Dr. Mike Nagorka – B.S. 1983 & M.S. 1986
About this Alum
Hometown: Parker, CO
Degree(s) obtained at Mines: B.S. Met. Eng., 1983 and M.S. Met. Eng., 1986. Degrees focused in ferrous alloys with an emphasis in physical metallurgy.
Other Degrees: Ph.D. Materials, U.C. Santa Barbara, 1993
Favorite Memory from Mines: Hanging out with other people in the dorm
Hobbies: Listening to classical music, road bicycling, skiing
Advice to Students:
1. People skills matter! Technical know-how is good, but working with people is critical.
2. Serendipity can happen. Make the most of it.
3. Variety is the spice of life. Expand your horizons.
Career Path
- J&L Steel (East Chicago, IN): Co-op Student, first half spent calculating alloy recoveries in basic oxygen furnace shop, second half studying oil plate-out at cold mill (Summer/Winter 1980)
- U.S. Steel (Orem, UT): Co-op Student, metallography technician (Summer/Winter 1982)
- Kaiser Aluminum (Spokane, WA): Can Stock Metallurgist, verified mechanical properties of can stock (1986-1988)
- Kaiser Aluminum (Pleasanton, CA): Can Stock Researcher, studied can surface quality, participated in strip casting project (1993-2000)
- Schafer Corp. (Sunol, CA): Microbeam Group Leader, supervised use of SEMs, microprobes, microdiffraction X-Ray, TEM. (2001-2014)
- Retired (2014-present)