How university students liked their two-month stays at U. S. Steel Košice
While their fellow students relaxed, travelled and enjoyed their holidays, thirty university students from Slovakia and abroad experienced two summer months at the steelworks in Košice. Had the internship in U. S. Steel Košice fulfilled their expectations? All of them answered YES at the final meeting with Company President Scott D. Buckiso and the Vice President Human Resources Martin Pitorák, which was held in the lecture hall on August 31, 2016.
We asked Ľubomíra Gabániová, a student of the BERG Faculty at the Technical University of Košice. Who answered: “This summer internship exceeded my expectations. Of course I hoped to learn some new facts about the organization of work in such a large company, how steel is produced, or how individual divisions are interconnected. As my internship was aimed at power engineering and I study usage of alternative energy sources, I was interested in how the company uses energy. How much energy is needed for the functioning of this “steel town”? This internship became a reality for my summer days, and it surprised me every day in a positive way. My mentor was metallurgy machinery room supervisor Erich Hegedűš, who together with his colleagues provided me with a large amount of information about machines, equipment and fittings, power generation and its further utilization.
After that we used to go to the plant, where I could experience the knowledge in practice, with real generators, blowers and compressors. I also participated in some meetings. My colleagues were real gentlemen, kind and friendly. Days at the workplace alternated with different training sessions aimed at “soft skills”, problem-solving or presentation skills. Each day was really great! The trainers were nice, they discussed with us, asked about our opinions, our experiences, and gave interesting and challenging tasks, where we learned something new about ourselves too. It is a pity that such things are not taught at university in such an enjoyable way. If I have to mention somebody specific, I would choose Irenka Veszková and her colleagues, to whom I would like to say a big THANK YOU.
Finally, I really liked my co-trainees. The team-building in Medzev was great, I have made some wonderful friends and I hope we will remain in contact also in the future. Who knows, maybe we will meet again at U.S. Steel Košice.”
A similar opinion was also shared by future metallurgical engineer Vojtech Vank. He appreciated the experience and chance to see in practice what was taught at university, and much more. “Theory in books and study materials is important, but direct presence in the plant, in my case the hot-rolling mills, is much more important. I had the chance to see nearly the whole production process, from batching to shipping. Everyday work with people who gave me a lot of information and answered my questions enlarged my knowledge,” he said, summarizing his chance to know different professions such as maintenance or quality workers. “I was glad to see the hot-rolling mills during outage, when internal parts of equipment and machines are visible. I got many different tasks, and I worked closely with my mentor Richard Glosner. I would like to thank him for the chance to meet his colleagues and discuss about professional topics. I was present at meetings in the War Room, where real problem-solving, innovations and improvements were applied in practice. I would definitely recommend this internship to other students, too.”
