My co-op at Nucor was my first engineering job and perhaps one of the most influential 6 month periods of my life. At Nucor I operated as a melt shop metallurgist - with a main focus on casting. I worked very closely with another intern in the same area on a major problem - discussing and developing testing methods to, ultimately, reveal the cause. We each had many individual projects as well - though we still discussed frequently. Another part of the job was quality control of steel leaving the building - was it 'ok' to ship?! I also lead multiple formats of meetings - project updates, safety meetings, etc. Because of this one of my biggest take-aways: communication. 

Returning to school after my 6 month stint at Nucor had me excited to continue working and learning. I started working as an undergraduate research assistant at the Peaslee Steel Manufacturing Research Center, helmed by Professor Ronald O'Malley. I worked on multiple projects - starting with refractories research in the steel industry. I also, along with other undergraduates, assisted a grad student in developing time-temperature-transformation tables for mold fluxes used in the steel industry. After the graduate student graduated I was back to focusing on ferrous metallurgy. I acted as a liason between Dr. O'Malley and other undergraduate students; leading our small team in the characterization projects we were tasked with. I particularly remember looking at manganese content and the effect on thermo-mechanical processing of steel alloys.

I had two stints in Professor Emmanuelle Marquis' research group. 

Undergraduate Research Assistant: I joined her group for the summer of 2017 where I picked up a past graduate students project - high vacuum, cryogenic transfer from a scanning electron microscope to an atom probe. There are many samples that cannot be analyzed in an atom probe - particularly porous samples such as biological samples and some corrosion products. This involved learning how to operate the atom probe and assisting in developing a process for  vitreous ice deposition using a focused ion beam. The vitreous ice could fill in the pores in an SEM environment and a cryogenic shuttle could then be used to transfer to the atom probe - opening up a world of opportunities. 

Graduate Research Assistant: I joined the Marquis Group again for my Master's degree. Here my focus was on development of alloys for biodegradable magnesium implants. Magnesium is harmless to the human body and corrodes very quickly - making it an ideal candidate for implants that disappear on their own, with no need for a second surgery to remove later. However, many of the alloying elements used to make Mg strong enough for bone implants (i.e. Al) can be toxic. My research focused on alloy design and how other strengthening elements (such as Zn) affected the corrosion rate - to make tailorable corrosion rates for each implant. To do this I utilized the Michigan Center for Materials Characterization and their many scanning electron microscopes and transmission electron microscopes. Additionally, I performed traditional polarization testing and in-situ surface monitoring of magnesium in an NaCl aqueous solution. 

The Marquis Group as all about using the power of electronic microscopy and other characterization methods to reveal underlying changes in materials!

I started work at U. S. Steel in October of 2019. I came on as a research engineer in raw materials - specifically iron ore pellets. I was given the ability to chose my own path on how to tackle iron ore pellization research. As the world moves towards machine learning this is the approach I wanted to take and I immediately began diving into the world of Python and data science - showing results in ways that had not been previously done in the Research Center.

Engineer I | Nov. 2020 - Dec. 2021: Though I was initially hired as a corrosion engineer for the Integrity Services group, at the time only 3 people strong, I quickly developed into a go-to for materials engineering needs. I lead the research and qualification effort for an in situ materials verification offering, potentially saving clients millions each year in costs. Our first 6 months of offering the service yielded greater than $250,000 in revenue - paying off the equipment and netting a profit. 

Engineer II | Jan. 2022 - Present: With the material verification offering taking more time, I was promoted to run the Material Verification program for the company - completing scheduling, reporting, and research as necessary. In addition, I was made the Materials and Metallurgy lead - providing technical expertise for all materials related work. Though this role is still new to me I have hit the ground running with many projects including material MTR reviews and hydrogen compatibility research. I am currently working on writing material specifications utilizing existing industry/ASTM standards - providing materials selection and purchasing expertise for clients.

Relevant Coursework

• Metals Microstructure Development
• Scanning Electron Microscopy
• Fundamentals of Materials Behavior
• Mechanical Testing of Materials (lab)
• Extractive Metallurgy (with lab)
• Transport Phenomena

Relevant Coursework

• Physical Metallurgy
• Electron Microscopy
• Applied Data Science for Materials Engineers
• Fatigue in Mechanical Design