AIST Steel Intern Scholarship
Neil C. Rose
This summer I had the exciting opportunity to work as an intern in the process engineering practice at Hatch in Mississauga, Ont., Canada. Hatch is a global engineering consultancy specializing in metals, energy and infrastructure. I find Hatch to be an exciting company to work for; the work is challenging, interesting and constantly changing. I see my coworkers travelling all over the world to work on intensive and complex projects which require their expertise. The people I work with are dedicated, ambitious, knowledgeable and business savvy. It is also very evident that the company puts a strong emphasis on professional development and cares about the continued growth of its people.
This internship has been a rewarding and valuable experience for me as a young professional. I found myself warmly welcomed into a team of smart, hardworking and friendly colleagues who provided me with guidance and examples to follow and to aspire towards. People are happy to go above and beyond to explain things and get me involved in their projects, which makes me feel like a part of the team and helps me develop both my technical and my soft skills.
I spent my internship in the Ferrous Pyrometallurgy group, who work on the process design of iron- and steelmaking facilities. During my term I worked on designing conceptual plant layouts, producing block flow diagrams, performing process modelling, and preparing reports. I found this work to be a valuable learning experience since it exposes me to the processes that steel companies use and the challenges they face, and this exposure allows me to connect the theory I learned in school to real-world applications. In particular, the process modelling work was especially enjoyable because it had a strong design aspect which required a technical understanding of the process along with strong modelling skills. The work was very collaborative, and it was great to be part of a team of like-minded, intelligent people.
This internship was also a great chance to develop my professional skills. Within the first few weeks I found myself presenting in meetings and leading the discussion on work I had been a part of, which helped me build my confidence and speaking skills. Another valuable experience I had was a visit to a blast furnace at Stelco’s Lake Erie Works. This was quite the experience! We climbed all the way to the top of the furnace and even looked inside it. I was absolutely awestruck by it. It really put into perspective the incredible engineering that goes into these pyrometallurgical processes and the sheer magnitude of their operations. It was a great learning experience to see in real life the components of the blast furnace I had learned so much about in school and to connect the theory to the real world.
All in all, I found my experience at Hatch to be an excellent first glance into the professional engineering world. I am very excited to see what will come next!