ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ

Bryce Sohayda is an undergraduate student in the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering. He interned at during summer 2024.

Where did you intern over the summer and what was exciting for you about that opportunity?

 

Bryce Sohayda during his summer internship with XPCC.

This summer, I had the opportunity to work at Xtreme Power Conversion Corporation (XPCC) in Denver, Colorado. They specialize in Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS) to create power solutions for customers of all types. What excited me the most about this company was the opportunity to work for a supervisor with both entrepreneurial business skills and an engineering background. I appreciated being able to learn from his journey through different areas of engineering and gain an insight into the fast-growing industry of battery back up.

What kinds of projects have you had a chance to work on over the summer?

This internship was very hands-on and allowed me to work on several different projects. At the beginning of the internship, I worked on recharge and repair for the on-hand inventory and I used my basic circuits background to know voltage and current loads for an efficient recharge and restock system. Through the middle of the summer, we worked on a large value project including over 400, 3-part units where I got to rewire a user plug-in for modular enclosures and private label each unit. Toward the end of the summer, I switched to building 120V battery trays for large backup power units, where 40 of the trays go into one power unit. I got a very in-depth understanding of the UPS world and how many solutions there are to meet growing customer demand.

How did what you learned look different than the way you learn engineering in class?

One thing I learned from our engineering classes is that they teach us to problem solve more than anything else. There is no specific formula to use on some of these projects and it is up to you to figure out the process needed to complete the project. Unless you are in a position specific to a topic from class, don’t worry too much about the nitty gritty parts of that class. Instead, think about what processes and skills you gain from learning that subject.

What has been the most impactful part of your internship experience?

The most impactful part of my internship was understanding the model of an engineering company and learning what it takes to manage, build, or run a company. I got to experience each moving part of the business. At the simplest level, the company is all UPS based. A company may have great people but a mediocre product. A company may also have a great product, but mediocre people. However, when a company has both of these working simultaneously, that is when you see a company grow and succeed, and that is what I experienced at XPCC. Learning and experiencing this allowed me to combine all of my technical skills from engineering and social skills from business to provide XPCC with quality work.

What advice do you have for other students interested in pursuing a similar opportunity?

If you are interested in business-related engineering, first find a field that interests you. The best way to use your engineering degree in this way is to understand the field and product down to its smallest components and build from there. Because of the engineering knowledge that our degree gives us, we can understand the product intricately which provides us with the opportunity to share that information with customers and other companies. That allows us to grow the company because we understand the company starting with the technical fundamentals and moving all the way to the sales, management, and distribution phases. In my opinion, the best part of engineering is that you can make the degree as small or big as you want, so keep your eyes open for opportunities to join a company or start a company to change the world.