Robert Myers followed his passion for hands-on work and became a welder and machinist after high school. But after an accident caused him to put his career on hold, Myers returned to school and discovered metalcasting through the Foundry Educational Foundation (FEF)’s Georgia Southern University metalcasting program, turning a life-altering setback into a career-defining stepping stone.
Myers was 23 when he decided to apply to Georgia Southern University in mechanical engineering. He’d injured his welding arm in a car accident and after a series of surgeries, Myers was ready for a fresh start. What he didn’t expect to find at GSU was a future in metalcasting. Today, Myers is a junior who’s had three FEF internships and a research assistantship through FEF’s METAL Internship Program. But he never meant to join GSU’s foundry program.
“I was going to a meeting for our motorsport club. I walked into the metalcasting lab and was like, ‘hey, do you guys know where this meeting is?’ and they said ‘well, ours is about to start,’” Myers said. “They made me feel really welcome. The whole industry is like that.”
After his first American Foundry Society Student Chapter meeting, Myers found himself back at the foundry again and again. He soon became more curious about the casting process and caught the attention of FEF Key Professor Mingzhi Xu.
“He always asked good questions,” said Xu, who was once an FEF student himself. “I was shocked he was a freshman—it was like finding a treasure.”
A Curiosity for Casting — From Skillets to WWII Bombers
With support from Xu and FEF, Myers grabbed every opportunity to cast. One of his first projects was assisting the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force with the restoration of a WWII B-17 bomber. Myers cast an aluminum H-bracket for the plane’s machine gun turret, which won second place in the 2023 AFS Casting Competition and is still showcased in the museum today. In the AFS competition the following year, Myers led a GSU team that won $1,000.
Myers says it’s the constant creativity of metalcasting that inspires him. From melting scrap metal and analyzing its properties to designing 3D molds and casting custom skillets for industry leaders that visit GSU’s foundry, there isn’t a cast he won’t try.
“I love starting with absolutely nothing, the bare bones, and turning the metal into something else,” Myers said. “It’s amazing to see that and to know how things are made.”
By his sophomore year, Myers was eager to apply his industry experience and growing talent to commercial foundries through FEF internships. He said his internships have resembled an assembly line as he’s learned about the metalcasting process from start to finish.
During his first internship at the Refractory and Insulation Supply in Iowa, Myers molded the heat-resistant ceramics that line furnaces, ladles and crucibles so metallurgists can safely contain molten metal. From there, he was all-gloves-in at Lodge Cast Iron in Tennessee. Myers poured the perfect liquid mix of iron and steel from a 20-ton furnace, cleaned red-hot slag, monitored the extreme temperatures of equipment, and even developed a software to optimize the production of the company’s historic dutch ovens.
“We were doing trials, modifying the chemistry, so the metal would flow better,” he explained. Even as an intern, Myers was encouraged to try everything the foundry had to offer. “I was literally doing the entire process with the team.”
Opening New Doors to Manufacturing
His latest internship at Norican Group in Georgia through the FEF METAL Internship Program taught Myers about the final step in metal production: cleaning, refining and delivering a finished product. The global technology leader builds equipment like cookware, manhole covers and critical parts for transportation infrastructures. Myers is enjoying another hands-on opportunity—and learning new ways to solve industry problems.
“The number one thing I’ve enjoyed about my internships is the variety. The scope of the industry is ginormous, and there are so many different paths,” he said.
Myers doesn’t think he’d have any metalcasting experience or continued pursuing his degree without Professor Xu, METAL and FEF. As he looks toward his future, Myers knows he wants to help push the limits of manufacturing. Whether that’s through robotics or quality control and optimization, the opportunities are endless.
“This industry is one of the blocks the world is built on. We need people who are willing to keep it alive,” he said. “I’m so glad I found metalcasting when I did.”
Since partnering to address the critical workforce shortage in the casting and forging industry, METAL and FEF have provided hands-on internships to 38 interns from more than 20 colleges and universities across the U.S. Interns have a rare opportunity to learn from professional metallurgists who are working to solve real-world problems that move the manufacturing industry forward.
To learn more about FEF’s METAL internship opportunities, email nbacik@fefinc.org.
To learn more about METAL, including apprenticeships and online training, visit metalforamerica.org or fill out our contact form.
