Rivian
Current, May 2022 - August 2022 & June 2023 - September 2023
Current, May 2022 - August 2022 & June 2023 - September 2023
I spent two summers interning at Rivian as a part of the Electric Power Conversion Division's Motor Team before returning as a full time engineer.
At Rivian I work on the design and development of the stator system. Currently I am leading the validation test efforts for the new Maximus stator cooling system. This entails designing dummy parts for validation before production parts are available, trialing various adhesive and joining strategies, and developing test plans for flow balance, pressure cycling, and compression testing.
During my first summer on the Motor Team I created a testable model of the motor's cooling system. My role was to take the pathways that the coolant took in the drive unit housing and recreate them into a see-through model with various sensors to measure the flow speed and temperature as it travels through the motor. The model needed to be easily iterated upon to introduce variably sized spray holes where coolant would be released to cool different components within the motor. Additionally, in my spare time I worked on side projects, such as configuring a new level sensor, creating a test fixture for the rotor shaft, and redesigning tooling for motor assembly.
My second summer on the Motor Team I designed a test cell, for thermal cycling of the electric motor's stator. The purpose of this test was to simulate a cold start in the vehicle. Starting from a mostly empty room I designed a junction box, reconfigured the piping, and wrote the LabVIEW code to enable the test to run unmanned. The LabVIEW code performed the data acquisition from various sensors, such as flow meters, pressure transducers, and thermocouples. Additionally, in my spare time I worked on side projects, such as remanning the stator test cell for rotor spray bar testing, creating a test setup for the aging test of the stator, and manufacturing a new lid to allow for easier access and view for the aging test.