![\"\"](\"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Taylor-Gies_Avient-STORY.jpg\")
<\/a>Taylor Gies is based at Avient\u2019s Minneapolis location, working to improve manufacturing efficiencies and worker safety.<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cIn school, I liked chemistry, math and was always into the sciences,\u201d Gies explained. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to be a chemist in a lab. I wanted to be involved in the product material side of it, which is what led me down this path.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gies, now a junior chemical engineering student at The University of Toledo, is in the second rotation of her co-op with Avient, a specialized polymer materials manufacturer. She completed her first as a sophomore \u2013 a position she remarkably locked in her freshman year.<\/p>\n
\u201cTaylor is one of those students you meet and say, \u2018Wow, this person is going to climb the career ladder very quickly,\u2019\u201d said Geoffrey J. Humphrys, associate director of the Shah Center for Engineering Career Development. \u201cShe secured a co-op on her own during her freshman year, which is very unique for students to do, and a year ahead of her peers.\u201d<\/p>\n
UToledo\u2019s engineering co-op program is one of only eight in the nation where paid work experiences are integrated into the curriculum. Gies is currently based at Avient\u2019s Minneapolis location, where she\u2019ll focus on improving manufacturing efficiencies and worker safety.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis facility is completely different from my first rotation,\u201d she said. \u201cAvient likes to rotate co-op students through different divisions so we can experience various aspects of the industry. I\u2019m still learning about the processes at this facility, but I\u2019m excited to see what I will accomplish during my time here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gies spends most of her workday in the plant, observing machine operators, engineers and manufacturing processes. She carries a notebook to jot down ideas.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a lot of back and forth exchanging of ideas,\u201d Gies said. \u201cI\u2019ll put together some ideas, talk to the operators and they\u2019ll explain that \u2018no, we can\u2019t walk here\u2019 or \u2018that won\u2019t work,\u2019 so I go back to the drawing board.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the satisfaction of finally developing a workable solution is the ultimate thrill, which Gies experienced during her first co-op with Avient in Birmingham.<\/p>\n
One of the products manufactured at that facility is large-diameter insulator rods, each weighing about 120 pounds. On average, operators lift around 15,000 pounds worth of rods during their 12-hour shifts. It was Gies\u2019 job to find a way to limit that number to improve worker safety and reduce repetitive use injuries.<\/p>\n
After several rounds of ideas and multiple discussions, Gies helped develop a solution that involved adding a rolling\/sliding mechanism and lift into the process, ultimately reducing the number of times an operator physically lifts insulator rods during their shift.<\/p>\n
In addition to building skills as an engineer, Gies has grown in other ways. \u201cI\u2019ve gained more confidence in myself and in my decision to become a chemical engineer, and these experiences have reinforced that this is what I want to do full time. This is why I\u2019m going through UToledo\u2019s engineering program. I love it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Humphrys has witnessed that same growth.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter Taylor\u2019s first co-op, I noticed how much more confident and knowledgeable she was about navigating the workplace,\u201d he said. \u201cTaylor is definitely a go-getter and before we know it, will be a very engaged alumna recruiting future UToledo engineering students wherever she lands her first full-time career.\u201d<\/p>\n