Amanda L. Guyre – 2020 Steel Intern Scholar
Working for Nucor Steel Gallatin was a fulfilling experience that advanced both my metallurgical and leadership skills. I spent most of my time in the melt shop surrounded by very talented teammates. They went above and beyond to ensure I had great personal development, success and safe practices. My responsibilities and projects were important to continuous improvement of the melt process and deepened my understanding of scrap, slag and furnaces.
The most important takeaway from this summer was safety. Safety is a core value of Nucor because we want to protect our teammates and return home the same as when we arrived at work. No matter the cost, any practice or equipment that could put someone in danger is unacceptable. I got involved in our voluntary protection program by working with our lockout-tagout team.
The focus of my projects was the electric arc furnace (EAF) practices. I worked on applying the energy balance for our furnaces and developed a tool for analyzing best slag practices and most cost-efficient furnace operations. These were great opportunities to learn how to apply what I learned in school to the production floor. I was constantly out on the floor with teammates learning every aspect of the melt process from metallurgy to maintenance. The hands-on learning as well as the mentorship from my teammates were critical to my development.
My teammates made this summer a wonderful experience and fostered my passion for the steel industry. I’m extremely grateful for my time at Nucor and excited to begin my career after I graduate.