industrial and electrical engineering majors in design engineering, manufacturing, quality, reliability and supply chain.

Contact: Lynn Schlager, mechanical/industrial engineering department, (608) 342-1439, schlager@uwplatt.edu

Prepared by: April Schmidt, UWP Public Relations, (608) 342-1194, schmidap@uwplatt.edu