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Experimental Development Fund, Semester 1 2015
My Danish Wind Turbine Adventures By Damien Slinger
Introduction
The Experimental Development Fund (EDF) is an opportunity for students to create their
own pathways, use their own initiative and design their own learning. Through the help
of this program, I recently travelled Denmark to learn the fundamentals of designing
wind turbines with industry leaders Siemens and Vestas.
My name is Damien Slinger and I am currently in my third year of a Bachelor of
Mechanical Engineering, majoring in Project Management, and studying at the
Queensland University of Technology (QUT). This self-initiated three-week experience was
very enriching - academically, culturally, and professionally. I would highly recommend
fellow students to take the initiative and apply for an experience of their own through
this program. The world is your oyster, and who knows where it may take you.
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General information
Location: Denmark - Copenhagen, Videbaek, Billund, Vejle
Dates: Between July 28th 2015 - August 17th 2015
My Danish adventures - a summary of my experience
As part of my travels, I participated in Aarhus University’s 2015 Wind Power Summer
School (WPSS). As one of only 44 students selected from around the world, I was taught
by Denmark’s finest in the wind industry - including global engineering companies
Siemens, Vestas and SKF Bearings. To add to its atmosphere, the course was run at
Laugesens Have- a country retreat on the east coast of Jutland (Denmark’s east-most
island), surrounded by countless wind turbines as far as the eye
could see.
Before the summer school, I flew into Copenhagen and visited
many of its famous landmarks. Over the four days that I was here, I
met and shared stories with people from around the world; visiting
sites such as Nyhahn, Stoget Shopping Street, Christiansborg
Palace, Amalienborg Palace and the statue of The Little Mermaid.
I was fascinated by the Danish history and culture, picking up a words and phrases with
each passing day. According to a number of the locals, I also learnt how to “properly eat a
Danish hotdog” – which from personal experience was harder than I first gave it credit
for.
On my way to Laugesens Have, I met with one of my QUT
colleagues – who was also invited to partake in the WPSS –
and spent the next two nights meeting locals in the small
country town of Vejle. While dancing on the table of a local
bar (apparently a Danish tradition), we also had the
opportunity to meet one of the managers of Denmark’s
famous “LegoLand”- an amusement park completely made
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out of Lego. After explaining we had travelled from Australia, he offered to let us into
LegoLand (free of charge), and gave us a private tour of its facilities the following day.
This experience was especially awesome and reiterated the fact by having an open mind
and trying new things, unplanned opportunities present
themselves.
Excited to learn, I spent the following two weeks at
Laugesens Have learning the fundamentals of designing
wind turbines. As expected, this course was both
practical and theoretical – something that really
attracted me to it in the first place. My classes ran
between 8:30 am and 10:30 pm most days of the week, with breaks for lunch and dinner.
Apart from studying, we also had the opportunity to travel to neighboring industry sites;
and I saw first-hand how Siemens and Vestas assembled their nacelles and fabricated
their 50+ meter blades respectively.
I also visited the Risø-DTU testing site for large wind
turbines, and stood beside a 113-meter diameter
Siemens’ (SW113-3MW) wind turbines – a turbine with a
wingspan larger than a football field. This particular
experience gave me a greater perspective as to how
large these structures and projects really are.
Some of the other highlights of this course were: being featured in the local newspaper,
managing a team of 6 engineers for a concept-based project, receiving the program’s
outstanding teamwork award, and networking with students and professionals from
around the world.
Travelling to Denmark to learn the fundamentals of
designing wind turbines, with industry leaders Siemens
and Vesta, was truly an amazing experience. I loved being
able to take the initiative and design my own learning.
Thank QUT and the EDF program for giving me this
opportunity.
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Further information
What motivated you to participate in this experience?
My main reason for travelling to Denmark was to participate in "Aarhus University's 2015
Wind Power Summer School". As one of only 44 students selected from around the
world, I was motivated to participate in this experience for both cultural and academic
reasons. I was to be taught by Denmark's finest in the wind industry, including global
engineering companies Siemens, Vestas and SKF Bearings; and I looked forward to the
challenging environment that awaited me overseas. This was a course that balanced
theory with practice. And finally Denmark, being the origin of the world's wind
technologies, was the perfect location to host such a summer school.
What were the highlights of your experience?
Some of the highlights of my experience in Denmark were as follows:
1. While dancing on the table of a Danish bar (apparently a local tradition), I was
fortunate to met one of the managers of Denmark's famous "LegoLand" - an
amusement park completely made of Lego. After finding out that my friend and I
were travelling all the way from Australia, he invited us to come to LegoLand the
following day (free of charge) and gave us a private tour.
2. To further enrich my cultural experience, I flew into Copenhagen and visited many
of its famous landmarks. This included sites such as Nyhahn, Stoget Shopping
Street, Christiansborg Palace, Amalienborg Palace and the statue of The Little
Mermaid - which was truly as 'little' as the name had suggested.
3. During the first days of the summer school, I was asked to feature in the local
newspaper of Videbaek. I was invited to tell my story and the reasons for why I
had travelled so far to come to attend this this course. This is a link to the article:
http://m.dagbladetringskjern.dk/videbaek/unge-fra-hele-verden-paa-vindmoelle-s
ommerskole
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4. While attending the course, I also had the opportunity to visit the Risø-DTU testing
site for large wind turbines. Here I had the chance to stand beside a 113-meter
diameter Siemens' (SW113-3MW) wind turbines. To give perspective, this is a
turbine with a wingspan larger than a football field. Standing beside such a
megastructure really demonstrated to me how large these wind turbines really
are.
5. Apart from the Risø-DTU testing site, I also had the opportunity to visit many other
industry sites. At Vestas' performance and testing centre, we saw firsthand their
new V164-8MW turbine gear train - a module that measured approximately 8
meters wide x 8 meters high x 20 meters long. It was amazing to comprehend that
this megastructure in itself were to be
erected on the top of a 90+ meter tower. We
also visited Vestas' blade manufacturing plant
in Lem, and learned how they fabricated their
50+ meter blades.
6. In my final week of the course, I was selected
to manage a team of 6 engineering students
from around the world in a concept-based
project. This concept was to be presented to
both the Head of Faculty of Aarhus University and to various representatives from
Siemens and Vestas. Being mentored by one of Siemen's leading project
managers, this gave me a further insight as to what a career in management may
look like in the future. As I major in Project Management, I found this particularly
interesting and rewarding.
7. Fortunately my team and I were later
presented with one of only four awards given
out on the final day - the Siemens and Vestas
‘Outstanding Teamwork Award’. This was
especially impressive as each of the three
QUT students who attended the course
received an award. (I.e. 3 out of the four
awards were won by QUT students)
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What advice would you give other students who are considering participating in this type
of experience in the future?
Student's considering to apply for funding through the EDF program should try to make
the most out of their experience. My advice, if considering to attend another overseas
course, would be to:
1. Allow time for travelling and exploring – fill your schedule. Since this was the first
time I had been to Denmark, I loved I chose to arrive in Copenhagen nearly a week
earlier so that I could ‘be a tourist’. In doing so, I had the chance to visit landmarks
and met both locals and people from around the
world.
2. Which brings me to my next piece of advice: if
given the opportunity, staying in hostels can be
an amazing experience. Here I met people from
around the world and had the chance to relax
and share stories.
3. Give yourself more than enough (your expected)
time to be somewhere when transiting. For
example: I nearly missed my departing airport
train thinking that arriving 30 minutes before
planned departure would be enough.
Unfortunately as many of the ticket machines
were malfunctioning, there were large queues to get tickets and I nearly missed
my plane. Thankfully however, I made it.
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