Aerobloggen

Hello!

Last Friday, Emelie and I arranged a digital event for young girls and non-binaries between the ages of 13-19, with the goal of inspiring them to pursue a career in technology. The event is called IGE-day, Introduce a Girl to Engineering day, and is a concept created by the Womengineer Foundation. Womengineer has a vision that by 2030, the number of graduating engineers will be the same for both men and women. At GKN Aerospace, we work actively to increase the diversity of the company, and participating in events like these is very important to us. Because of this, we have participated in IGEday several years in a row.

As mentioned earlier, this year it was time for Emelie and I to arrange the event at GAS. Given the high spread of the Coronavirus at the beginning of the year, the event was decided to be held digitally, which went very well. We invited Johanna Nylander who presented the actions of the aviation industry to achieve a sustainable flight. Additionally, Elin Eriksson and Emily Chen told us about their journey and described what they do in a normal workday as engineers. Thank you for being a part of the event!

Because the event was digital, we chose to send out goodie bags to the participants, something that was very much appreciated. We hope that the participants had a good day and that they learned more about engineering, and possibly got an answer to the eternal question “What does an engineer do?”.

//Moa

Hello again all readers!

We are now back in Västra Götaland after an intense week in Bristol, UK. Finally, we had the opportunity to meet the other global graduates in real life and not behind a screen. What a fun week we had. A group of 16 people, 5 from the USA, 3 from the Netherlands, 3 from the UK and of course 5 from Sweden, stormed the streets of Bristol.

The days consisted of several training sessions that touched on various topics, including self-awareness, communication skills, change management, self-confidence and setting goals. This gave life to many exciting discussions. We also had the opportunity to visit the new GTC, which opened in October, as well as our site in Filton and Western Approach.

The afternoons and evenings were also packed with many fun activities. We visited Bristol’s famous Clifton Suspension Bridge. A beautiful view that was difficult to enjoy when your heart rate was at 120 bpm after a car ride in the hectic English left-hand traffic.

We were also Locked in a Room and had dinner on a boat.

To finish the week off, we were invited to the Recognition of Learning Event. At the event, the 2019 cohort graduated and other awards were handed out. This event took place at the Aerospace Museum in Bristol where we had dinner under the wings of the Concorde aircraft. An amazing experience.

Thank you to everyone who participated during the week and a big thank you to Charlie Lean who arranged it all. We now face the challenge of applying what we have learned and we look forward to the next Development Week.

I started at the company as a graduate engineer in 2009, and later became an industrial Ph.D student who researched the company’s innovation capability. At that point, about ten years ago, it was mostly incremental innovation, small development steps that were made. One of the few radical innovations that I could find examples of in the industry was winglets. The winglets were something that even the passengers could see was slightly different, when the aircraft wings at the ends was bent upwards. Today, ten years later, we work with hydrogen engines, Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), various types of additive manufacturing and more. Technologies that are radically changing the entire industry and its manufacturing. And the driving force in these innovational steps is not just money, but the ongoing climate crisis.

Suddenly, the whole industry has a sense of urgency! We have realized that if we want be in the business in the future, we must change to more sustainable flights. If we are to continue to attract young people to come and work with us, we must work in a different way. One might think that our industry has undeservedly been given the role as the “bad guy” in the climate crisis. Aviation today accounts for about 3% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions, but with an increasing middle class in Asia who, like the western world, wants to travel, it is predicted that the small number will increase significantly in the future. So regardless of whether we are the “bad guys” today, we will be the “bad guys” in the future if we do not change.

It is now it’s happening. The creation of the radical innovations. That dramatic change in the industry that we will be able to remember and hopefully be proud of. It is now that the company needs everyone who cares about a sustainable world. It is not a matter of the sustainability work being done by a few people who have it written into their job description, but it needs to be done by everyone. Because even though the industry today places a great deal of focus on the climate, it must not be at the expense of other sustainability factors. How sustainable are we really if we achieve climate neutrality for our products during use, but at the same time risk the safety of our employees in manufacturing, buy materials from child labor in Congo, have a significantly larger proportion of material waste compared to the amount of materials delivered to customers, or ignore in that environmentally hazardous substances are released into the nature around our sites. A lot is being done, everything from technology projects on hydrogen propulsion, testing of how RM12 is affected by SAF, repair methods with Laser Metal Deposition Powder (LMD / DED), reduced buy-to-fly with LMD wire, weight reduction with Powder Bed Fusion, Life cycle analyzes, qualitative sustainability assessment tools, tools that evaluate material criticality, global Sustainability work streams, Sustainability Champions, the creation of educational materials, Connected Women, Environmental plans, and more and more. But we are also constantly finding new unexplored areas, more things that we need to do. Sustainability is complex, which is why the responsibility and work cannot be placed on a few people. It is now we are needed at the company, we who are passionate about a sustainable future! Do you want to be part of changing the direction of the industry?

// Johanna Nylander, Senior Research Engineer and Graduate Engineer 2009

Hello everyone!

With the spread of Covid-19 in Västra Götaland steadily increasing for the past few weeks, most of us at GAS have gone back to working from home after the Christmas break. Some people enjoy it, while others do not. It is easy to end up in a negative spiral when you have your office, gym and home behind the same door, and you easily forget the meaning of the word routine. With that said, we hope that we can be back in the office again soon and we have a very exciting spring (March) ahead of us, which makes it easier to keep our spirits up.

My second rotation, which started around Christmas, is in the Lean department. Elias told you briefly about the department in his previous blogpost, which was the department for his first rotation. However, the focus of our rotations have been very different. In my master’s, Quality and Operations Management, we had a course in Six Sigma that certified me as a Six Sigma Black Belt. Without going into too much detail, Six Sigma is about implementing improvement projects using different tools and there are different certification levels (White Belt, Yellow Belt, Green Belt, Black Belt and Master Black Belt). According to the global Lean Academy at GKNA, they now want to increase the proportion of certified Green Belts and Black Belts to improve GKNA’s way of working with systematic problem solving. My role in the department is to assist my supervisor in her project to become a certified Black Belt and thus Trollhättan’s Site Black Belt Representative, and to coach ongoing Green Belt projects. I will also have the opportunity to participate as a co-facilitator during the Lean Foundation trainings when the restrictions ease again, a training that will be held for all employees to increase their knowledge about Lean.

Take care.

/Moa

Hello again everyone!

What wonderful winter weather we have had during the last weeks. Sadly, the snow is already melting and warmer degrees are anticipated. However, the Christmas feeling that the graduates have remains strong and we wanted to share it with our dear graduates from previous years. We therefore started off the week with a Christmas Mingle with mulled wine, gingerbread and good music out in the rain!

As the year comes to an end, a short break on the blog is also approaching. We will be back and updating again after the Christmas break. Several exciting posts are awaiting, so don’t forget to keep a lookout here on the blog.

The graduates of 2021 wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Take care and see you soon.

Hello!

I am Darshana and I am very happy to be writing for this blog today. I am one of the three UK 2021 graduates, and you can see us in the photo below. We are all based at the Global Technology Centre in Bristol for our first placement.

On the left is Danielle. She is from Cameroon and studied an integrated Master’s Degree in Chemical Engineering at Aston University. She is currently working in the Horizon 3 Future Flight team on a project, which aims to develop a hydrogen-powered system for UAS (Unmanned Aircraft System). As part of her role, she has been designing 3D models of components that will be combined to form the overall UAS. Alongside her role, she is excited to work with young people as a STEM Ambassador as an advocate for pursuing careers in STEM, notably, engineering.

On the right is Zaryab. He is from Pakistan and grew up in Scotland. He studied an Integrated Master’s Degree in Aero-Mechanical Engineering at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. Zaryab is currently working within the Future Flight team, and is focusing on a novel eVTOL (electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing) concept capable of transporting many passengers using electric power. So far, Zaryab’s favourite part of the programme has been the opportunity to explore a breadth of topics alongside his core project. This has included looking at hydrogen power, supporting with financial studies and working on creating a life-cycle assessment on GKN products as part of the sustainability work streams. He is also exploring the opportunity to carry out STEM outreach with the local community.

I am from Mauritius and I grew up in London. I studied Physics at King’s College London. During a summer internship, I had the opportunity to work on aircrafts and it helped me decide that I wanted to work in the aerospace field. I did my Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering at Ecole Centrale de Lyon in France, specialising in composite materials. For my first placement at GKN, I am working in additive manufacturing, specifically on the Laser Metal Deposition by wire cell. It is very exciting to work on this innovative technology, researching new ideas that can be developed into practical applications at GKN. I am really enjoying my time at GKN. It is great to talk to colleagues who are passionate about their projects, and who are always willing to answer my questions. Like Danielle and Zaryab, I am also looking forward to joining the STEM outreach programme.

There are always opportunities to get involved in exciting projects at GKN. Last month, I was asked to take part in the GTC inauguration event. I met the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, and it was a surreal experience! We talked about the graduate programme and I accompanied them to do lay-ups of carbon-fibre sheets for Resin Transfer Moulding. I was impressed to see how well informed Boris Johnson was on composite structures. He asked interesting questions about carbon fibres and their transformation into the strong and rigid structures that are used on aircrafts.

It has been an eventful couple of months and I am eager to see what comes next. I am especially looking forward to finally meeting the graduates from Sweden and the US in-person, after many virtual meetings!

Take care,

Darshana

Hello Hello!

Mid-October is here and autumn is making its entrance again. The leaves are changing colors on the trees, the days get shorter, and the rain pours down in copious amounts. Dull times according to many – but persevere, because soon it will be Christmas.

To break away from everyday life, we trainees have spent two days at Bohusgården Hotell & Konferens (aka coffee, sweets and ice cream in large quantities) in Uddevalla. These two days have been gilded by sunlight and a focus on development, both individually and as a group. During the first day, we got to know each other better through exercises linked to group dynamics. We were also visited by Christopher Sörensen from HR who helped us identify and discuss the group’s individual and common strengths. In the evening, spa and good food awaited, as well as a few intense rounds of billiards and shuffle board.

• 

• 

The second day began with a case to practice our ability to solve problems in groups. After that, we discussed our and the company’s goals and expectations for the trainee program. We were also visited by Fredrik Wallin and Peter Stommendal from the Strategy department, who presented GKN Aerospace Engine’s overall strategy and vision, which put our future work in a larger context.

It was two very fun and intense days where we, among other things, learned many new things about each other. Now we will continue our first rotation and next week there will be a post from Alexander about his time within the Strategy department.

See you later!

Ps. Are you looking for a master thesis? Do not forget to view the project proposals offered by us at GKN Aerospace in Trollhättan here!

Hello everyone!

For the past two weeks, we have had workshop practice. We have all observed individual parts and their journey through the flow of operations here at GKN Aerospace in Trollhättan. Today was the final day of the workshop practice and we presented our learnings from the weeks to each other. Below is a brief description of our experience.

Elias: I spent my introductory workshop period at the Rotatives department in the X-workshop, where I followed the production sequence of an LPC (Low Pressure Compressor). The LPC is one of the first steps of a conventional jet engine, with the purpose of initializing the compression of air before the following engine parts. Rotating parts of a jet engine usually have strict requirements when it comes to tolerances, so through this workshop period, I had the opportunity to see the methods that GKN Aerospace use to accomplish these requirements. The manufacturing process included conventional machining, such as milling and lathing, but also included more advanced metallurgical control and measuring methods. In conclusion, it was very insightful to have the opportunity to observe part of GKN’s operations and see what some of the challenges are in a manufacturing process.

Emelie: During my time in the workshop, I had the opportunity to follow a product called 30k TEC. The name does not really say much initially, but 30k is a name used for motors that generate a thrust of around 30 000 lbf, or approximately 135 kN, and TEC stands for Turbine Exhaust Case, which means that it is located after the turbine in the engine. During my time in the workshop I saw the product transform from just a box of components to a finished product, which has been a lot of fun! Before this, I had never set foot in a workshop, but thanks to this experience I know a lot more about what it is like to work in a workshop. Every day I got to follow a new process, and I have learned about everything from welding and X-ray to turning and milling.

Alexander: The last two weeks I’ve spent at Structures in the C-shop. I had the opportunity to follow XWB, a large static part that resides in the Trent XWB (Rolls-Royce) engine, powering the A350-900. The part is welded together from smaller sections and if that was not cool enough, LMD (Laser Metal Deposition) is utilized to build up the profile. It has been a great opportunity to meet co-workers and gain a better understanding about the products produced in Trollhättan.

Merim: During my workshop practice I’ve been assigned to the RM12 engine, which powers Sweden’s own Gripen fighter jet. I’ve previously never seen an RM12 engine, in fact I’ve never seen a jet engine except for pictures, and to see one in reality was a real experience! I have got the privilege to see all the individual components that are inside, which all contribute to the successful operation of the engine. I am glad for getting the opportunity of seeing an RM12 engine, it has been immensely fun and I am very grateful for everything I have learned by the best within the field of RM12.

Moa: During my workshop practice I have been with the department Spools and Special Processes and followed the part LM2500. LM2500 is a part that is not used in aviation, as LM stands for Land & Marine. The part is a spool covering step 3-9 in a gas turbine compressor and is a rotating part with strict tolerances. It has been very interesting to follow the production flow of the part as it moves diligently through the plant and I have learned a lot about different processes used here in Trollhättan.

In conclusion, it has been a very rewarding time, and we are all extremely grateful to everyon that has taken the time to guide us and help us understand what they are working with! We are now looking forward starting our first rotation.