Meet Grace Schmitt: Mechanical Engineering Intern
At Simpson, we're proud to support the next generation of foundry professionals by providing hands-on opportunities that connect classroom learning with real-world experience. This summer, we're excited to welcome Grace Schmitt, a Mechanical Engineering student from Texas State University, to our team.
Grace is pursuing a degree in Mechanical Engineering with dual minors in Applied Mathematics and Business Administration and will graduate this December. She hopes to build a career in the foundry industry as a process engineer, with the opportunity to work alongside foundries around the world.
Her introduction to metalcasting began during her freshman year through a summer internship at a steel mill, where she developed Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) safety procedures and performed slag analysis. She returned two summers later to assume a more advanced role, focusing on ladle furnace operations and the casting process.
"Working directly with the casting process was what really sparked my interest," Grace says.
"I also didn't realize how large the foundry industry is. Foundries are everywhere, and the opportunities within the industry are much greater than I ever expected."
At Simpson, Grace is gaining experience in our sand laboratory by performing sand tests, developing standard operating procedures (SOPs) for lab equipment, learning equipment calibration and maintenance, and implementing 5S organization practices to improve the lab environment.
"The internship has shown me how much coordination goes into maintaining quality standards," she says. "It's been a great opportunity to see how different teams and suppliers work together to support a successful operation."
We're proud to have Grace on the Simpson team this summer and look forward to seeing where her engineering career takes her.