Day in the life of
Product Release Engineer – Trisha Adamski
My name is Trisha Adamski, and I am an Engineer that worked in the Automotive Industry.
I worked in the Automotive Industry for 19 years as a Mechanical Engineer. My job title was Senior Product Release Engineer at one of the Big 3 OEMs.
I was assigned a specific vehicle program and it was my responsibility to package my components, ensure they met all Federal and Company Specifications, attend builds at assembly plants, work with suppliers, and collaborate with cross-functional teams on the same vehicle program.
I generally worked from 9 to 10 hours a day, Monday through Friday. Occasional weekends or evenings were required if there was a vehicle-build at an assembly plant, or conference calls with our counterparts in China. Travel was required.
The tasks that took up most of my time were creating and giving design review presentations, meetings, working in vehicles to validate designs, traveling to assembly plants to watch builds, and facilitating design changes.
We were all also assigned Core Projects where we would need to update a component specification, optimize designs, and other various assignments.
My Typical Day
A typical day at work as a Product Release Engineer at an OEM looked like this:
- Arrive at work at 7:30am.
- Check and respond to all e-mail.
- Review Schedule of Meetings and Task List for the Day.
- Prepare for any meetings that day, which may include: Design and Packaging Reviews with other Engineering Departments, Project Status Updates to Management, Test Planning and Results Reviews, Open Issues With Suppliers, and attending Change Management Reviews to obtain approval for engineering design changes.
- Work on designs and packaging of assigned components.
- Perform testing on components in a vehicle, or attend testing.
- Order parts for prototype builds or any special testing I may need to conduct.
- Work on Problem Resolution for new or existing designs.
- Periodically travel to assembly plants to witness vehicle builds, resolve issues with installation of assigned components, or attend a trial run of parts with a design change.
- Periodically attend training and conferences.
- Leave the office by 5:00 pm.
Pros
- Automotive is an exciting field that moves at a fast pace.
- There are many opportunities to work in different departments such as design, testing, purchasing, quality, and manufacturing.
- There is always something new to learn, and new problems to solve.
- The components I worked on were safety-related, and I knew what I was doing was important.
- This was not only a desk job. There were many days where I would be away from my desk to test designs in the lab, visit an assembly plant, or go to a supplier.
- I enjoyed working with other cross-functional teams within the company such as Safety, Cost Estimators, Design Studio, Vehicle Integration, and Quality Engineering.
- Good Salary, Benefits, Holidays, and Paid Time Off.
- Company Car Program to lease company cars. Employee Discounts at Dealerships for Buying or Leasing a vehicle.
Cons
- It can be very stressful due to the fast pace and short deadlines.
- Automotive is an industry that depends heavily on the state of the economy. If the country is in a recession and vehicle sales are down, layoffs will happen.
- There were a lot of meetings I had to attend, and they would take up several hours a day.
- Typical work days have been getting longer across the board. It was not uncommon for me to work 9 to 10 hours at the office or plant, and still have tasks to finish when I got home.
- Design changes are difficult to get approved by Management.
- Vehicle Program Timelines were changed often, and sometimes that meant my design releases and part availability were due sooner than planned.
