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.

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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