Micron Trip – Rafael R.

The Micron trip was a nice insight on a possible place where our careers might be taking us. We saw the manufacturing of a silicon wafer which is shipped out to other micron facilities to be assembled into the the final products. Our guide showed us part of the developments that have recently occurred. For example, they have a machine that hangs from the ceiling which picks up boxes of 25 wafers and delivers them around the site to have them processed. Before, there used to be workers picking up the boxes and moving them around. This would be a typical problem that an engineer would solve to boost the manufacturing process. It would’ve been nice to walk around the “clean room,” to see all the machines that were further back. The tour was interesting, but could’ve been better had we gotten more out of how they are made, rather than presenting a power point presentation showing off to us how successful the company is. We didn’t recieve any information on what jobs or internships there are, but he did tell us they work twelve-hour shifts. We didn’t see many workers in the facility. The few workers we saw seemed to be sitting around, since the machines do all the work. It would be a boring job and I would definately not want to work there.

Micron Trip: Matthew Harrison

I found that the micron trip was very interesting but needed to be spiced up a little more. The PowerPoint’s where very informative but where very plan. This kind of presentation felt like a presentation that I would have to listen to at school not on a visit.  Although the PowerPoint presentation was boring the rest of the trip was very interesting. Seeing the machines work side by side and the massive machines that cost 30 million dollars made it more interesting. Also our tour guide gave very factual information and stressed how competition is one of the biggest roles in this industry. Micron although at times lacked the visual aspect, it still was very intersting to understand and learn how the computer memory was transformed into a complex system that we know today.

Micron Trip – Jonathan A

I foudn the micron trip extremely informative. I loved going in and learning about the company itself and how everything was made. I never knew how big Micron really was until this trip. I also found it amazing how the company started in a basement by two brothers. I also found out how Micron is in almost every electronic device that needs memory and how it competes with huge coorperations such as Sony and Samsung. I also found it good that we went because I found out information about paid internships and met people that could possibly help me further my career. All in all, I was skeptical about going but am happy I went on this trip.

Micron Trip – Michael Buettner

The visit to the Micron facilities was rather informative, if a little dry.  It was also a bit of a disappointment considering the amount of “hype” it was given.  The powerpoint at the start was kind of dull and dragged on a bit, but was slightly interesting (I thought it was kind of cool how they export more then they import).  The tour was kind of disappointing as well, the most exciting part was watching the automated transport system work.  I do not remember hearing the guide talk about internships.

Micron Trip – Heera Jay

The micron trip was interesting. We learned a little bit of a background about the micron center and what it does. They showed us a little about the history of the micron center and how it is a part of an everyday household appliances. They manufacture chips for Intel, Sony, Apple and many other companies. Micron is a large corporate tha has branched out to Asia and Europe.

I was really happy with this trip becasue it was too bland. I was not expecting a small, very small tour down a hallway. I thought we migh get see the inside see how things are made. I wanted actually see indepth on how they do these things. So i was extremely disappointed when all we did was walk down a hallway.

Micron Trip – Alexander Skinner

The Micron Trip had its ups and downs.  To start the trip, we were given a powerpoint presentation.  The presentation was well prepared and quite informative. I learned just how big the company Micron is.  Micron is a leading computer chip manufacturer in the world, with branches across North America, Europe, and Asia.  The main competitor that Micron has is IBM.  Although IBM is a household name and a much larger company, Micron manages to stay competitive with IBM from year to year.

During the trip I was given the impression that the type of engineers needed at Micron were mainly electrical, chemical, and mechanical engineers.  I am majoring in computer engineering, and I am not sure Micron would be a place that I would persue a future in internships or employment for this reason.  Although Micron may not be the place for me, the Manassas Micron site was a very nice facility.  The Manassas site actually has a fabrication lab that  manufactures the products that Micron makes.   In the fabrication lab they have over-head robots that moves the wafers from machine to machine.  The use of the over-head robot system did not come into play until the recent years when the switch to bigger wafers was made.

Overall I enjoyed the trip to Micron.  I learned many technical aspects to the computer chip industry from Micron.  I enjoyed seeing the multi-million dollar machines in action actually creating the computer chips.  I also enjoyed seeing that a smaller company could grow to compete with well-known companies like IBM and Apple.

Micron Trip – Eric B.

I found Micron a very interesting facility and maybe interested in pursuing  an internship or possibly future employment there. Micron was a much bigger company than what I thought it was. During the tour we learned about the history of Micron and how they make the products that are used in many household devices. They manufacture chips that are used by companies such as intel, sony, apple and many more. Not only is Micron one of the leading chip manufacturing comanies in North America, but it also has branches in Europe and Asia.

I was not satified, however, with the tour itself. Even though they showed us the very expensive and intricate equipment they use, I thought that the tour would have been much more then going from window to window down a long hallway. But overall i would have to say that the tour was very informative and i would like to look further into gaining an internship or maybe even furture employment with Micron.

Micron Trip Chris Cook

Micron was interesting to say the least.  I was surprised to see how many different conference rooms they had and that were small groups of people in them when we were working.  The gift shop also caught my eye for unusual things.  Above all, though, the secrecy there was unreal to me.  Government facilities feature less security and preventative measures than what I saw at Micron.  Even the break zones and lockers were hidden away and easily passable if you weren’t keeping an eye out.

I believe electrical and mechanical engineers were in the lead there, not only for the production of DRAM and Flash Memory, but also for creating and maintaining the connections between pieces of equipment.  I noticed they had jobs available from outside main production and testing, primarily in the maintenance and installation of equipment.  It was also surprising to see that they offered jobs to members of other companies, but the restrictions appeared a little unfriendly.  If their security offers any insight into the company I’m pretty sure they have a very talented legal team hiding away somewhere.  Personally, though, I would not want to work there.  The constant hum of the fab room would put me to sleep and the entire environment was too clean and perfect.  Compared to other jobs I’ve had Micron showed little interest in providing a friendly, social environment for it’s workers.  Once you’ve had a coworker come up and say “why are you working? It’s snack time!” you can’t go back.

Micron – Stephen I

The trip to Micron was a very educational trip for me.  I was very interested even from the time we pulled up on the bus because I saw how the building and all of its marvels.  Micron is a very official Corporation because they have trade secrets that they do not want their competitors getting a hold of them.  Having the smallest edge on your competitors is essential to compete in the capitalistic market.  They limited everyone that was on the tour to what they could bring to insure this secrecy.

Going into Micron I did not know much about DRAM, Flash based memory, and imaging sensors.  We saw all of these fabricated on site except for the imaging sensors because the environment has to be very clean in which they are created.  The DRAM and Flash memory has to also be clean but not to the standards of the image sensoring.  The room that the memory is fabricated in is yellow in order to not damage the wafers.  The wafers are also in a box called a FOUP and this was another precaution that is taken to insure that the wafer does not get contaminated with any particles floating in the air.  The memory that is fabricated on site is used in most of the products that we use in a daily basis.

The different jobs there include accounting, marketing, systems engineering, mechanical engineering, and many other jobs in the engineering field.  There are also jobs to keep the machines working to full production.  Working at Micron would be an excitement everyday but I would need further schooling to do the work needed.

Micron Tour – Ivan B.

When going on a trip to Micron, I found a few things interesting. The first thing that struck me was how secure and secretive everything is. When we got to the facility, there was a fence with barbed wire all around the perimeter of the company. Once we made it past the “guarded” gate, we got to the main building and we had to get passes and scan them through to get past the front entrance of the building. All throughout the building there were signs and cameras that told you where you couldn’t go. It made me feel as if I was being watched at every moment and that I wouldn’t be able to get away with anything if I did try to. The next thing that I found interesting was the whole process of making a microchip. A lot goes into making themselves successful in the business they are in. The corporation has to be on track or ahead of the rest of the market with technology. It has to be efficient in making the product and being able to deliver it to their customers. The last thing that was fascinating was the clean rooms. I had never seen any clean room in my life before, and everything that we saw on the inside of the manufacturing floor were the clean rooms.

There are skills that one will need to work there, and ones that one will learn while working there. Internship opportunities are available in which one learns a number of different skills. One may need to know the basics of engineering, chemistry, math and physics before working at Micron, but would be further advanced while working there. The engineering types that you may see at Micron include Electrical, Mechanical, and Systems. The jobs you may find there include anything from an accountant to a professional chemist and or physicist.