Variable Cam Timing Co-op

Variable cam timing changes when an engine’s intake and exhaust valves open and close. Advancing or retarding those events can improve fuel efficiency, torque, or emissions, where an engine without it is stuck with one fixed timing. I spent a year as a co-op in the variable cam timing product engineering group, working on cam phasers for production vehicles.

My work included GD&T review on drawings, dynamometer testing of prototype phasers, and analyzing the test data. I assembled prototypes when the assembly staff were at capacity, measured parts in the metrology lab, wrote teardown reports on tested product, and worked with the on-site machinist to modify parts for later testing. Walking a part over to the machinist and talking it through turned out to be a habit I kept for the rest of my career.

I also designed several test and assembly stations in CAD. Fixtures aren’t glamorous, but they were a good introduction to designing for users I would see the next morning, who would tell me within a day if something was awkward. Much of the testing ran on the End of Line rig, which simulates an engine’s torque and oil pressure to check a phaser’s actuation, lock pin unlock pressure, and hysteresis before it ships.

By my second semester, I was training the incoming co-ops on acronyms, internal standards, and how the test stand actually worked. A fair amount of my work also involved colleagues at other plants around the world.

I never finished the one project that was mine. I was converting a chain life test rig to test phasers over a long duration, since the End of Line rig only proves a phaser works right now, not whether it still works after years of heat, oil, and cycles. Spotting that gap in test coverage was the engineering, but the placement ended before I could close it. I learned that fixed-term work often leaves things unfinished, and the right response is to be clear about what was and wasn’t delivered.