OREANDA-NEWS. April 20, 2011. Last March 29, employees from different departments of Ipatinga Mill participated in the inaugural class of Master’s Degree in Physical Metallurgy promoted by Usiminas in a partnership with the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG). The course was requested by several employees and managers in an initiative that was subsequently approved by the steelmaker’s Human Resources department.

According to the Ipatinga Mill’s director, initiatives like this add value and knowledge to the employee, in addition to representing an opportunity for the company to improve its competitive edge and support its development. “Usiminas encourages its employees toward self-development and believes that enhanced performance depends on the employees’ technical capabilities.”

In the opinion of UFMG’s professor Renato Minelli, the great challenge will be turning the technical knowledge that will be acquired in the Master’s Degree course into satisfactory results for both the employee and the company.

Professional growth opportunity

The class is made up of 23 employees, who will finish the course in October 2012. The classes will be given at Usiminas’ Personnel Development Center by professors from the Federal University of Minas Gerais.

In the words of one of the participants, the technical assistance engineer Thiago Rangel Bittencourt, “this is not only a great opportunity from the technical improvement point of view, but also a chance of contributing to the company”.

The course will be fully paid by Usiminas.