2024 Steel Intern Scholarships
Alec C. Williamson
My internship experience at Ellwood City Forge as a metallurgical engineer was incredibly valuable to me as it allowed me to better appreciate the scale of the problems faced by metallurgists in a production setting. Through the 12 weeks spent in Ellwood City, I learned a great deal about the forging process. I also gained exposure to a wide range of ferrous alloys and am better able to appreciate the complexity of heavy section metallurgy. The projects I was able to work on were highly valued and I really enjoyed the collaborative work culture.
I began my internship by touring each stage in the production line and spent time speaking with each crew to learn more about the problems they encounter on the shop floor. I continued shop walkthroughs most mornings to have an understanding of the work being done and any issues that might need the attention of the metallurgy department. I found it valuable to be able to spend this time in the shop and ask questions to ensure I had a strong understanding of the production line and the importance of the work I was doing.
Throughout my internship I worked on a number of projects that involved lab work with metallography as well as scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy analyses. I spent time working on an etch procedure for a grade of interest. I also worked on projects that utilized extensive data sets surrounding production parameters and test results. In these projects, I built a comprehensive data set for an important interdivisional quality concern in order to suggest processing changes and establish correlations in the data.
Ellwood also organized intern tours of the many sister divisions within Ellwood Group which allowed me to see the two melt facilities as well as some of the other presses and the types of jobs each location encounters. I found these tours to be really valuable as they widened my exposure to process metallurgy and provided a better understanding of Ellwood Group and the partnerships between Ellwood companies.
I am grateful for my internship experience and for AIST for awarding me the steel intern scholarship. I have continued to enjoy my exposure to the steel industry and the support provided in this industry.