FEF Students Complete Summer Internships at Tyler Union

Three Foundry Education Foundation (FEF) students recently completed a three-month Summer internship at Tyler Union.

Rachel Pitman, a senior at the University of Alabama, is majoring in Metallurgical Engineering. Rachel worked as a Foundry Intern in the Pattern Shop, Flange Shop, on all three mold lines, and the Melt lab. Rachel’s area of interest is general foundry and problem solving. As part of her internship, she worked on a time/case study project on the IMF mold line and a project to improve physical pattern storage within the plant. Rachel plans to graduate in the Spring of 2021 and will be searching for a foundry job that will allow her to interact with students to further increase their knowledge of the foundry industry.

Nebraska Thorson (pictured left), a 5th year Senior at the University of Northern Iowa, is majoring in Manufacturing Engineering Technology with an emphasis in metal casting. Nebraska worked as a Foundry in the Pattern Shop, Flange Shop, the three mold lines, and Melt lab. Nebraska’s area of interest general foundry and green sand and additive manufacturing testing. For the pattern storage project, Nebraska developed a Microsoft Access database to house individual pattern locations and allow easy access to find them. Nebraska will return this Fall for his final semester. He hopes to be active in his local AFS chapter and seek opportunities to continue learning and expanding his foundry knowledge.

Austin Widner (pictured right), a Senior at the University of Alabama, is majoring in Metallurgical Engineering and Material Science. Austin worked as a Product Engineering Intern. While being exposed to all aspects of the foundry, Austin spent the bulk of his internship working in the Product Engineering department. Austin’s areas of interest are materials testing and failure analysis. For his project, Austin designed a casting using modeling and simulation software. Austin plans to graduate in the Spring of 2021 and pursue a full-time position as a Metallurgical Engineer.