Nathaniel J. Giddens
Steel Dynamics Inc. - Roanoke Bar Division
This summer, I completed my second internship with Steel Dynamics Inc. at the Roanoke Bar Division in Roanoke, Va., USA, working as a melt/cast mechanical engineer intern. My first internship, a metallurgical role in Columbia City, gave me a strong foundation in the science behind steelmaking. That role kept me mostly in the R&D lab, so the casting phase of the process was still largely unknown to me going into this internship. This year, working in a mechanical position let me build directly on that foundation and finally see casting in action.
Through my time at SDI, I shadowed and worked alongside the maintenance team, learning what routine maintenance and real-time troubleshooting look like on the floor. That perspective shaped how I now think about design. One project, for example, tasked me with designing a 4-foot roll mounting plate for one of our mold sizes. I wasn't sure where to start until I spent several days with the mold shop maintenance team, cleaning molds and aligning foot rolls. That hands-on time gave me the context I needed to begin the design. Without it, I wouldn't have known where to start.
Other projects, like an adjustable spray frame design, were hard to picture on paper until I could see the equipment in person. I now understand why companies value experience so highly: some things simply can't be learned behind a desk. SDI gave me the chance to see what the maintenance team and fab shop each preferred, what worked on the mill, what didn't, and everything in between.
I'm still working on building CAD efficiency and picking up the terminology, but this internship has left me far better prepared for my career. It has also left me better prepared financially, thanks to the AIST scholarship. I can't thank AIST enough for the support and encouragement they give students like me — and thank you, SDI, for the experience.