Summer is just around the corner … well, hopefully. For our FEF students, that means either taking off a couple of months or taking advantage of additional learn-by-doing opportunities. As it happens, many of them choose “Option B”––they want to spend as much time in a foundry atmosphere as possible.

That’s where internship opportunities come in. In May 2024, FEF received a grant from the Composite Institute’s DOD-supported METAL (Metallurgical Engineering Trades Apprenticeships & Learning) Program to help expand internship opportunities and incentivize small and mid-size companies to recruit interns. This grant provides funding for additional students, including first- and second-year undergraduates, to be placed at FEF-donor companies, as well as FEF university foundries, where they expand their knowledge base along with hands-on experiences.
One benefit of students spending their summers in a university foundry is that research and projects outside of the regular education track can be completed.

Last summer, 16 students interned at seven FEF schools, four of whom worked at Texas State and Missouri S&T.
Ben Hilgers and Chase Schroeder (both metallurgical engineer majors) worked on projects at Missouri University of Science & Technology. 

Schroeder’s research project explored the effect of boron in ductile iron and potential mitigation strategies. It allowed him to interact with foundries on the AFS Steering ommittee and the AFS Division 9 Technical Committee. He learned about the science of ductile iron and different characterization techniques used to quantify the microstructure and mechanical properties of ductile iron. What did he enjoy most about his research project? “The results of data analysis––they came out as hoped for!” he said.

As part of his internship experience, Hilgers coordinated the foundry demonstration for the June 2024 AFS Design and Optimization for 3D Sand Printing course. This activity involved capturing thermal properties of 3D printed sand molds during pouring of a 4330 steel alloy. What were the key takeaways of his internship? “How to operate Confocal and experiencing the inner workings of 3D sand printing,” he exclaimed.

Tyler Davis (electrical engineering major) and Elyin Lopez (engineering technology major) spent the summer of 2024 in the foundry at Texas State. 

Davis was responsible for a few projects including one to develop an instrumented matchplate that would use internet of things (IoT) principles to collect, store, and disseminate molding information. One objective was to produce a pattern with geometrical features on which pressure sensors could be mounted to measure molding pressure. The pattern would also have a thermocouple embedded in the matchplate to measure sand temperature. 

“There has been so much new information and so many skills that I have been exposed to,” Davis said, “but I would say one of the best parts of the internship has been getting to design patterns from start to finish––including the runner and gating calculations and 3D modeling.”

The main focus of Lopez’s internship was to learn to use Texas State’s 3D sand printer to produce cores for ongoing research. He was able to produce approximately one-third of the 3D printed sand cores needed for the research. How will the experience help him as he enters his metalcasting career? “I have loved doing multi-learning projects in the metalcasting field,” he said. “I have enjoyed learning what I’ll need to know or have experienced when I graduate.”
According to Texas State FEF Key Professor Luis Trueba, “This research is important because it will allow us to identify key printing parameters and their effects on the properties of 3D printed sand molds and cores.”
For summer 2025, FEF has 10 pilot companies scheduled to hire 14 interns from FEF schools. First- and second-year students will be included in the internship pool because history and experience have shown, the earlier a young person is exposed to the metalcasting industry and all it has to offer, the more likely they are to choose it as their vocational field.