Plant Maintenance Intern, Tim Richardson, has spent his summer at Prairie State replacing and rebuilding equipment.
Working in maintenance, projects vary by day. Some projects Tim has worked on include changing equipment oil, rebuilding a service water pump, replacing valve stem packing, replacing valves, and replacing conduit. Due to the nature of the department, projects typically last a day or two. Every project Tim has been placed on so far this summer has been completed, with the equipment returning to service.
One thing he has enjoyed about this internship is the variety of tasks. Tim said, “Every day there is something new to work on. The people that I work with are probably my favorite part of the internship, though. They are constantly teaching me new things, and each of them have a unique personality that is pleasant to be around.”
While working at Prairie State, Tim has learned how to align shafts. He said, “In school, we talked about tolerances and what tolerances are allowed for different equipment types, but we never talked about how alignment is tested.”
This internship has strengthened Tim’s desire to work in a maintenance related position. He has been given the opportunity to apply theories and concepts he learned in school to real situations and problems.
Tim recently graduated from Iowa State University with a degree in Industrial Technologies. His hope for the future is to find full-time employment in a maintenance position, preferably related to his interests of reliability and root cause analysis.