2024 Steel Intern Scholarships
Hannah A.M. Gillgrass
My summer internship involved a placement at ArcelorMittal Dofasco G.P., which is in my hometown of Hamilton, Ont., Canada. I have been surrounded by steelmaking for my entire life, but the internship in pickling and cold rolling was my first direct experience with the steel industry. I was fortunate to receive a position as a process engineering intern where i work in a collaborative team to minimize issues in the welding and pickling sections of the line at #1 CPCM (coupled pickle line and tandem cold mill).
My first few weeks included an orientation and training period, where I learned about many critical aspects of ArcelorMittal Dofasco G.P., including the safety culture here. Safety at work has been a major focus throughout my time here as it is discussed by the entire team at our frequent health and safety meetings. This is critical when working in manufacturing, and it really showed how much effort ArcelorMittal Dofasco G.P. puts in to cementing a culture of safety.
Some highlights of weekly life during my internship included developing my data analysis and presenting skills. I led the weekly pickle line team meeting to discuss trends and future actions for the line. I was able to gain knowledge from all the other team members while learning about the diverse projects we had ongoing to improve the process. In addition, another important part of the position included exploring the plant to understand the process of steelmaking. I enjoyed going out into the field to see all the machinery and learn from operators around me about how it all works together. ArcelorMittal Dofasco G.P. is such a large plant with many different lines and assets, so I was fortunate enough to be able to tour some other areas in the steel process and see how they related or differed.
One key thing I learned during my summer internship was how interesting and diverse the steel industry is. There are so many different roles that are all critical in making the process run smoothly. Even after only a few months as an intern, there were many leadership opportunities available to me. Every person is given the opportunity to make meaningful contributions to projects, which is something I really enjoyed about the environment.
It has been a great experience, and I was surrounded by an amazing team that was very helpful and always willing to answer all my questions to enhance the learning process. I look forward to continuing to learn at ArcelorMittal Dofasco G.P. as my internship continues until August 2025. Thank you to the entire team at 1CPCM for all their support throughout the first four months of my internship, as well as AIST for this amazing opportunity to continue to learn about the steel industry with hands-on experience.