Each semester Cohesive Robotics welcomes university students to the team through our internship program. We’re particularly proud to partner with New York City’s Brooklyn Navy Yard to host local and underrepresented students in a variety of engineering disciplines. This semester we welcomed mechanical engineering student Orel Shimoonov to the team to support product development, assembly, and deployment testing. Orel is completing his degree just down the street at New York College of Technology, with a focus on robotics and mechatronic systems. 

We sat down with Orel as the spring semester session wraps up. Read on for his take on what it’s like to work at a robotics startup, and why robotics is a passion for him. 

So you're about to finish your engineering degree. On a scale of building a robot to surviving an apocalypse, how prepared do you feel your engineering skills have made you? 

I would say that I'm ready to tackle anything that comes my way.

Almost Graduated! Tell us about your upcoming graduation and future plans after the internship.

 I will be graduating in early June at the Barclays Center Arena in downtown Brooklyn; my plans after graduation is to get a full time position with a robotics company that specializes with creating helpful gizmos and gadgets that help people with their daily lives.

Why Mechanical Engineering? What drew you to the field? 

My father was my biggest inspiration. He had a knack for brightening any room he entered, driven by his passion for helping others and making their lives better.

What interests you about robotics? 

Robotics is incredibly versatile; with some time and patience, you can bring any idea to life. As someone who loves to create and innovate, it's a field where the possibilities feel limitless.

Could you share a specific project or course from your academic career that you found particularly interesting or challenging? 

For my senior design project, I collaborated with three classmates on creating a shoe sole cleaner. It was a blast because I got to showcase my skills while learning new ones from my partners, each of us bringing unique expertise to the table.

What motivated you to apply for this internship at Cohesive?

Joining Cohesive presented an exciting opportunity. As a startup, I knew I'd be entrusted with significant responsibilities, offering me a chance to accelerate my learning and growth.

Discuss a specific skill or concept you've learned or encountered during the internship that surprised you. 

Learning how to use Fusion 360 from the team and my prior knowledge from other CAD software. As well as learning how front end and back end coding actually works was a very cool concept for me to learn.

What unique skill or experience do you think is most valuable for thriving in a fast-paced startup environment? 

Being able to adapt, work hard, and put in the time are all important things when it comes to a startup as you have to do multiple jobs on your own giving each worker a more diverse experience than if you were to work with a bigger company. 

What do you like about studying and working in New York City? What’s the most challenging aspect of it? 

Just like with a startup the city of New York is always so busy and fast paced, growing up here and being used to that I would say that I thrive in this environment, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

As much as you’re comfortable sharing, tell us about a hidden talent or hobby you have outside of engineering. 

Among my many hobbies, one stands out—I'm currently working on developing a video game in my spare time using Unreal Engine 5. It's an idea I've nurtured for several years, continually refining it with the hope of eventually partnering with PlayStation for its development.

If you could give one piece of advice to your freshman year self about pursuing a career in tech or engineering, what would it be? 

Take your time when learning new things and breakdown everything step by step so that when you revisit it a month or a year later you can still follow along and relearn if necessary.

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