2026 Summer Intern Projects

From safer processes and smarter systems to stronger data and more efficient operations—our 2026 Summer Interns put fresh ideas to work across Olympic Steel.

We’re proud to have welcomed 11 interns across the Olympic Steel Family of Brands this summer!

Interns gained real-world, hands-on experience and got a closer look at careers in metals and manufacturing. Each took ownership of a meaningful project designed to solve real business challenges—like strengthening safety processes and improving how our teams use data, equipment and time. At the end of the program, they presented their work to fellow interns, managers and company leaders. Here’s a look at their impact:

Aspen Helling, SH&E Intern – Olympic Steel, Minneapolis, MN:

Aspen reviewed and refreshed the division’s lockout/tagout procedures, working with maintenance employees to confirm the steps and update labels, locations and instructions that support safe, consistent equipment shutdowns.

Benning Bass, Sales / Marketing Intern – Action Stainless, Houston, TX:

Benning brought marketing, sales and customer data together to evaluate the return on Action Stainless’ marketing investments. She developed a clearer framework for measuring results and making more informed decisions about future marketing spend.

Dottie Kang’ara, Engineering / Quality Intern – Olympic Steel, Bettendorf, IA:

Dottie helped streamline the temper mill stenciling process by implementing a QR code system that transfers job information directly to the machine, reducing manual entry and supporting greater speed, consistency and accuracy.

Frederick Maraidza, Quality Intern – Olympic Steel, Bartlett, IL:

Frederick cataloged, labeled and assessed the division’s press brake tooling, then created a centralized database to make tooling information easier to access and support faster selection, quality and capacity-planning decisions.

Isaac Coltvet, Quality Intern – Olympic Steel, Minneapolis, MN:

Isaac created standardized process documentation for departments across the division, giving employees clear, step-by-step resources that support consistent processes, effective training and easier knowledge sharing.

Jack Bishop, Operations Intern – Olympic Steel, Minneapolis, MN:

Jack helped build and implement a new computerized maintenance management system, consolidating and standardizing information about equipment, parts, vendors and preventive maintenance to improve visibility and support more proactive maintenance planning.

Jillian Darland, Engineering / Quality Intern – Olympic Steel, Bettendorf, IA:

Jillian compared scheduled machine runtimes with actual results and created a resource with updated average runtimes by part. Her work will help the team build more accurate schedules and make better use of available production time.

Srijan Bastakoti, Quality Intern – Olympic Steel, Minneapolis, MN:

Srijan developed a structured 5S system with standardized storage locations, cleaning routines, checklists and audits to support a safer, more organized and efficient workplace—and help the team sustain those improvements over time.

Visit olysteel.com to read more about their projects. And if you missed their introductions earlier this summer, you’ll find those there too!

Note: Not all interns participate in the formal Summer Internship Program that includes a special project. All interns are introduced on our website, but only Summer Program participants will have project descriptions listed.

Our 2026 Interns brought fresh ideas, curiosity and plenty of energy to our teams. We’re thankful they chose to spend their summer with us, and we look forward to seeing what they do next.

If you’d like to participate in the 2027 Internship Program, look for more information from Human Resources in the first quarter of the year, or reach out to Amanda Lessey, Talent Acquisition Manager and Internship Program Coordinator, at Amanda.Lessey@olysteel.com.