Quality Tour, Quality Steels

Five faculty members, three graduate students and thirteen undergraduates traveled to New Castle, PA last Saturday to visit Ellwood Quality Steels (EQS), part of the Ellwood Group.  Three of the tour guides were recent graduates from the MEMS Department, including Brendon Connolly, who helped organize the trip. Connolly is the manager of steelmaking technology at EQS and is also a member of the MEMS Department’s Visiting Committee.

The tour began with a video introducing the company and facilities as well as providing safety information.  After suiting up in personal protective equipment, the group then visited the electric arc furnace (EAF) shop, the ingot pouring area, the forging area, and a new building nearing completion, which will house new electroslag remelting (ESR), vacuum arc remelting (VAR), and grinding facilities. The tour concluded with a question and answer session, where the three Pitt graduates spoke about their experiences working in the steel industry and what a typical day working at EQS entails.

The tour was a very positive experience for everyone involved.  Materials science and engineering junior, Joseph Damian, describes the trip, “I really enjoyed the tour, it was interesting to see some of the processes that I learned about in my classes in person.  I was surprised by how big the furnaces, ladles, and ingots were and how much power the plant consumed.  The tour guides were also very knowledgeable about the operations of the plant and offered valuable information about the equipment and processes.  Overall, it was a great experience.”