Summer Training at TATA STEEL

Engineering students enjoy long summer vacations. I wanted to utilize part of the vacation to understand how things actually work at shop floor, see some motors and electrical machinery in stripped condition. Tata Steel is one of the largest integrated steel plant in India and I felt I can best learn from there.

I applied to Tata Steel and was told that all vocational training request need to formally come from Training and Placement division. My request to our T&P resulted to the formal letter from MIT's Training & Placement Department to Tata Steel requesting industrial training for me. 

Soon my request was granted and the mail from Tata Steel asked me to visit then on 3rd June.

I was excited. My father continuously harped on the importance of industrial safety. Soon I had my PPE (personal protective equipment) i.e. helmet and safety shoes and goggles ready. With them I transformed from a bookish college student to a macho engineer :)

I was placed under the mentorship of Mr. Arvind Sinha who heads Transmission and Distribution of electrical power in Tata Steel (actually in the city of Jamshedpur as Tata Steel is the authorized electricity provider for the city). He drew out a calendar for me, gave me contact people names in various departments and asked me to learn and report to him every week on the progress. I visited electrical motor repair shop, electrical testing section, power house, Load Dispatch Center. I learned not only about technology, but also on work-flow process and the organization hierarchy and roles and responsibility. These process insights on how a plant allocates work and ensures quality has been my biggest takeaway from Tata Steel.

At the end of my two weeks of training, I had to submit a project report. As a novice engineer (I just completed my first year and have not even started my departmental subjects), I wrote what I saw and what I learned. It was a joyous moment when I learned that my TATA STEEL Summer Training Project Report have been accepted.

A few weeks later I was given a certificate of successful completion of training.

I am grateful to my aunt for her hospitality and hosting me during my stay in Jamshedpur.