UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Benjamin O’Donnell, a Penn State undergraduate student studying materials science and engineering in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, received the 2023 Ellwood Metallurgy Scholarship, which also included a paid summer internship with the company.
“Winning this scholarship is one of my proudest achievements at Penn State,” said O’Donnell, now a fourth-year student.
The $15,000 scholarship is awarded annually to third-year college students pursuing a bachelor’s degree in materials science with a concentration in metallurgy.
“Ben conveyed a desire to pursue a career in the metals industry after graduation,” said Marie Russo, director of human resources at Ellwood. “This was apparent based on his experience and career goals, in addition to his essay. Ben stood out during the interview process based upon his handling of technical questions.”
O’Donnell is the third Penn State student to win the scholarship. Past winners were Devin Kane in 2019 and Lauren Skrabski in 2011. Since the start of the scholarship, Ellwood has awarded more than $300,000 to scholarship winners and finalists.
“With my parents’ support and seeing how proud they are of me as I hit these important milestones is the biggest motivation to keep me going,” O’Donnell said.
O’Donnell felt he gained a lot of experience as an intern at Ellwood.
“My summer at Ellwood was an incredible experience,” he said. “I was given a main project to work on the entire time and a lot of duties the other metallurgists do daily. My main project was developing and documenting a procedure so that we could manufacture something in house that we normally buy from an outside vendor. While my manager and the other metallurgists were always there if I had any questions, I was given free reign, for the most part, with how I wanted the project to be handled, which is not an experience I’ve really had before in a professional setting.”
O’Donnell also appreciated the hands-on learning.
“I was also able to help with investigating material that was defective and sent back to us, and with analyzing steel that was part of any new trials,” he said. “This required me to be on the shop floor or in the lab every day as the work was very hands on, which was exactly the kind of work I wanted to do. I also got to use a lot of the lab equipment at Ellwood.”
O’Donnell said the experience was invaluable and left him with two takeaways: be flexible when plans change, and that embracing new experiences, while uncomfortable at first, is how professional growth happens.