Mission Rubber

Mission Rubber Company is a family owned company offering a variety of pipe related rubber products.

Clinic Project

The clinic program at Harvey Mudd provides Mudd students the opportunity to spend the year working on a problem that a company faces.

I was on a team improving Mission Rubber Company’s energy efficiency in their rubber production process. After evaluating the entire manufacturing process for energy reduction opportunities, the rubber compression press was identified as having the largest heat loss.

Specifically, I designed flexible heat shields to reduce heat loss on the rubber compression press. Developing the heat shield design involved characterizing the heat loss in the press with models, creating a SolidWorks model of the prototype, and selecting materials that would withstand factory conditions. Adding the heat shields had a projected 21% energy and 24% time savings. In addition to the design and technical experience, this project provides experience in meeting the demands of a client and completing a yearlong project as a team.