Florida Tech Panther Scholar-Athlete Spotlight Recognizes Swimmer Gaspard Thierry

Thierry is a mechanical engineering intern for Tetra Pak in Denmark

BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – In this Scholar-Athlete Spotlight, we are featuring Gaspard Thierry of Florida Tech men’s swimming. This summer, the Fontainebleau, France native is gaining meaningful experience at an internship in his desired field. We caught up with Thierry to learn more about the incredible opportunity.

What company are you interning for this summer? What is your title and role with the company?

This summer, I am interning in the mechanical engineering research and development department for Tetra Pak in Århus, Denmark.

Here I am making 3D CAD models to improve and change the design of specific parts of industrial assemblies for ice cream production machines.

What drew you to this internship? What steps did you have to take to earn your position within the company?

Although Tetra Pak is a big company, the part of the company in Århus is on the smaller side, which means that all the engineers and other departments work closely together.

This was one of the main aspects that made me want to intern here because I could discover more about the design process for machine parts.

As another convincing point, Tetra Pak is the number one leader for food/liquid packaging as well as ice cream manufacturing, which meant I had the opportunity to work with people who specialize in specific areas of the manufacturing process.

In addition to that, I knew that I could use the knowledge from my classes at Tech, such as solids modeling, mechanics of materials, or even thermodynamics on an actual ongoing project that I was part of.

I also knew that with a ‘smaller’ work environment, I could get direct feedback from the project managers to expand my knowledge with more concrete applications.

What are some exciting tasks or projects that you have been able to be a part of?

The main task I have been assigned to take part in is to replace a sub-assembly of an assembly for an ice cream cooling belt line.

I had to come up with an entirely new sub-assembly consisting of sprockets and bearings to make the assembling, disassembling, and maintenance of the system to be as easy as possible. All of this was done using 3D CAD software to make the 3D model as well as the 2D engineering drawings.

Another task given was to figure out the energy produced by ice cream in a cooling tunnel to determine if there was a need to add forced convection (to cool the ice cream faster), or if natural convection was sufficient.

What is your major at Florida Tech? Why did you choose this direction for your education and is this something you always wanted to pursue?

At Florida Tech, I am majoring in Mechanical Engineering. I chose this specific major because I knew that it would give me all the skills and knowledge necessary to become an engineer without being too specialized straight away.

Since both the space industry and the automotive industry interest me, obtaining a degree in mechanical engineering would make it easier to choose a career path among different fields.

How has being a scholar-athlete prepared you for the work you are currently doing in your internship? What skills have you taken from your time as a scholar-athlete that help you in your internship?

I think that teamwork is an essential part of both being a scholar-athlete as well as working in a group on a project. But also, being able to make a separation between work environment and social life is essential to be able to perform well or work efficiently.

During my internship, I think the skill I used the most was being efficient with my work. Since I had to complete my task in only four weeks I couldn’t linger on any parts of the conception or modeling.

What skills have you acquired at your internship that will help you on the field/court/pool at Florida Tech?

Communication and leadership are both skills that I have learned by watching project leaders interact with the other employees or group members working on the same task. It is especially important with swimming since it is still very individual once we aren’t on the pool deck, so we need to make sure that everyone is on the same page.

How is your internship preparing you for a career you would like to do after graduation?

Although my internship wasn’t in the field I would potentially want to work in after graduation, it has still helped me understand what I need to look for in a job as a mechanical engineer. It also helped me see what to expect at the job compared to what I was doing in class so it can help me prepare for when I start applying for jobs.

Interning in a different country also showed me that the work ethic and requirements depend on the work culture. So even though I am an international student, it was still something I needed to learn.

What advice would you give another scholar-athlete/prospective scholar-athlete who is looking to pursue a similar path?

The main advice I would give is to make sure to get as much internship experience as possible.

The experience gained from these internships will help enhance the knowledge learned from classes and give you some practical experience by actually applying what you know. It also helps you get a head start for post-graduation as you know what to expect or look for.

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