Ana E. Acosta Aguilar
Ternium Mexico
I am currently a little over halfway through my undergraduate degree in materials engineering and recently, I had the opportunity to participate in an industry internship through the AIST Foundation Steel Intern Scholarship.
During these past two months, I worked as an intern at Ternium Mexico, specifically at the Guerrero and Universidad plants in San Nicolás de los Garza, N.L., Mexico. I was part of the technologies and processes department, where I was responsible for a project related to refractory materials used in the galvanizing process. My role involved planning, organizing and conducting tests to characterize these materials and understand better their properties.
This project and the department gave me the opportunity to combine research and planning in an office environment with hands-on work in Ternium’s laboratories. Throughout the internship, I gained valuable technical knowledge about refractory materials, the galvanizing process, and steel production in general. At the same time, I developed important soft skills, including collaborating with colleagues from different countries such as Argentina and Brazil, communicating with people who do not speak my native language, organizing work teams, and coordinating activities with laboratory machine operators.
I am truly grateful to AIST and Ternium for giving me this incredible opportunity. This experience allowed me to grow not only professionally but also personally, and it reinforced my passion for the steel industry. I am also thankful for the support of everyone who accompanied me throughout this journey.
I now feel more prepared and confident to take on new challenges within the steel industry and continue growing as I advance in my professional career.