Hitchiner's Engineering Development Program Puts Advanced Manufacturing Tools in the Hands of Recent Grads

Cecelia Muller knew she wanted to be an engineer when she graduated from Milford High School in 2012. She headed off to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York to study civil engineering as a recipient of the John H Morrison Endowed Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship is awarded to a Milford High School senior with an above-average academic record and interested in pursuing a degree in business, finance, or engineering. After changing her focus to mechanical engineering, Muller graduated and came to work at Hitchiner as an Associate Engineer within Hitchiner's Engineering Development Program, known here at Hitchiner as EDP. Entering this program not only gave Muller additional training she could use to further her career at Hitchiner, but it also gave her hands-on experience with our high-tech advanced manufacturing tools.

Advanced Manufacturing at Hitchiner

Since 2017, Muller has been working at Hitchiner as a casting simulation engineer. Using software called ProCast, Muller analyzes the casting process for the various parts that Hitchiner makes to determine where potential flaws may arise. 

Hitchiner Manufacturing uses an advanced manufacturing process called investment casting to produce components for the automotive, aerospace, and defense markets. This process begins by creating a series of ceramic molds on a central stick called a sprue. Next, a molten metal alloy is injected into the mold using Hitchiner's exclusive countergravity casting service. Once the alloy has hardened, the ceramic mold is broken off in a process known as knock out. The remaining part then undergoes minor finishing before it is considered complete.

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Muller said the ProCast software she uses helps fine-tune this process.

"I can have an alloy go into the sprue and watch the alloy solidify, and the software can predict a defect in the parts," said Muller. "It’s a good tool for brand new parts where we're not sure how to design gating."

Muller said she also uses the software to troubleshoot recurring issues on parts Hitchiner is already manufacturing, not just new parts. If a part is getting scrapped 25% of the time because of a flaw, for instance, she can look at how the sprue is designed or other parts of the process for solutions to problems like macro shrink, when the alloy shrinks in on itself, and air bubbles are left behind.

"We see if we can imitate the defect and change gating design or casting parameters to see if we can make the shrink go away," said Muller.

About EDP - Hitchiner's Engineering Development Program

Hitchiner's Engineering Development Program is a unique, competitive training opportunity for graduates with a degree in mechanical, manufacturing, or materials engineering. For six months, program participants work at Hitchiner, receiving classroom and shop floor training. During this training program, new hires are introduced to investment casting concepts at Hitchiner's R&D center. Education takes place in both classroom and shop floor environments, which will prepare them for a position within Hitchiner's operations and manufacturing plants.

During Muller's EDP training, she completed a cost analysis alongside Hitchiner engineers into how much it costs to make new parts. This knowledge introduced her to the full process, from development to delivery.

The program led to her job today, using advanced manufacturing software to troubleshoot problems innovatively. So innovative, in fact, Hitchiner is the only company using the ProCast software for investment casting.

"The software is geared toward gravity casting and sand casting, and we are the only ones doing counter gravity casting," said Muller. "When we were first using it, we were interfacing a lot to learn how it would work with our system. ProCast is a higher-end, more complex software. Because our process is unique, we have received requests from ProCAST to do some experimenting to see what it's capable of."

The EDP is just one of a number of training programs available at Hitchiner Manufacturing. Contact us to learn more.