MSE Students Visit Nucor for the First Time Since the Pandemic
MSE students with Professor Frame and Professor Leek at Nucor
By Kyra Arena, Written Communications Assistant
At the end of October Professor Lesley Frame and Professor Fiona Leek, Director Undergraduate Laboratories, reinstated an MSE tradition of taking students to visit Nucor; this is the first visit since the COVID-19 pandemic. Students attended as a part of the MSE 4004 Thermal and Mechanical Processing course, as well as students from Senior Design.
Nucor is one of the largest US steel producers. They have a vision that closely aligns with the UConn goals for sustainability.
Professors Frame and Leek claim that UConn is very lucky to have a facility like Nucor in Connecticut that the students can visit to learn more about thermomechanical processing. “It was really wonderful to bring the students to a steel mill where they are using equipment that is from the mid-20th century right to the new instrumented roll stands,” Frame says. “It is important for students to see that updates to manufacturing facilities don’t happen all at once. These upgrades are part of continuous improvements, which is why it is so important to learn about older methods of manufacturing processing and control right alongside the new technological breakthroughs.”
Approximately 30 students attended the tour, with mostly undergraduate students. Students were met by managers and engineers of Nucor, who were very eager to share knowledge, and information about internships and job opportunities. Senior Matthew Carragher said the following about the visit: “The Nucor trip was a fantastic experience. Getting to see the machinery at Nucor really puts into perspective just how large these operations are, and the amount of work that goes into them.”
Published: November 23, 2022
Categories: graduate students, industry, news
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