TEAMMATE SPOTLIGHT

BLUEPRINT: What misconceptions do people, including people in IT, have when it comes to technology and steel mills?

NISHANT VARADACHARI: If you’re looking from the outside, you’re thinking, “Okay this company just makes steel, so it probably doesn’t involve a lot of technology and computers.” That is absolutely wrong!

personal experience, a degree is good and it will be really helpful, but it’s not like you have to have a degree.

Country of Origin: India

Age: 38 Years with Nucor: 6

This technology was what I was used to seeing in my graduate studies and the places that I worked in California prior to coming to work for Nucor. When you go from school to the workplace and then come to Nucor, you see that the technology here is advanced. If you really have an interest in computer science, yes, you can make a good living at Nucor.

BP: Does it require the kind of college degrees you have in order to find opportunity at Nucor?

NV: Definitely not; there’s a home for pretty much anyone at Nucor. Speaking from

Being in IT in Nucor, you are mostly customer service. We are supporting the teammates out in the mill, because they are the ones who are actually rolling and casting and making the things with steel. So, if you come in with that mentality, there’s a place for you here.

BP: There’s a big focus on diversity across the board in workplaces, something IT has traditionally lacked. What’s the Nucor workplace like in terms of diversity?

NV: We have men and women from all different ethnicities. NYS’ IT department consist of 16-17 people; consisting of males and females, older and younger, as well as different ethnicities; everybody is really happy working, getting along. And, if you go around in the mill, it’s a pretty diverse environment out there as well.

Sales Metallurgist, Nucor Steel Arkansas

Hometown: Waukesha, WI

Age: 36

Years with Nucor: 3

BLUEPRINT: What does a sales metallurgist do?

KATIE BEHRENDT: I’m part of Nucor’s tech services group. I help our sales team and our customers who have new inquiries for the mill, asking if we can make this or that. I help ensure we understand what they need and that we’re giving them what they need. And then, if they have issues, of course I’ll get involved as well.

BP: Did you come to Nucor straight from college?

KB: Right before here I was at a U.S. Steel mill outside of Detroit. Right out of college I started in a wire mill in Milwaukee, and I was there for eight years.

BP: What is something about this job that might surprise someone?

KB: I think that a lot of people have this view that being an engineer or getting into a technological field starts with being really good in math and science. We definitely use a lot of math and science, and I wouldn’t want anyone to think that they can avoid that, but I don’t think that’s required to become an engineer or a technological leader. I think it’s really just curiosity; it’s liking to take things apart and put them back together, it’s wanting to understand how things work. If people have that mindset, if they just have the curiosity and desire to understand, we can work with people and give them the technical part.

BP: What’s one characteristic that’s essential in this field?

KB: Being someone who asks, “Why? Why does this happen?” and then asking, “Why not? Why can’t we do it differently? Why can’t we do it better?” Those are really the people we’re looking for.

Hometown: Rapid City, South Dakota

Age: 27

Years with Nucor: 5

BLUREPRINT: You have a degree in computer science which can be applied in a lot of places. Why work at Nucor?

LOGAN NIELSEN: Nucor-Yamato has a good relationship with Missouri University of Science and Technology, where I went to school. They did a recruiting event on campus one spring, and I applied for a co-op when I was a secondsemester junior.

I did a seven-month co-op with the IT team and fell in love with everybody here. And really fell in love with the idea of development in the manufacturing world as opposed to the tech industry. I got a full-time offer before I finished my co-op contingent upon successful completion of my degree, and I accepted it.

BP: What’s the difference between a co-op and an internship?

LN: Generally, an internship lasts over the summer; Nucor’s co-op spans a summer and a semester, so you get an extra four or five months, which also allows you additional time to learn and work on your own.

BP: What opportunities are in your department for someone without a four-year degree?

LN: We have a position called a technical analyst and they do a lot of things;, they’re the jack-of-all-trades in IT. A technical analyst is the frontline to our IT department, interfacing with customers a lot more than a software engineer. They are always on call.

If somebody calls our IT hotline, they’re the people who answer the call. That’s critical because if a monitor goes out in the middle of a crane, someone has to go replace that because they use those screens to keep people safe. If there are administrative issues – the technical analyst handles it; if there’s access right issues – the technical analyst handles that. That’s a job you only need an associate degree for, but it is really one of the most important jobs that we have in IT because it interfaces with customers all over, all the time.

Hot Mill Process Control

Lead/Nucor Steel Arkansas

Hometown: Steele, Mo.

Age: 45

Years with Nucor: 15

BLUEPRINT: What classes did you take in high school that prepared you for a career in manufacturing?

BRIAN ABBOTT: I went the vocational route. I took shop and electronics classes at a vocational-technical school my junior and senior year.

BP: Knowing what you know now, what classes would you recommend someone take to prepare for a career like yours?

BA: Physics and any type of programming class like Python, C++ would be helpful. Also, PLC programming classes would be very beneficial.

BP: What’s been your career progression at Nucor?

BA: I was originally hired as a shift electrician and then moved on to the process control group where we complement what the electricians do. We look at quality, reliability, performance, things like that. Basically, I’ve taken ownership of an area, the hot mill. I get calls all the time. I’m on call 24/7 if something breaks. I’m kind of the last line of defense; if the electricians can’t fix it, they call me

BP: What are you most proud of in your career thus far?

BA: In our manufacturing process, material goes through the mill and is supposed to run up and make a nice, pretty coil. But if something happens in the process where it doesn’t make it to that, we call that a mill wreck. Part of what a process control engineer does is you investigate, get down to the root cause, define what happened, and then implement solutions to keep that from happening again.

The process control group, since I’ve been here, has reduced those from 500 to 600 a year down to 50 a year or less. That’s something I’m really proud of.