Alex Ferretti

ferretti.jpg

Electrical Engineering Major
Class of 2015

Engineering Internship, Herley

In the summers of 2013-2014, I worked as an intern for a company called Herley, located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Herley is a company that is primarily focused on the design and manufacture of flight instrumentation systems for manned aircraft, missile systems, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Another area of focus for Herley is the design and manufacture of power amplifiers used in MRI machines. This was where most of my time was spent. Some of the tasks I was asked to do included: conducting experiments on different amplifiers to match impedances so that the amplifier would provide an optimal output, using a program called Microwave Office to assist me in trying to match the impedances, using a machine called a Network Analyzer to take S-parameter measurements of the high frequency signals entering and exiting the amplifiers, helping my superior investigate an issue regarding harness failures in some amplifier modules that were sent back to the company because of these failures, and writing documents called Engineering Change Orders that were used to update, or change, the assembly drawings and bill of materials in order to keep the products up to date.

I also worked with devices called Radar Altimeters, which are used in aircraft to sense how high above ground the aircraft is. For this project, I was learned how to implement Fast Fourier Transforms in different programming languages, such as Matlab, Python, and Octave. Overall, the work I did was very interesting and helpful, and my experiences are helped me in my courses.

Scroll to Top