Animax Interns Blog: End of Summer

Hi there! I’m Malcolm Bornmann, Animax’s Summer 2021 Marketing and Events Intern. Welcome to my final entry in the Animax Interns Blog, where I share first-hand accounts of what it’s like to work at this awesome company!

On behalf of us interns, I would like to express how much joy these past few months have been for all of us. We’ve been able to meet and work with amazing people, have gotten to do really cool things, and have grown as young professionals in the process. Because our internships have allowed us to grow our individual skill sets within the interdisciplinary, collaborative, and creative environment that is Animax, we’ve all been able to gain a better understanding of how we can each use our individual strengths to support the team effort in bringing beloved characters to life.

Animax truly has been a wonderful place to be. So much so, that some of us are actually staying at Animax past our internships, with others returning to school for Fall Semester. Regardless of where our journeys will lead us, however, we all are grateful for our time at Animax.

We would like to thank everyone at Animax for being so supportive and welcoming to all of us throughout these past few months!

We additionally would like to thank everyone who has viewed our blogs for taking the time to read about our experiences! Those blogs can be found be here:

Malcolm Bornmann, Marketing and Events Intern

Melody Sivri, Mechanical Engineering Intern

Anna Buntin, Soft Goods Intern

Devon Limcangco, Controls Intern

Jessica Mizuno, Marketing Intern

Sidney Chan, Mechanical Design Intern

As we look towards the future, the hope is that this internship program can grow. For those interested in future internship positions at Animax, we highly recommend applying when those positions become available! You’ll have an Animax Awesome time :)

And with that, The Animax Summer 2021 Interns say our goodbye.

Animax Interns Blog: Mechanical Design

About

Salutations! I’m Malcolm Bornmann, Animax’s Summer 2021 Marketing and Events Intern. Welcome to the Animax Interns Blog, where I share first-hand accounts of what it’s like to work at this awesome company!

Today’s post is about Animax’s Summer 2021 Mechanical Design Engineering Intern, Sidney Chan:

Water Mitigation

Sidney studies mechanical engineering and is a Certified SolidWorks Professional in Mechanical Design. Thus far in his internship, he’s spent the majority of his time utilizing his educational background to help the Mechanical Design & Engineering Team in their water mitigation efforts.

For those not aware, water mitigation is the process of reducing an animated figures’ exposure to humidity and direct rain through the fabrication of protective barriers that cover vulnerable parts of the figure in order to increase that figure’s lifespan. Because each figure is mechanically different and features different ranges of motion, there is no one-size-fits-all solution; each of these parts must be originally designed and custom-built to solve the particular need.

So far, Sidney has created 18 water mitigation parts for 2 hero characters that will be featured in an upcoming e-ticket attraction at a major theme park. To accomplish such a feat, he goes through the engineering design process for each part. He first identifies his constraints by looking at the figure’s assembly. He then brainstorms and sketches solutions for how a part could attach to the figure without getting in the way of its movement, pitching his ideas to the team. Once a solution is chosen, Sidney creates a SolidWorks model from the sketch, receiving feedback on the model and making revisions as necessary. Once the model is approved and determined to be best designed for manufacturability and assembly, Sidney creates a drawing file to document the exact measurements of the part. The part is then 3D printed and attached to the physical figure as the final step in the process.

In addition to his water mitigation tasks, Sidney sits in on engineering meetings where external feedback from the client and internal feedback from the team is reviewed. He also has helped the Marketing Department with an upcoming industry event by exporting vector files from SolidWorks that will be compiled into a printed graphic for that event.

Reflection

Working at Animax has reconfirmed Sidney’s passion for SolidWorks and has made him even more excited about how he can use that skill set on future themed entertainment projects. He’s learned how important it is to communicate ideas effectively and has gained a better understanding of how robots work in general. When reflecting on his time here at Animax, he states, “What I’ve enjoyed most about my time at Animax is that as an intern, I’m not just a cog in a machine, I actually get to contribute as a young professional in creating themed experiences. When I go to a theme park, I can now see my work come alive, which is a dream come true!”

Animax Interns Blog: Mechanical Engineering

About

Hello again! I’m Malcolm Bornmann, Animax’s Summer 2021 Marketing and Events Intern. Welcome to the Animax Interns Blog, where I share first-hand accounts of what it’s like to work at this awesome company!

Today’s post is about Animax’s Summer 2021 Mechanical Engineering Intern, Melody Sivri:

Engineering At Animax

Melody’s background is in mechanical engineering and drafting, which she uses to help the Animax Engineering Team in their creation of dynamic characters. Thus far in her internship, she’s revised the drawing packages for three hero figures that were then submitted to a major client for use during assembly and maintenance, she’s collected data that helped the team internally, and she now is designing a water mitigation feature in SolidWorks that will help a figure withstand climate conditions.

When not assisting the Animax Engineering Team, Melody loves to shadow the other Animax departments to learn as much as she can! Most recently, she witnessed the first-motion of an animatronic, a major accomplishment for our Controls Team, Assembly Team, and Engineering Team. This experience taught Melody more about the innerworkings of show control, which helped reinforce the importance of her own work.

Reflection

Throughout her internship, Melody’s been able to learn and grow as a result of each department welcoming her with open arms. In interacting with each department, she’s learned that teamwork is crucial to the Animax design system. “Learning something new every day is beyond exciting: the techniques, the materials, and seeing the parts on paper assembled in real life!” says Melody. “Above all these things, it's exciting to see everyone come together to bring these figures to life and come up with amazing solutions. It's truly emphasized the importance of teamwork and supporting one another.”