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!”
