When Sylvie Crowell was a freshman at Case Western Reserve University in Fall 2019, her EMSE 110: Transitioning Ideas to Reality class toured Lincoln Electric’s welding facilities. That trip sparked her interest in Lincoln Electric and now, as she prepares to start her final semester as a Materials Science and Engineering undergraduate, she is spending the summer as an intern with the company’s consumables research and development wire group.

Throughout the summer, Crowell has conducted data analysis on chemical and tensile testing of wires, hypothesized on and formulated new modifications to improve properties, and overseen testing and analysis of prototype results. Working primarily with low carbon, low alloy steels, and consumable welding electrodes, she has also used Thermo Calc to predict property changes based on reformulations of consumables.

A Spring 2022 SCSAM Fellow at CWRU, Crowell has also done a considerable amount of microscopy at Lincoln. On a typical day, she prepares samples for scanning electron microscopy in the microscopy lab by mounting and polishing them. After preparing the samples, she creates energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy maps on the microscopes.

Having done some welding as a student technician at think[box], Crowell is appreciating learning more about the complexities of welding this summer. “I am learning about new materials, processes, and conditions where welding can be done that I did not know of.” 

"I’ve been very impressed with how applicable this internship and my projects have been to my major,” said Crowell, pointing out that many of her classes in the department have been relevant to her work, especially EMSE 319: Processing of Materials with Professor Matthew Willard and EMSE 327: Thermodynamics of Materials with Associate Professor Mark De Guire. 

A member of Professor John Lewandowski’s research group, the 2021-22 academic year was one of achievements for Crowell. She received scholarships from ASM International and AIST, took graduate level courses toward her B,S,/M.S, studies and conducted research on aerosol printing of biomedical implant components. When classes resume in August, she looks forward to conducting research for her senior project and planning her M.S. thesis.