Aerobloggen

Hello blog!

My name is Lisa Markusson and this is my first post as an new local graduate engineer here at GKN in Trollhättan. My educational background is Materials Science and Engineering at Luleå University of Technology (LTU) and this is where I heard of GKN Aerospace as a company. Luleå University of Technology and its Department of Materials Science have a long and strong collaboration with GKN in Trollhättan due to their use of exciting and high-performing material like titanium and super alloys. Therefore, by the end of my education I applied to GKN and was given the chance to carry out my thesis work within additive manufacturing (AM) during the fall of 2016. Additive manufacturing is an area which GKN is fully committed to in order to be competitive in present and future businesses, but also for a more effective and environmentally conscious production with less waste of material. Please read more at http://www.gkn.com/en/our-technology/2016/additive-manufacturing/.

During the thesis work I was placed at GKN’s department for process development which foremost operates from Innovatum and its Production Technology Centre (PTC). Innovatum and PTC is a collaboration between industry and academia in order to push production development forward. My work was focused on characterization of powder for the method of direct deposition of the additive, Laser Metal Deposition (LMD), as well as to find a second source supplier of powder for GKN. The work was great in terms of building a good basic understanding for development of AM which also gave me a continued position as an Process Engineer at the company. This has given me a full year of experience at GKN within process development of AM before I started my new position as an Graduate Engineer.

To those readers who are still in the world of academia and thinking of the way forward, I want to say that GKN is an amazing company with cool materials and products, and an exciting business category. Keep a lookout at our website for thrilling thesis works and take the opportunity for an excellent entrance to the company.

My new challenge as an Graduate Engineer will be to broaden my knowledge by rotations at various departments where I will have AM as a common thread. My view on the future is to be a part of the implementation of the process on more products, to continue on what we already have accomplished. Exciting times are to come!

Until next time!
Lisa

*Additive Manufacturing – Collective term for various fabrication techniques whereby material is joined with a layer-on-layer approach to produce a preprogrammed 3D data model.

Hello!

My namn is Josh and I am one of the graduates from America that is starting my international rotation here in Trollhättan. It has been 4 weeks now since Nick, the other American´, and I started here at GKN Sweden with this year’s new trainees. We started our first week learning about the company here in Trollhättan as well as a brief experience in the apprentice school they have here at GKN. This school is designed for high school students to get an opportunity to learn to manufacturing processes and machines using manual and CNC mills and lathes. It was a great few days of learning and hands on work. This is a great opportunity they have available to the high school students in the area that provides useful skills and even an opportunity to work on the shop floor. In America students do not have an opportunity to go do this type of school/training, yet there is a large demand for operators with these skills. If you have interest in the school, take advantage of this opportunity. There are graduates from that program that work on the shop floor and decide to go to university and come back in engineering or even into the Trainee program they have here at GKN.

While the new trainees have been learning about a variety of products out on the shop floor, I have started my position for the 6 months in Trollhättan. I am working in the shop on a new program for GE’s LM9000 in new product introduction (NPI) management. Bringing on a new product involves much development, testing, engineering, and collaboration. I am working with all the members of our LM9000 team to meet our schedule to deliver the part. It can be a challenge to manage the many facets to developing a new program and it also presents many obstacles that I have to adapt to overcome. For GE the LM, which stands for land and marine, products use the jet engine design for non-aviation products such as ships or power generation. The LM9000 is designed for power generation and will be designed to generate 65 Megawatts of energy or enough to power around 6,500 homes. This engine will be an aeroderivative of the GE90-115B, the world’s most powerful jet engine.

I will also be working on an Industry 4.0 initiative here at Trollhättan. Industry 4.0 is considered the next industrial revolution with the integration of modern technology such as computers and the internet to improve different areas of companies. One of the major issues in a manufacturing facility is machine breakdowns. If the machine is not functioning properly, GKN will not be able to produce parts. The concept I will be exploring will revolve around predictive maintenance in order to reduce the downtime of machines. With modern technology, data can be collected and analyzed to determine if a machine is about to fail.   This information allows GKN to be proactive and limit the downtime of the machines. Industry 4.0 opens the door for many improvements for companies like GKN and will open opportunities for those who are interested in studying the skills to implement these improvements.

Last week the trainees were traveling to Stockholm to visit companies in the aviation and space industries! We will be sharing our experiences on this blog so make sure you look out for the posts!

/Josh

Hello again readers! I’ve now started the last leg of my rotation, 6 months here in Trollhättan.  I landed in Sweden on September 1^st and went to a traditional Swedish crayfish party on my first day, a perfect start to my stay here!

The first few weeks I’ve been getting orientated to the facility and the local program with the other trainees, as well as learning about what my assignment will be while I’m here.  I’ll be working on a couple initiatives we have involving additive manufacturing (AM).  Both involve the technique called Laser Wire Deposition with wire (LWD-w) where weld wire and a laser is used to deposit material.  The plan is that we utilize this technology at my home site in El Cajon, so I will gain experience by working on the initiatives they have here in Sweden.

My main task is to work on initiatives with titanium casings where we currently use a forging or casting in a weld fabrication.  Instead, we want to research the possibility of using LMD-w to deposit material right onto the piece to avoid welding, saving money and time while also improving quality.

One thing that makes this facility much different than my home facility in El Cajon is the existence of Innovatum, a research facility here in Trollhättan that works in conjunction with the local university (Högskolan Väst) and other local companies.  Innovatum allows GKN to test new processes (like LWD) for production readiness.  In short, you wouldn’t want to invest money in a process unless you knew it was going to work.  Especially when expensive machines are involved!

I look forward to sharing more about what I’m working on here at Trollhättan, and my life in Sweden.  But it’s been a blast so far!

-Nick, American graduate

Hi there, we are the new graduate engineers and we are the ones who will continue to brighten your day!

On Monday, the 4^th of September, we started our careers as graduate engineers here at GKN Aerospace. In this year’s edition we are five graduates in the local graduate program at GKN Aerospace Sweden and two graduates who have almost the whole world as their workplace through GKN PLC´s International Graduate Program (IGP). Now in the beginning of our program we have been strengthened in numbers by two American graduates who attend the equivalent graduate program with GKN Aerospace North America. They have just started their international placement here in Trollhättan where they will stay for the next six months.

Shortly we will upload our presentations where you will get an opportunity to get to know us better, but in brief we are:

Local graduates

Alexander Hall
Kasper Janehag
Lisa Markusson
Emma Winblad von Walter
Maria Östman

Global Graduates

Philip Simonsson
Signe Vallin

As many of you already know, the glorious graduate program here in Trollhättan has been around for over 30 years. Flying is an association for both new and old graduates which organizes exclusive events. A very fun part of being a graduate is the strong community that exists between new and old graduates, where many graduates (~ 75%) are still working within GKN. As new graduates we have already attended a Flying lunch and an interactive lecture held last Tuesday by our former graduate Torgny Stenholm, Head of Services and Special Products (SSP), and former graduate in 1988. SSP is one of the two business units in GKN Aerospace Sweden, which includes space and military operations. Among 20 engaged new and old graduates participated with engaged spirits with a lot of reflections and questions which created interesting discussions on the topic. It was a fun and educational event!

Right now we are doing workshop training in our facilities where we get to learn more about GKN’s products and processes, but more about that it in a later post!

Today’s Proverb
New brooms sweep best

See you later!
Trainees 17/18

Our year as young graduates at GKN Aerospace has been raging fast, but even so we have experienced incredibly much along the way! We have come to know a vast number of different departments, people and roles at Sweden’s largest (and finest!) aerospace company. We have visited other sites within the GKN plc. group and countless other exciting companies within Sweden as well as in Europe. We have gained contact with and been inspired by the most fascinating people in all possible fields of work and business roles. We have traveled hundreds of pleasant miles in our minibus and, most importantly, we have become a lovely new little family and friends for life!

Therefore, it is not without sorrow that we now leave room for a new year of enthusiastic youngsters. On Monday this week, a new group of GKN graduates started their journey and we welcome them to our comapny with open hearts. You readers of the blog will soon get the chance to know them better as well.

But do not worry too much about losing us. We promise to return in a near future with exciting guest posts from our upcoming international practices.

Until then – thanks and good bye from the graduates of 2016-2017!

One year has passed, a year filled with so many interesting meetings and exciting challenges. It’s sad in so many ways that the program is coming to its end. Unfortunately, from the very beginning its end has been as inevitable as death itself.

Now, new challenges are arising, one of them an abroad internship for 6 months. Like Andreas and Joakim, I will also go to the Netherlands. However, I will move beyond the walls of the entire GKN plc and instead go to ESA (European Space Agency). This is the first time since we became GKN that trainees are allowed to go outside of GKN for their abroad placements, something we have been fighting for several months to realize.
That we now have the possibility to move outside of GKN should of course be recognized as a huge success, mostly as the sole purpose of the trainee program is to bridge cooperation and create networks, not only within GKN but also within the heart of the European industry.

There are a lot on the to-do list the next few weeks, much of it concerning accommodation, car, insurances and other paperwork. Then, of course, one must wrap up unfinished projects and delegate work tasks. Maybe you wonder what I will do at ESA? Well, at the moment of writing, I together with my supervisor is working on a directive for the project. However, I can reveal that it will involve their AM processes and material studies. I will also work to try initiating a collaboration within additive manufacturing.

I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity and I will do all I can to take advantage of it. This will be very exciting indeed, towards the Netherlands and beyond!

Hello world!

 

A full year has passed since I started here as a graduate engineer. It’s gone by so incredibly fast. It is now less than a month until I leave Trollhättan for half a year. Leaving feels a bit melancholy, but I look forward to the following six months a lot! During these coming time I will be working at Fokker Services in Hoofddorp, right outside Amsterdam. According to their HR department I will be the first person from GKN to be stationed there for work, which feels exciting. Fokker also have their own graduate program and I’ve been told they are considering sending a graduate for placement here in Sweden as a response.

I risk sounding like a broken record – but I really look forward to these coming six months so much. I’m very hopeful at the moment about the whole thing and I can’t wait to get going. There was a time when I was a bit stressed out about finding accommodation, but I have now booked the a place for the first few weeks and the rest I can handle when I’m actually there.

The place I’ve booked is called The Student Hotel and is situated about a kilometer west of the city center. I’m glad I found something so central, which means my free time will be much closer to the buzz. The Student Hotel is partly an apartment hotel, but also a regular hotel and like the name suggests it also hosts student apartments. It has a few common areas with ping pong and pool tables and I think I might quickly find a few friends there which I’m hopeful about.

Anyways I’m very excited to soon be going and as you notice I’m looking forward a lot to the whole ordeal. From all the experience and new things I will learn at work, the experience of living in another country and all the new friends I will meet. This will be six great months!

 

Over and out!

Joakim

 

ps This year has been so much fun and I’ve been having a great time. The place I liked the most was my home department, where I will be working indefinitely when I get back to Sweden. Looking forward to this so much as well! J ds

Hello!

My vacation is over, the new trainees will soon arrive and it is almost time to leave for our international assignments!

There are many exciting things to look forward to, even though the summer is almost over. As I said, the new trainees will start on 4^th of September and it will be fun to get to know them! That means we have less than three weeks left as “this year’s trainees” before we are being replaced. We are trying to maximize the last weeks as trainees: we will go on a fifth and last activity week the week before the new trainees start. We will finish the activity weeks as we started: with a road trip in Sweden (this time we will make a detour to Norway as well).

The whole of September will consist of finishing things in Trollhättan and making the final preparations for the international assignment. If everything goes according to plan, I will be sitting on a plane heading towards USA at the beginning of October. I am going to El Cajon, which is a GKN site just outside San Diego, which in turn is located in the southern-most part of California, approximately 20 minutes from the Mexican border. I have never been to California so I am very excited to live there for half a year. Previous trainees who have been to other GKN sites in California have been very pleased, which I hope will be my experience as well.

Exactly what I will do in El Cajon is being planned right now, but it will most likely involve projects in CI (Continuous Improvement) and production analyses. I look forward to getting to know the American work culture, to see how it differs from the Swedish and to learn lots of things I can bring back to Sweden.

Sadly enough, this will be my final blog post. It is, however, definitely time to hand over the blog to new people and you will get to know them along the way!

Emelie

I just finished-up some of the work I`ve done here in Filton at my second placement. In some way I feel it’s just started, in other ways like I`ve been here for a long time. In this post I`ll give you some highlights of my stay.

As you know by now I`ve been located in the commercial department in Filton. In the commercial department potential new opportunities and development of already existing business is handled. Being part of the Commercial department allowed me to get a (brief) view of our customers and how we interact with them on a day-to-day basis as well as in projects. The tie to Airbus is strong since our accusation in 2009 which of course reflects the way we communicate. Airbus is our biggest customer and sales volume wise they are way ahead of the rest of our customer base.

My learning in terms of “commercial” has been very good over the last 6-months. I have been able to lead my own project which resulted in a number of improved skills such as planning, negotiation and people skills. I made analysis of sales and demand figures for the business. Calculated and analysed risk versus reward in terms of meeting customer requirements. I`ve worked with pricing, both how to create a price (cost, profit, NRC, etc.) and with more general pricing strategies. So in the end I really feel this placement helped me “cover” commercial.

How has my life been in Bristol then (Filton)? To be honest the start wasn`t as good as I hoped. I did a lot of things, visiting places around the area and such. However it got a bit boring to do all sightseeing on my own in the end. As time moved on I started to get more and more friends which improved the situation a lot. When I look back at these 6-months I can hardly remember any weekend where I`ve been sat at home.

I`ve been to Barcelona for a weekend (Bristol airport have a lot of LCCs). I`ve been to Leeds, London, Cardiff, Bath, Portsmouth, Southampton, Cowes, Stratford-upon-Avon and Birmingham (a couple of times). I`ve covered many of the great restaurants and bars in Bristol and Birmingham, not to forget Fifteen and the Shard in London. I`ve managed to get a 3^rd-place in an international sailing competition without any prior sailing experience (more than practice during my stay here in Bristol). Big thanks to the crew for letting me take part. I`ve also been to the Jaeger-LeCoultre Horse polo cup. If you ever get the opportunity to look at a horse polo match, take it. It`s a crazy game and I have great respect for the polo players. Just imagine going full speed for 200 meter on a horse (and these horses are well trained) and then get tackled by another one in full speed, crazy. Each match requires about 30 horses divided by the 4 players on the field, so I better stay at work to get some over-time pay.

 

To summarise my working week I think routine is a good word. It starts with the alarm going off at 7 am. Breakfast while getting dressed and packing my gym bag. Leaving home at 7.40-7.45 and stopping at Costa for a coffee on the way to work (Starbucks the first weeks but the coffee taste to “sharp” in the UK). Realised I`m a “stammis” the other week when I forgot my wallet and the staff said “No worries! You can pay tomorrow David”. Then I arrive to work between 8.15 and 8.45 depending on the traffic. Lunch at 12, not 11.50 or 12.10 it`s 12 o’clock in the canteen! In 99% of the cases the commercial team (plus Allan) sits at a table down in the left corner. The canteen is a topic which could be covered in a separate blog-post. To quote Trainee-Niclas when he entered the canteen, “-Isn`t this the type of chairs and tables they have in prison so the inmates don`t throw them at each other?”. Rumour says the canteen will be refurnished though.

After lunch it`s back to the desk and/or plans for the day. When I`m done in the office I head over to the gym eating my car-snack-pack on the way (rice cakes and cashew-nuts). The gym session plus some socialising takes about an hour and a half before heading back to my place. When getting home I cook something for dinner and next day lunch-box. When I finished dinner it`s usually late and I watch TV, read, take a walk or keep in touch with my family and friends.

Some fun-things I picked up (or started with) during my stay:

• I say “sorry” a lot more. Even if it`s not my fault (or even close to)
• Saying “you`ll alright?” or “how are you?” without expecting an answer
• Style-wise I`ve become more British. Black tassel loafers and longer suit jackets for example.
• Casual Fridays is a weird thing I haven’t understood yet. Fine, skip the suit/tie but still try to look decent at least! This is not GKN specific but more UK in general.
• Feels good to drive on the “UK-side” of the road.

Cheers,

David

Hello!

It was a while since I last wrote a blog post, and a lot of exciting and fun things have happened since my pen last touched the ink. Among other things, I have, together with method specialists and buyers, visited our vane subcontractors in Karlskron, southern Germany, and in Pau, northern France. For me it was a very rewarding trip where I got to learn more about the vane manufacturing processes and requirements, as well as got to know some of the people who work there more closely.
A part of the graduate program’s soul-purpose is to connect with people within the European industry, a purpose that I surely fulfilled during my week in France and Germany.
As a graduate engineer at GKN Aerospace you often stumble upon the chance to participate or even lead projects involving everything from product and method development, to the very introduction of new products or methods. A few weeks ago, I said yes to participate in a few projects involving AM-initiatives aimed at reducing production costs while increasing the producibility of some of our products.
AM (Additive Manufacturing, or 3D Printing) is currently being hyped to the maximum, and together with the digitalization, AM is consider becoming the very foundation of the third industrial revolution (at least according to the Economist). As with all technologies, AM has an ocean of possibilities, but it also has its limitations.
It is clear that we now begin to approach the very top of the “hype-cycle”, and the question whether this technology will survive tomorrow’s expectations or not, remains unanswered.
I will dedicate my next post to write about the AM-technology’s possibilities, limitations and risks. Until then, I which you a pleasant vacation (If you have one i.e., if not, I’m sorry)

See you later!