learning curves

UMass Lowell Student Obtains Real World Experience at Moldflow

By Laura Carrabine, Editor

Neha Mehta is a graduate student at the University of Massachusetts Lowell (UMass Lowell), scheduled to graduate in September 2003 with a master's degree in plastics engineering. She earned her undergraduate degree in plastics technology at L.D. College of Engineering in India. She has been working as an intern at Moldflow Corporation's corporate headquarters since April 2003.

During her internship, she worked primarily in technical support providing support and expertise associated with Moldflow Plastics Advisers^® (MPA^®) and Moldflow Plastics Insight^® (MPI^®) products. Her responsibilities included helping customers with software licensing, product installation, troubleshooting, and interpreting analysis results.

She says the work at Moldflow has helped with preparation of her graduate thesis. "I have been comparing filling patterns obtained with a simulation package with actual molding trials associated with 'micro-molded' parts. I am using Moldflow software as my simulation package for that work. It's helped me a lot in developing an understanding for the MPI product. The work with Moldflow has really helped me in completing my thesis. At the same time, the internship opportunity has provided me with a great deal of hands-on experience with the software," says Mehta.

Prior to the internship, Mehta used Moldflow products at the simulation lab at the university. "I began using Moldflow software during my second semester at school," adds Mehta.

Post graduation plans

Mehta hopes to secure a position working with Moldflow products after graduating with her master's degree. "I am very confident that my education and experience using the simulation packages will bolster me into a good career. The high exposure to the technology and strong work ethics have positioned me to obtain a good position in the plastics industry. This has been a very positive and rewarding experience for me. Regarding my immediate future, I plan to continue to work with Moldflow products."

Neha Mehta at work during her internship at Moldflow Corporation.

Internship programs

Mehta says the knowledge from books is not at all sufficient in terms of obtaining a well-rounded education. "At the college and post-graduate level," Mehta notes, "practical knowledge is almost more important than book-based information. Internships help prepare students to face the tough and competitive real-world working environment. For engineering students, internships provide hands-on experience in a real engineering organization."

She selected UMass Lowell for her graduate work because she learned that the college has an excellent program for plastics engineering. "I became very interested in the school because of its engineering and plastics curricula," says Mehta.

Mehta's UMass Lowell advisor and associate professor, Carol Barry, has worked with Mehta for almost two years. She teaches all the graduate students during their first semester. "Neha is a good student," says Barry. "She has been working hard on meshing parts and performing analyses throughout her studies here. She was one of two students working with me using MPI/3D. Prior to tackling the software, we hadn't done a lot of work with the 3D capabilities. Learning to use the package, we all benefited by working together to grasp concepts and functionality."

Barry says that Mehta's career prospects are much better now versus the same time last year. "Our graduate students are very successful in finding good positions," adds Barry. She says that UMass Lowell's engineering department urges students to participate in internship programs. "Generally, students with internship experience obtain better jobs when they graduate. We try to urge students to seek outside experience after their sophomore years in the undergraduate school. Graduate students, and particularly international graduate students, typically choose to spend their summers working in internship programs. If they can do it, they will."

"It's also a big advantage to all students that we have the real-world software tools here at the university. We use the technologies for research and for teaching. If students like the software, they play with it and spend lots of time in the lab using it. If they don't gravitate to it, then they can work with the injection molding machine," adds Barry.

You can get more information about the Plastics Engineering Programs at UMass Lowell at www.uml.edu or by contacting the department chairman at robert_malloy@uml.edu.