Aerobloggen

The second stop on our activity week was Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery in Finspång. The day started off a bit badly as we went to the wrong building. However, after some guiding we arrived a little bit late, to the right building, where we were welcomed by Siemens young graduates. What made the Siemens visit special, in comparison to the other visits, was that they had an employee responsible for company visits. Maybe this was the reason why the entire visit felt really thought through.

The day started with some company information and discussion and comparison between our experiences so far. Just as us, the Siemens young graduates also started this autumn. This was followed by a presentation about a project that they have been running in Australia where they have been installing a gas power plant for a mine. Personally working in that kind of project seemed like a lot of fun despite the location in the middle of nowhere.

After some Swedish fika we continued with a tour in a couple of their workshops. We followed the manufacturing and assembly process and ended up with a complete gas turbine ready for shipping.

We ended our visit with lunch and a short visit to the castle where we also managed to snap a group photo.

As you may know, we have now been away on our first activity week with both study visits and personal development on the itinerary. The week started early on Monday morning with the five of us cramming into a rental car to take us from Trollhättan to Linköping, where the first study visit of the week was planned at Saab.

Finding the right entrance at Saab’s huge premises was not easy, but the roar of Gripen fighter jets in the sky convinced us that we were close. We were welcomed by Linus, one of Saab’s current young graduates, who guided us through the newly built offices to a conference room where we got to meet more people from Saab’s group of young graduates. This first meeting was mostly spent comparing our two young graduate programs and it was interesting to hear that our experiences so far have been similar in many ways.

However, the tour in the JAS 39 Gripen final assembly shop were probalby even more interesting, as we also got to sit in the cockpit of the plane. The fact that the plane we sat in was built in wood and not airworthy by any standards mattered less, it was just as cool to us.

Unfortunately, everything in and around Saab’s premises are very secret and strict photo prohibition comes with it, so you will have to make do with a photo of us from Grästorp!

Once again it’s my turn to post and I thought I should mention where I have been and what I have done these past six weeks.

I have actually been at my “home department”, where I’m meant to start working in about a year from now, which is the AeroThermo department. What do you do at aerothermo? Well, it’s a part of analysis where you do aerodynamic and thermodynamic calculations on the properties of/around an object. In simplified terms you could say that you calculate how good or bad air, or any other fluid, flow around an object and how good or bad an object transfer heat. As you understand, things get complicated really fast when you start to go into details regarding this fascinating field. What have I done though?

What I have done, in short, is to compare experimental data of a detail with data calculated of the same detail using various methods by computer. From this comparison one method is to be chosen, the one that best compares to the experimental data, to be used for a future design practice for calculations of similar character. The work I have done is basically the groundwork for a method that will be applied by the other engineers at the department.

Not only was it really interesting and educational to work “for real”, but also nerve-racking at times to be a part of the development of a method that will affect the work of other people in the future!

Enough of the past, what happens now?

The following week will be on of our “activity weeks”, where we have been given a couple of days to plan for ourselves as a group. What we have chosen to do is a study trip! We are first going to SAAB and ACAB in Linköping, followed by Siemens in Finspång and finally SCANIA in Södertälje. All of this is to be done in three days!

After that we will (not) relax for two days at Bokenäs!

We shall see if we survive…

This Monday, four of five young graduates were out of office again. This time we took the Super SAAB (in contrast to the Racer Renault) to Såtenås and Skaraborgs Flygflottilj F7, one of the bases of the Swedish Air Force. We were well received by Gerhard. After a short visit to the guard, we were allowed to enter the area and were taken to one of the facilities. We were offered coffee (an easy way to get happy graduates!) and were thereafter given an introduction to the organization. We learned for example that the military airport of Såtenäs were founded in 1940 and that all the Swedish pilots for the fighter plane JAS 39 Gripen are educated here.

When we had got all the theory it was time to go to the hangar and what we had come for – JAS 39 Gripen! As Anders wrote last week, we now have some knowledge in the RM12 engine that is used in Gripen, and it was very interesting to see where the engine is placed in the aircraft. Our guide told us everything worth to know and answered our many questions the best he could. It is clear that Gripen holds a lot of power that demands a lot of its pilot, even if they are more of system operators than actual flyers. The retirement age of a pilot within the Swedish Air Force is 55 years and not all of them work that long due to the physical demands. We also saw the armament of Gripen and a small strategic discussion about defenses. If you want to read more about Gripen, you can read it here.

After the guided tour in the hangar, we also got to see one of the controls where the aircrafts are prepared and controlled before take-off and after landing. The visit was ended with lunch together with Gerhard and some pulse-pounding looking for one of the young graduate’s car key, which were found on the parking lot outside of the guard. Exactly who of us that was this clumsy, will remain untold…

We thank F7 and Gerhard for a very interesting visit and can strongly recommend you a visit if you ever get the chance!

As an extra little treat today, we would also like to tell you about the probe Philae which this afternoon will land on the comet 67P/Churyymov-Gerasimenko. Philae is to be sent from the satellite Rosetta which were sent out in space ten years ago and has since then been working to meet the comet at the right position. You can read more about Rosetta and Philae here, where they also will telecast the landing this afternoon.

As we rapidly approach Christmas, the final decision on where to do our abroad internship comes closer. Only considering Engine Systems (ES), the expansion in USA has led to a number of new sites, now with a grand total of 13. Since we have the opportunity to go within the whole division of GKN Aerospace the decision is becoming tricky. There are so many interesting places to go and so much I want to be able to try. Even if it is usual that you stay within your area of expertise, you can also take the chance to see something completely new.

From my own point of view the plan is at the moment headed towards USA and more specific the GKN Aerostructures office in Santa Ana. From the previous trainees Martin and Oscar who went there I have heard nothing but good. Also Santa Ana has interesting technologies, for example within Ti Honeycomb panels.

Even if this is the current plan, things can change quickly and for me personally the most important thing is that they have an established Engineering office.

Have a great Sunday everyone!

Martin

Today, we finally attended the highly anticipated and much needed jet engine course! Despite understanding the core principles of the jet engine early on in our employment, that air is sucked in in the front, compressed, ignited along with fuel and sent out the back of the engine, we realised there were many things we did not fully understand. For example, why the temperature in the engine should be as high as possible, why you run most engines on Jet A1 fuel, how the air should swirl inside the combustion chamber, why its not desired to fly commercial aircrafts at supersonic speeds and why fighter jets not always fly with the afterburner activated. There is unfortunately not enough space to answer all of these questions here and every answer will most likely lead to many more follow-up questions in this technically complex engineering, but it is easy to see why aviation is fascinating so many people all over the world!

 

We were of course captivated by the lecture, but if you find this sort of knowledge completely dull you might want to reconsider a career within aerospace. The technical aspects are always present, even if you do not work directly with technical matters, and it quickly becomes very complex. We are beginning to realise why people jokingly say you are considered “newly employed” at the company for your first ten years, that is simply the time it takes to fully understand the products, the business and the production.

 

Jet engines explained in 2 minutes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ul8tkoQ1xA

The Young Graduate blog was started by the young graduates of 2011/2012. Since then, we have become GKN and by that, we have got an increased number of English speaking colleagues. Of course, we want all of our colleagues to be able to read about our adventures as young graduates and therefore we proudly present our brand new English version of the blog.

In the dropdown menu “In English” you can now read about the young graduate program, the young graduates of this year and former, what former young graduates thought of the program, read about what thesis propositions we currently have in English and, of course, read the blog posts.

Our aim is that everything that is published in Swedish will hereafter also be published in English, starting from now. So we wish you a happy reading!

The young graduates of 2014/2015