On June 6 of this year, Maysteel Industries LLC welcomed the first group of students into their Summer Internship Program. This program is open to juniors and seniors in high school, as well as Associate Degree candidates at local technical colleges. The Summer Internship Program is designed to expose exceptional area students to careers in Engineering and Manufacturing.

For 2015, the Program focused on CAD Design. Candidates from area schools were recruited as part of the Washington County Workforce Alliance Career Fairs held at Hartford Union High School and the Washington County Fairgrounds this past March. We had high school candidates from Kewaskum, Slinger, West Bend and Hartford apply for the two open positions. Four finalists were selected for a series of formal interviews. Candidates were judged based on their experience with 3D modeling software, knowledge of sheet metal design and verbal and written communication skills.

The Maysteel 2015 Summer Internship Program participants are:

Elyssa Debelak, who is a 2014-2015 National Honor Society member and is interested in a career in Biomedical Engineering. She is entering her senior year at Kewaskum High School and hopes to attend UW-Madison, Marquette or Purdue after graduating. Elyssa describes herself as a quick and innovative learner who is very detail-oriented and strives for superior quality. She is a member of the high school cross-country and track teams. If you are a skier, you might have seen her working as a cashier at Sunburst Ski Hill.

Joe Sanborn, who will also be a senior at Kewaskum High School this fall, is interested in a Mechanical Engineering career and has targeted UW-Madison, MSOE and UW-Platteville as potential undergraduate schools. Joe is hoping to learn more about what the role of a Mechanical Engineer is and what the job entails. He is a self-described tinkerer who really enjoys figuring out how things work. His proudest accomplishment is assembling a hydrogen-powered car that gets 60mpg. Joe plays soccer on the high school team and loves to bike. He is currently also working as a pump attendant at one of the few full service gas stations in Wisconsin.