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week20 report

2009-01-24T02:22:00.009+01:00

It is 20th week already. It is actually the official ending of the internship. (The exchange program is 20 weeks). However, I will stay here until 2nd Feb. So this is going to be a last post. Hmmm…. Chinese New Year is right at the corner. Every time when I chat with my Chinese friends, First thing they ask is: are you going back for New Year? Hmm…. New Year is a season for the Chinese to stay together with their family. Feeling homesick really… First time I have such strong feeling in Germany.

Anyway… Happy Chinese new year to everybody who is reading my blog now. 恭喜发财!(gong xi fa cai!)Thank you for all your support. I am very happy when every time there is a new message from you guys. That is encouragement for me. And it really helps to cure my loneliness.

Ok…What I have done for this week:

I went to a Chinese restaurant with some Chinese friends last weekend. We ate “hot pot” over there. (refer to “steamboat” in Singapore,火锅) This is a photo taken in the Chinese restaurant. Hmm..Look “china” for me. Especially the red Chinese knot that hang on the wall.
The photo below it is the “hot pot” I am talking about. It was really really nice…I give 9 marks for this one. (10 marks for the “hot pot” in China.haha…) I ate a lot that night.

And we had a party in the university this week. It is funny to take photo for people who are drunk. This is photo from my flatmate, Tim (The one with “big eyes”.) The other one is friend from my flatmate. We knew this from the next day, that he slept in the staircase for few hours, right in front of his own flat. Hah…And my friend told me that I slept in the party for one hour…hah…(I didn’t know that.)

I asked my German friend to teach me to cook German food before I leave. “Bohnen-untereinander” is the name for this food. If you trying to figure out what type of food is this, I can tell you, It is kind of soup, but at the same time it is not that liquid like water. Because they put potato inside. So I would rather say it this way. Potato means rice for the German. So this type of food can be said something like “porridge” for the Chinese. So “German porridge”…hah…can you understand now?

I have done this work this week. Because we took out the solar cell from the old car “Solar World No.1”. And the company “solar world” want us to put new cell for this car. Off cause not GaAs Solar cell. But traditional silicon cells.(much much cheaper.) So I need to work all these out: where to put the cells. How many cells in one string, what is the best configuration for the cells. And I have worked it out. Hah…By the way, I still working on my final report now.
Take a last look at our project room…I am going to miss this place. Ich liebe Deutschland!
And Singapore! I’m coming back! Have a nice weekend!

Week19 report

2009-01-17T15:39:00.010+01:00

Week 19, Hmm… Some of my friends already finished their attachment in other country and going back to Singapore recently. I will see my friends they all in two weeks time. My birthday in Chinese calendar is coming..hoho…(Next Monday)…Followed by Chinese new year.(24th of Jan this year.) Don’t know is there any celebration here in Germany? But lucky I knew some Chinese friends over here. Maybe we will have a big meal together in new year eve. But hear from them said, they got a exam in the first day of Chinese new year….haha…sian

Ok…Summary for this week:

I went to Hamburg with some friends last weekend. and stay a night over there in a motel. (Too late when we arrived there, can not find a hostel or hotel.) I get to know the second largest city in Germany.

There is a demonstration in Duisburg train station by the Turkish community. It is to against the recent war in Gaza. War…hope peace will come to the people of Gaza as soon as possible.

We took a bus tour around a city. I think is the easiest way to explore a new city. This is the city hall in Hamburg.

We also have an Elbe River cruise. Hamburg is a well-known port in Europe. Now is wintertime, ice block is floating on the river. (My first time see this scenery.) Small ship is not power enough to break the ice block, so it get stop in the middle of the river. (Happy to see this…幸灾乐祸hah…Lucky we have a big ship.)

The most impressive thing I have seen for this trip is this, the Miniatur Wunderland. A model railway attraction in Hamburg. The largest one in the world. This “micro world”, which consist of 900 trains made up of 12000 carriages; 300000 lights; 200000 trees and 200000 human figures. My friend said, it is a traditional German hobby to build all this model train. Hah…(No wonder the rail way system in Germany is so well-developed. Training starts from kids…hah…) can you see a Mini cooper in the photo?hah...

I have submitted my report to my professor. In the next two weeks, I will be working on my final report.Ok..have a nice weekend!

Week18 report

2009-01-10T00:52:00.012+01:00

Week 18 already, it is getting closer to the end of attachment. However, I already start to miss this country. Don’t want to leave this place. Like to be a Bochumer. Haha…is there any way to cancel my air ticket? Hah…It was very cold this week. The temperature is below 0 degree. Something like - 5 to -10 degree. This is my first time experience such cold temperature. There was a heavy snow at the beginning of this week. but now the snow is still there. Melting very slowly…

It is very beautiful when every time I wake up in the morning and open my window. Get the very first fresh cold air from outside. It can really refresh my mind. (I think it is much better than “red bull”---kind of energy drink) hah.. The photo at the left is taken at Uni-center. You can compare it with my first post in this blog. Hmm… all white. This snow is about 20 cm high. And when you step on it. You can’t see your own shoes actually. Cool…

As you can see from the photo, car that park at the roadside, is looks like being “up sized”. Funny isn’t it? This is a photo taken at my school. Too much snow can also cause problems. So I am volunteer to clean the snow away…(Playing with the snow actually…like a child.hah)

Although snow can cause problems, but it also help me to get free iced beer form Mother Nature. (But beer is from me.hah)

Some of my friends ask me what I eat normally. My answer is, I eat German food at school for lunch. But I try to cook for myself Chinese food for dinner at home. Now I can cook rice without a rice cooker. And I also found a Asian shop which near the place I stay. I can get Chinese ingredient from there. Hah..not only Chinese ingredient. I can buy Satay sause as well. (Typical ingredient from south east Asia.) This is what I cook for my normal dinner. (I eat a lot after I came to Germany.hah…) This is : Meat + different color of peppers + rice = fired rice (not typical Chinese food… but taste “Chinese” enough.hah…)

We have a nice dinner today, one of my flat mates cooks a Mexican food. And 4 of us have dinner together. I forget the name for it. It tastes a bit spicy for me. But nice. You can see the beers on the table. They are Mexican beer as well. Beers are very “Fresh”. As you can see, there is snow on it. Just took out from outside. Cool…

I work over time for my report this week. (Play too much during Christmas holidays…Pai seh...) But I finally get my report done. I have already printed it out. I will submit to my professor by next week. Cause he is not available today. Ok…that is all for this week. have a nice weekend!

Week17 report

2009-01-03T23:46:00.031+01:00

Only one month left… Then I will be back in Singapore. Start to miss this place. Hmm… It was a very nice holiday this week. I traveled more than 3000 kilometers in total distance. Start my trip from: Germany(Essen)-Austria(Innsbruck)-Italy(Venice-Rome-Vatican-Florence-Milano)-Switzerland
(Lucerne)-Germany(Essen)
Feel Very tired… But it was a very fruitful trip. Really…“读万卷书，行万里路” (It's more fruitful to travel over tens of thousands of miles than to read tens of thousands of books.)

The Alps. I know about this mountain in my geographical textbook. But I saw it with my own eyes. This is only a small portion in Austria. The city Innsbruck is located at the foot of the mountain. WoW..We human are so small compare to the Mother Nature. (I can’t imagine the consequence of What Global warming is doing to our mother nature. Will the following generation be able to see all these? I am questioning.)

This is Venice. “City of water” “City of Bridges””City of light”…people gives all these beautiful names to her. It is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The only transportation in this place is boat. One traditional boat here in Venice called Gondola. As you can see in the photos.

Traditional marks are “name card” for Venice as well. They are use for Carnival of Venice. You can buy them for house decoration.

Vatican--The smallest county in the world in terms of population and area. ( Singapore is a big county compare to Vatican.) This is the Saint Peter Dome. It is the world’s largest church. It is said that, if you have visited this church. Then you not need to go to the other churches in the rest of the world. It is so amazing. Really feel myself get very close to the god.

Rome. A city of history. You can find many ruins from ancient Rome in the city. Walking down the street, every piece of brick fees like attracting you to stand in front of them and listen the voice from few thousand years ago. No wonder people in Rome said, you are walking in the history as you walk into Rome. That is the famous Colosseum in Rome. (Not need to explain this. Everybody know it.)

The man-like thing in the photo is the “Mouth of truth”. If you have watched the movie “Roman Holiday” then you should know it. (Put your hand into his mouth. If you telling a lie. He can bite your hand…) Dare you put your hand inside it?

Lastly the Trevi Fountain. I have thrown two coins into this Fountain. Hope my wishes will come true.

Florence. The Duomo of Florence. It was built by colorful marble. Looks like thousands of flowers. I like it Chinese translation. 百花大教堂. The other one is the city hall of Florence.

Leaning Tower of Pisa. “The tower leans at an angle of 3.97 degrees. It means that the top of the tower is 3.9 meters from where it would stand if the tower were perfectly vertical.”(From Wikipedia) I got the tower in my hand. hoho…

This is the football stadium in Milan. It is the home stadium for famous football clubs: A.C. Milan. and F.C Internazionale Milano. I am not a football fan. But I know this team is a very good team. Hah…But I am a “Bochumer”. So I support Bochum football team. Haha…VFL scarft! (If Milan football fan see this, confirm kill me for sure…haha)

Milan Cathedral—typical Gothic architecture. Got shock with its appearance. It looks similar to cologne Dom inside from my point of view. Pizza….food from Italy. Of cause must try it. I don’t like pizza actually. But that one tasted nice. Better than pizza hub I think. The train in Milan. Kind of ”subway”.

Here we are in Switzerland. A city called Lucerne. The Lion Monument. It is a sculpture in the city. And Chapel Bridge. The oldest wooden bridge in Europe. Switzerland is famous for her watch and Swiss Army knife. I have bought some Swiss knife for souvenir.

Photo taken in Switzerland.It comes to end of my trip. And the end of Christmas holiday as well. Next week need to come back school lor…hah…working again…Yes! New Year! New start! Have a nice weekend!

Week16 report

2008-12-25T16:29:00.010+01:00

Another week has passed by. Today is Christmas. I purposely post this report today, it is because tomorrow I’m going for my Christmas holidays. I will not bring my computer with me. Ok…
This week is quite nice…although myself felt kind of loneness. I went to a German friend’s house last weekend. This is my first time visit a normal German family. (Hope I can have more chances like this.) We had a “pre-Christmas” party. But Pai Seh, That night my camera battery went dead.haha…so didn’t take any photos.
I was invited to go to a Christmas market with my friend’s family in the following day. We drive to a city called Münster. It is located in the northern part of Ruhr area. It a very nice and peaceful city. We went to the Christmas market in the city center. And took a bus tour around the city. This is the St.Paul’s Cathedral. it is a mixture of late Romanesque and early Gothic styles.

So this is the Christmas market. This time I saw it in daytime. (last week it was at night). Thanks to my friend’s explanation all the way. I get to know more German traditional Christmas foods. They are tasty. I love them.

This is the main street in the city. Most of the buildings were actually restored after the world war. Walking down the street…Listening to the Christmas songs sung by the children…the bells of the cathedral chiming… looking at the European architectures… Birds are flying… This is a tropical “Europe image” in my mind before I came to Germany. I got this image right in front of me at that day. Hmm… Won’t forget in the rest of my life…Beautiful. (I love this land.)

My friends came to my house and we had lunch together yesterday. They have never been to Bochum before. So as a host, I also bring them to walk around the city. This is the photo taken when we were cooking our lunch. (Chinese food and Southeast Asia food)

My friend he is trying to open a bottle cap with an A4 size paper. Hah….but fail to do so… (Don’t tell anybody…I can do it…hahaha…) I was working on my bi-monthly report these few days. Hmm…. Not motivated to write, don’t know why. Is it because it is holidays now? Maybe… any way, I am going for my Christmas holidays tonight. Italy! Yes! I will be back next year. Have a nice weekend. May all of you have a nice new year!

week15 report

2008-12-19T11:18:00.007+01:00

Heard from my friend Stephen, he has a fever recently. Now still struggling there. Hope he can recover soon. Xuanming said he is going to send a Christmas card for me from Singapore. Hah…I can’t wait to see it. Ya…Christmas is coming soon…many of my friends they all start to drive back home this week, because next week is the start of Christmas holidays. That also mean I will be lonely again…Sianz…

I went to a party last weekend with my flat mate Tim. It was a party for Asia students and those students who study Asia politics. I knew some new Asia friends there.And That was my first time I spoke Teochew here in Germany.hah…(There is a student from ShanTou. ) Pai seh… Forgot to bring camera that night.hah…

As you guys know, Christmas is at the right at the corner. There are many Christmas market in most of the cities in Germany. I went to Dortmund with some Chinese friends. Because I heard from Internet, “they” say, the largest Christmas tree in the world is located in Dortmund. So we went there looking for some proof.

So, This is the Christmas market. There are many people down there. Stores are every where. They sell different kind of traditional Christmas food, wine and gifts of cause (We didn’t know the name of the wine. Saw many people order it, so we just try. It is kind of hot red wine.)

This is the Christmas tree lor. It is much taller than the one in Orchard road in Singapore.(The largest one I have seen so far.) It was my first time get to know the real Christmas culture. I hope it can snow again during Christmas…

Back to my project, Nils and I, two of us still doing some research work. We are looking for a battery which have a very high energy density. After several research, I finally get contact with one reseller in China. They have the battery we want. But unfortunately, they are out of stock. And this type of battery is impossible to get it in a normal way. I also contacted one person from internet. (He and his team built a solar aircraft.) And they used the same battery we are looking for. So I write an email to him ask whether he can provides us some information. And he did. He gave us some very valuable information for the battery. Nice person…hah 好人一生平安…

Next week is holidays. I don’t need to go to school. So I will be doing my work at home. Will focus more on my second bio-monthly report. Dead line is coming… Hope will be anther presentable report. Ok…have a nice weekend. And Merry Christmas to everyone who is reading my blog now…Thanks for all the support.

Week14 report

2008-12-14T12:48:00.027+01:00

It is week 14 already. Friends in Singapore they are having common test. My teammates they all are having test as well these few weeks. So, all the best to all of them!
I went to Paris last weekend. Because our bus departs at Essen, so I went to Essen to visit my friends there. And had my dinner there with them. After our dinner, my friend helped me to cut my hair. Haha… So with this new hairstyle (Actually there is not much change.), I went to Paris.

Paris is really a nice city. We got to know other cities through different kinds of medias. But when you actually stand right there in that city. The feeling is completely different. All the history is there right in front of you. Touchable

This is Notre Dame de Paris (巴黎圣母院). It is also gothic architecture. (Same style as cologne Dom.) Started construction in 1163, and completed around 1345.

So this is the famous structure, a global icon of France --- Eiffel Tower. It is 324 meters high, equivalent to about 81 stories in a conventional building. It weighs 7300 tonnes. This is the photo taken from a special angle. From this angle, you can see the “underwear” of Eiffel Tower. (Tour guide told us.)

This is the girders view. You can see some workers wear red uniform. They were doing some maintenance for the Eiffel Tower. People call them “spider man for Eiffel Tower”. They maintain the tower every 10 years.

This is view from the second platform of the tower. From here, you can get the full view of Paris. But the wind quite strong up there.

“I got the whole world in my hand…” ”I got the tower in my hand…” hah…

Lastly Full view of Eiffel tower, and Eiffel tower at night, it is illuminated in blue color to celebrate the French presidency of the EU.

This is the Arc de Triomphe(凯旋门). In front of it, is the famous Avenue. The Avenue des Champs-Élysées (香榭丽舍大街). There are many luxury shops. Lucky I am not interested in all these stuff. Hah… (The only brand I know so far is LV…Am I out of date? Hah..) So I blur blur anyhow walk. Take photo when I see something new. Ya. Mcdonald’s there is quite expensive. A Mac chicken set meal cost about 5 SGD in Singapore. But here, it cost 6 euro. Hah… That is around 12 SGD.

This is the Louvre Museum. It used to be a Palace for the king of France. But now it is a museum with a collection of nearly 35000 objects. I don’t know most of them…hah…Art is too chim for a engineering student like me. But, at least, I know Mona Lisa. Hah… It is quite small actually. Millions of People come from all over the world just to see Mona Lisa her smile.

This is Sacré-Cœur Basilica.(圣心大教堂) and I was feeding the birds.

Ok, My project this side. Nils and I still doing some research on the Battery. And I also find one reseller for the battery we want. This is the part we have build last week. Final product-- carbon fiber car door. I was doing some soldering on LEDs. (for solar cell testing purpose) Ok…Let’s end here. I got something on. Have a nice weekend. Tschüss ( “Goodbye” in German).

Week13 report

2008-12-05T15:45:00.017+01:00

Quick update from this week: I have finished all coordinate’s data collection for over thousand measuring points that cover the surface of the car. Every single point consists of six different numbers. Because the software (solid works) somehow not “intelligent enough”. Therefore, this work needs to be done manually. Key in the data one by one. T.T

Armin :”Oh..Lin…you make it…” HOHO…Yes, I do…

I got a new task from my “Uncle”--Mathias (He is the oldest in our team. Nice person..hmm…). What I am going to do in the next few weeks, is to do some testing with the batteries we have. Do some measurement. I will be doing this task with one more partner, Nils. By the way, he is also new member for the team like me as well. And both of us know nothing about battery testing stuff. So we will start with some research first. Oh, Ya! And furthermore, he has been attached to Singapore for his internship. Haha…Surprise me. There is someone, who has “something in common” with me here finally. We talk about “Chicken rice”,“Laksa”,”Satay”,”Curry chicken””Roti Prata” etc. And he said he like Asian food very much. Hmm…For me,I like German food here now. The reason I think very obviously.

It makes me recall when I first came to Singapore, it was one time when Xuanming and I both of us having lunch at the school. He asked me whether I like the food in Singapore or not. I said yes yes. He said sooner or later you will be sian with all these foods here.hah… It is true. After few years of study in NP, we eat from canteen to SIM, from SIM to alumni clubhouse. hah… and now, I think, cook on your own is the only solution. BTW, I can cook rice without a rice cooker already. Haha...

We have a workshop last weekend. It was the second half continued from the previous workshop. Again, I will only show some of the steps here. More detail will be shown in my final report.

Same trainer, he was teaching us how to do the lamination on the parts. Please note that these blue color negative molds are from “solar world No.1”. We will build the positive form base on this mold using glass fiber. These two molds can be screw up together.

Then Followed by few layers of glass fiber that already mixed with chemical. After that is the vacuum bag to suck out the chemical.

So this is the part we have built. Taking out the part from the mold.

Next, this is the “main course”, First we started from take out the mold which we have built last week. with the help of compressed air, the mold can be easily separated from the base.

Apply wax to the surface of the mold. Wax can use to fill up the holes, which caused by the air bubbles. After few layers of carbon fiber lamination, we added a form inside. It became a typical “sandwich structure” .

Last layer of carbon fiber, then followed by vacuum bag. That’s all. Haha…
By went through all these workshop, I have a general idea of how carbon and glass fiber work. It was a very useful workshop.
Lastly, a group photo of all the trainees.

I have been working continuously for over the past two weeks. Loss my weigh recently also, now is around 63KG. 64 became history already. hah…OK.. stop here. I need to pack my bag. I’m going to Paris, France this weekend. hoho…Enjoy your weekend!

Week12 report

2008-11-29T22:42:00.024+01:00

It has been three months since I came here. Still have two more months to go. As the time goes by, my attachment is getting more and more interesting. It snowed this week. Everything was coated with white color. I witnessed the first snow in Bochum. Here are some photos I took on my way to school. Beautiful~

I went to a party with friends from the solar car team this week. It was organized by students from department of Medicine in Ruhr University. It was a nice party. I won few bottles of beer from my friends. Got free beer to drink…(Of cause happy.hah…)

We have a workshop in school last weekend. It was conducted by a professional trainer from outside company. It is designed for all the new members to learn how to work with carbon fiber and glass fiber from some hands-on practices. It is more like a chemistry lesson for me. Although it was conducted in German, but thanks to Arne who help me translate. And help me get a guide book in English from the company. It is like a “Bible” for fiber.hah… In this post, I will only show some basic steps involves in making a glass fiber mold. Description that is more detailed will be shown in my final report.

Here is our trainer. He is very tall by the way.haha… He was teaching us how to mix the chemicals. The chemicals we use are quite danger. The amounts of two different chemicals need to be calculated in advance. In case of these two chemicals “cooking” when mix them together. (Strong reaction, it will look like boiling, so they call it “cooking”.) A standard way of mixing these chemicals needs to be followed.

Our objective is to build a negative mold base on a positive mold of a car door (as you can see in the photo) using glass fiber. Then Use this negative mold, we will make a positive mold with carbon fiber.(it will be anther workshop next week.) He was applying some chemical to increase the quality of the surface.

Cutting of glass fiber. We were using a special type of scissor to cut the fiber. It is extremely sharp which made for cutting the fiber; applied chemicals on the glass fiber. In order for the chemical to penetrate into fiber, we need to press the paint roller hard. At the same time, by doing this we can then tighten the fiber structure.

Holes on the mold need to be filled with short fibers. Then it is ready for lamination. Layers of Glass fiber were then placed on the mold in sequences.

Rolling on the surface, then added a wood structure on top of it at last. So that’s all. (Sounds simple right? But it took us one day to do it.)

We also built some small parts for testing. To compare the difference between carbon fiber and glass fiber; and how the thickness of a form can change the strength of the part. And finally how to use vacuum technique to suck out excess chemical.

I also try them out myself. Build two part using carbon fiber and glass fiber. I will bring them back to Singapore.hah… (Just evidences for showing to the school. And kind of souvenir as well.) haha…

Have a nice weekend…I have a second workshop tomorrow. See you.
(Left: Arne was repairing his bike. Right: Martin gets drunk in the party.) hah…

week11 report

2008-11-22T21:29:00.036+01:00

This week was quite a nice week for me. Here we go!

I knew some Spanish friends recently. They are friends of Luis’s. (Luis is my flat mate.) You can hear some Spanish songs at the right side, While you are listening to the music, Let me tell you my understanding about Spanish: Spanish are friendly; enthusiasm (like the hot weather in Spain or like their music you are listening, music can reflect part of their culture.); they eat dinner at 10 pm; They love party; they speak very fast (only by now, I know how to differentiate between Spanish and German, by listening how fast they speak,).

Some Spanish friends came to our flat to have a small party, drink some wine, playing guitar, singing. I was there with them. Although I don’t understand what they were singing. But I do enjoy it. After few bottles of beer. It was about 12 at the midnight. I was about to sleep. But then it ended up some Spanish suggested to go to the University, because there is a big party over there. So Boh Pian, I went to the university with them. And everybody was very high. We danced until 5AM in the morning. And my whole body is very paint next day. (Long time never exercise.) Haha…

Some Spanish asked me whether I can cook Chinese food for them. Because they have never tried real Chinese food before, (food in Chinese restaurant is not taste that “China”.hah…) so I cooked some Chinese food plus one Nionya food from Southeast Asia which I learned it in Singapore. They enjoyed the meal even though they are not good at using chopstick. after the meal they invited me to their house, they will cook some French food for me.

Therefore, I went to their flat in Friday night. And that was my first time saw snowing. I was so excited to see it happening right in front of me. That was the first snow in my life. They are so beautiful. I also forget my age, playing with snow like a kid. Trying to eat snow from the sky, catch snow when they falling down, fighting each with hand made snowball. That is awesome! hah…

I went to Holland (Netherlands) last weekend. It was a great trip to there. We went to windmill village, it is like a 世外桃源 (village which isolated from the world outside.).

This is a visit to the wooden shoes shop. There was a demonstration on how to make a shoe. It takes about 3,4 weeks to make one manually. But now, with the help of machine. It only takes about 5 minute. The idea is like making a copy of a key. One block of wood placed together with one completed shoe. After few minutes, one “cloned shoe” is then produced.

This is how they making the cheese. For me,I can’t tell the difference between different kind of cheese.

This is windmill, name card for Holland. Holland is a windy country. Windmill was built to drain water away from wetland in the old time. After years of development, it became machine for industrial purpose used. Such as flour milling. It was then taken over by steam engines. Inside the windmill, we can see the how they transfer wind energy into mechanical power. One thing that I think it is quite amazing is that, the entire components are made of wood! And they still running today. These two edge runner stones weighing about 5000 to 7000KG. Power! This is a perfect example of harnessing the clean energy from the Mother Nature in the old time. By now, more and more wind turbine was built to convert wind energy into electricity, of cause, higher efficiency.

The capital of Holland, Amsterdam. It is like Venice in the north Europe. It also has canals all over the city. So we took a tourist ship, tour around the city.

Visit to the diamond processing plant to see how they transform a “stone” into a shiny diamond.

Amsterdam is famous as its sex culture. We went to red-light district (place like Geyland in Singapore) and sex museum. hah…The world is really marvelous! Due to some adult content. I am not going to post photos here.hah…

Palace in Amsterdam

OK! Now back to my project. I have finished with the grids drawing in “solid works”. While I am keying the coordinate dates manually, we are looking for a way to export the data automatically. We still working on it.

We have finished two negative forms for the new car this week. and get it delivered from EEW in Kiel to Bochum. We were working in Opel. (car manufacturer in Germany.) They provided us a big workshop. We did some surface polishing on the negative form.

There is workshop in the school this weekend to teach new members how to use carbon fiber and glass fiber. OT this weekend. Sianz…hah…have a nice weekend!

Week10 report

2008-11-14T21:44:00.027+01:00

Alahmak!10th week already. I remember my attachment is only 20 weeks. Time flies without knowing it. Weather is getting colder. As the temperature goes down, people getting more and more “un-motivated” or you can say “lazy”. Feeling sleepy all the time, trying to find warm places, eat a lot, slack at work or even don’t want to work. Haha… My German friends, Stephen (getting colder in China as well) and I, hah…I think most of the people will have such feeling for sure when they live in cold environment, unless you are Iron Man then it is different story. Hmm… I need something to motivate myself. Do you have any ideas? Tag your answer at the right hand side. Thank you.hah…

This is sunflower, which I planted in the seeds about 2 weeks ago. I get the post card from my friends. (“While we are going green you can grow yellow.” I think the idea is pretty cool. the seeds are actually embedded inside the card.) Ya, why not “grow some yellow” on your own? And help to save our planet. So I have artificially created a “Green house” environment for it. And it just germinated recently. Haha…

I knew some Chinese friends from internet recently. They are currently study in Essen. I went to Essen last weekend. This is one building in Essen University. (“solar building”, after study solar technology, whenever I see a building with solar panel, I will take a picture. Hah…) why so special about this building is that, it has a large photovoltaic array system installed at the side of building rather than root top (in Singapore). Ya. This is what we learned in text book. Because the sun will never go above your head (90 degree to the horizon.) throughout the day at this latitude. Install the panel in such a way can maximize the usage of the solar panel. Bring out the efficiency of the solar cells.

We went to a Flea Market (跳蚤市场,集市) in Essen. It is a market, which sells some second hand stuff, or discounted fruit or vegetable. Things sells here are cheaper compare to the supermarket outside. That’s why it attract so many people to come down here every Saturday. (If you stay in Shantou 汕头, China. It is place like “金沙公园旁”, got it? Hah…)

We took a same train back to bochum, (they were going to Ruhr university to borrow some books. ) We saw many people wearing the blue and white “VFL” scarf. “It must be a football match.” So we went to the stadium to watch the game. It is Bochum against Bremen. It was my second here in the stadium watching football. But the result is not as good as it was last time. This time is 0:0. Sian…

I went to Cologne again this week. Why? Because there is a Carnival takes place in the city. It started at 11st Nov, 11:11 AM. People dressed with different kinds of funny clothes. Gather together, singing, cheering, dancing. Just to have fun. I also grab one can of beer. And went have fun with the crowd. (Playing knows no boundary between countries. Hah…)

I also went to chocolate museum in Cologne. I got a chance to see the history of making chocolate, and how they actually make it. There is a production line there for you to see. I don’t like to eat dark chocolate in fact. But I like the white one. So I think for this big “chocolate Santa Claus”, I will only eat the white part. His beard for example. Hah…(if I have one.)

My project this side, I still working on the drawing of grids pattern. I have found out the problem, which causes my computer so lag when I working on “solid works”. It is because the software itself. You can’t have too many grids in one single sketch. It will slow down your computer as the number of grids goes up. By now, I am almost finished all the centerline drawing. I should be able to start record down all the coordinates by next week.

We have taken out all the cells from the car. We are now doing some cleaning for the cells using alcohol. And a picture of the solar car without solar cells. This is going to be our new driver seat on the new car. Feel quite comfortable.
Cologne church + sunset = “golden church + last few minutes” have a nice weekend! I am coming. Netherlands! Hah…

Week9 report

2008-11-07T16:28:00.017+01:00

Germany is getting colder right now, but the temperature is quite different throughout a day. It can be around 3 degree Celsius, and rise up to about 13 degree Celsius in daytime. However, I wish it could be colder, so I can see snow first time in my life. Let us wait! HOHO…

I went to Cologne last weekend. It was a great trip. I do the same thing as usual. Check out some information about the city I am going. Get all the places of interest marked in the map. Bring some bread, chocolate and drink in my bag. And I am ready for one day trip.
I took a train to which is located within the Ruhr area. (That mean the train ticket is free.) So I only paid 11 euro for a return ticket from to Cologne. Let me give you a short brief on Cologne. It is the fourth-largest city in Germany with the population of around 1 million. River Rhine is flowing through the city. You can actually take a ship from Düsseldorf to here. It casts you about 30 Euro. It is better to come here by water in summer. But not now, you can imagine the cold wind blowing…
This is Cologne main train station. I have been here before when I first came to Germany, it is an train interchange. I took the train from Frankfurt to Cologne and from Cologne to Bochum. Hmm…it has been 2 months. I am back again.

This is Cologne Cathedral. (Koelner Dom) It is Cologne’s most famous landmark. Second-tallest church in the world (157 m) and one of the wrold’s largest churches. It started construction in 1248, and complete in 1880. It is about 600 years. This is the largest church I have seen so far. Standing in front of it. You feel like getting closer to the heaven. As you can see architecture design. (Two tower straight into the sky.)

This is photo taken inside the nave of the cathedral. I like the colorful glass window inside. It is around 20 meters tall. In addition, it is said that, every window reflect a story, which is written inside the Bible. (I am not a Christian. so I have no idea.hah…)

This is a best photo point for the overview of the cathedral.( I find out from the internet.)

This is the famous “4711” shop. It sells Eau de Cologne (Water from cologne,古龙水) “4711” is a street name. Now it becomes the brand for this Eau de Cologne. When Napoleon and his French troops occupied cologne, this “water” is gifts for the soldier to bring back to hometown for their love one.

I have submitted my report to my professor and NP. Finally finished it. Hoho… Hope I can get some feedback from NP.

I am working on the grid patterning for the 3D car model using “solid works” this week. I get one more monitor from Mathias. With two displays, I can do some drawing in one screen, and record the data in other screen. But my computer is not power enough, it is very very lag when I drawing “solid works”. I need to figure out a way to solve this. Sian…

I went to a Barbershop to have my hair cut today. It is second time already. First time it was about 4 weeks ago. However, it was not so good, because the barber don’t understand English. I tried my best to explain, but was useless. So this time I ask my friend Martin to write down in a piece of paper with “how to cut” in German. So I can just show this to the barber. Hah… Stupid idea, but it works. Hah…Have a nice weekend!

Week8 report

2008-10-31T21:24:00.012+01:00

Now is 8th week already. Do you guys notices something? Look at the clock at the right side. Because we are using wintertime now. Therefore, it is no longer 6 hours different from China and Singapore. But 7 hours. (Everything changed automatically. My clock in my handphone, computer etc. ) 1st Nov is my friend Stephen’s birthday… (Stephen: Happy birthday to you! And hope you do well in China. God will be always with you.) Moreover, today it is Our Ngee Ann Poly 45 Anniversary celebration. Happy birthday to NP as well. (I miss the celebration…Sian ah…)

Oh..Ya. My weight increased to 64Kg already. Haha…I remember first when I came to Singapore three years ago is around 52Kg.i made joke about Xuanming’s weigh 3 years ago. Now it is going to be his turn…Sian…My friends keep on asking me whether the food in Germany nice? Ya…they taste good…I love it…Exercise? NO…The weather is damn cold outside…I don’t want…hah…
I didn’t go to any places last weekend. (busy with my report) But at the beginning of this week. I have experienced something, which never happened in my life before. I “lose” my laptop…Haha…
I went to school as usual in the morning, but after I went to workshop, finished my stuff. I was going to use my laptop. But I can’t find it on the table. OMG…I was like, Damn it. All my report, photos, files… what can I do. I told my professor, my friends. My friends Mathias even drive me to my house to look for it. We called the subway service center, police…I called my father, friends, and Mr. Lee. (Haha…funny…isn’t ?)Lucky I got it back in the office…虚惊一场 it ruins my Monday….sian. (T.T)

Anyway, I got several works to do in this week. Arne Austing, team chief for mechanical team. He taught me some drawing technique on “solid works”. I need to use these techniques to draw “something” on the car. And record down all the data. (More detail in my report. Sorry, but I can’t tell you guys more in this blog.) I am new to this software. Therefore, it is a bit tricky for me. But any way. I am in the right track now. The one with curly hair is Arne. The other one is Mathias who drives with me to my house looking for Laptop…hah…Thanks…

We start to take out all the cells from the old car this week. Why? Because we don’t get money for new solar cell. They are too expensive. So we got to reuse them. Take them out from the car. Do some cleaning, measuring and stuff like that.

The top cover of the car needs to be separated from the body. This is my first time to saw the solar car without the cover. We used knife to take out the solar cells. This process required people to be extremely careful. The solar cell can break easily if not handle properly.

This is to clean away the remaining double-sided tape on the back of the solar cell. Be careful...Be careful…
This is a de-soldering station. It is to take out the remaining wiring at the back of the cells. Alex was doing it.
So…This is one string of solar cell. There are 23 cells connected in series. This string is equivalent to almost 7000 US Dollar. I got 7000 in my hand… LOL.

It has been a long time for me staying at home in the weekend. Feel a bit tired so bored. I need a break. I’m going to Cologne tomorrow. Hoho…
“You look tired, Lin. You do need a break. Go for it! Have a nice weekend!” Said by a stuff who was doing testing for the wheel.Haha… (Joking)

Week7 report

2008-10-24T18:35:00.022+02:00

Without knowing it, one more week has passed. Hear from my best friends recently, Stephen, He also started working on his project. His project mates finally finished their exam. (Poor Stephen…got to redo his report. “开题论文” God Bless him. Hope he can manage to finish it.) Xuanming, He got some problems with his project. I think by the time I post this. He should finish his proposal presentation. (To Xuanming: All the best to you. Three of you guys sure will make a different in our RE Project group. ”三个臭皮匠，胜过一个诸葛亮” hah… I don’t know how to translate this in proper English. Stephen may know. Ask him)
Ok. Coming back to my site, Last weekend I just came back from Berlin. Therefore, I didn’t go to any places. I start working with my first Bio-months report already (3000 words at least). It is getting closer to the deadline - 8th Nov. (I need to have my report checked by my adviser before I submit to my school. So need to finish it before the deadline.) So during my free time, I started to gather information, diagrams…etc.(Sure will submit a presentable report…hah…)

Our container has just arrived school this week. (It shipped all the way from North America to Germany after the North America Solar Challenge.) It was sponsored by DHL. It is more like a mobile storage room or workshop. There are many equipments inside, like Generator, parts and components for the solar car, tools, camping Tents etc.

We have a presentation to our sponsors, staffs and students this week. It was basically a presentation about the North America Solar Challenge competition. Some of my teammates get interviewed. My professor also took this opportunity to show the new car design. (Not to the public yet, so I can’t post photo concerning the new car.)

Interview of Some of my teammates.

Interview one Ex-teammate. He and his team built the first solar car for the school. ” Hansgo ”is the name for the car. 5 years ago. This car took part in World Solar Challenge 2003, won 5th place out of 22 teams.

These are the team photo with all the sponsors’ logo.

In our workshop, there is one project group. (Not our solar team) They also have some kind of gathering during this week. This is their project. I have saw this car when I first came to Germany first week, and I thought it is an electric car. Only by now then, I know. It is a “gaming car”. What the students did is to get signal from the steering wheel and accelerator, using micro processer to process all these signal. It is connected to the computer using USB. So we can play game in a real car environment. Cool!

Stefan from mechanical team. Funny guy… hah…Have a nice weekend!

Week6 report

2008-10-19T00:36:00.002+02:00

I spend my 6th week in the Capital of Germany: Berlin! (from Tue to Sat) There is an electrical fair held here. (“Eco move” is the theme for this fair.) As you can tell from the name, this fair is more on green technology. (Promote people to live in a greener way.) Many latest green technologies are shown here. For our solar car team, this is a good chance to show to the public about our project. Moreover, we can attract companies’ interest, and try to get sponsorship from them. (We have some companies that want to sponsor us with some component for our new car. Like GPS system, Digital multi meter.) Now then, I know that, our project that cost about 1 million euro. However, almost all the cost is sponsor by outside companies. And a lot of the component we get them from sponsor companies for free. I million is just the sum amount which they added all the stuff together. (So actually, our school doesn’t pay 1millon for the project but knowledge.)

This is photo for fuel cell motorbike and car. The big box behind is fuel cell reactor which act like a power source. It converts chemical energy into electricity to drive the motor. And I asked them, why not use hydrogen gas as the source? They said because hydrogen is expensive to make and the technology is too complicated. (Storage of hydrogen) However, for their system, all you need to do is to top up the bottle with methanol.

This is a solar station, which can use to charge the battery from electric-car. It will be located at the roadside or car park to replace fuel station. The person there told me, it can be stand-alone or grid-tie system. Now it takes quite some time to fully charge up a battery. But it has big potential as the demand for electric-car is getting larger, and the technology is being improved every day.

This is a company, which installs solar panel for their costumer. From them, I knew that in Germany, if you install a grid tie system and sell the electricity back to the grid. You can earn money out of it. The ratio is about 1:4. Because of the ratio is so big. That is why more and more people chose to install their solar system. The photo at the right hand site is a commercial thin film solar cell, which has 11% in efficiency. And it costs 90% the price compare to traditional crystalline solar cell.

This is kind of “human powered ” car. The concept is simply. It can either driven by human power (bicycle mode, at the same time charge the on board battery) or by motor which get electricity from battery. It is computer controlled. Easy to use, and environmental friendly.

During my free time, I make a trip around Berlin on my own.( I have planned my trip few days before using computer. All places of interest also marked on the map.)

This is Brandenburg Gate, one of the symbols of Berlin and Germany. You can find it on the obverse of German euro coins. A lot of history happened here. Make it short and simply. It means the same as “Tian An Men”(天安门) for German.

This is the Reichstag building. It is the site of German parliament. During the cold war, it belongs to west Berlin. By the time I went in. many politicians were having meeting inside. Maybe they were discussing the solution for globe financial crisis recently. :)

This is Berliner Dom (an Evangelical Church in Berlin) it is the largest church I have seen so far. (Largest one in Berlin) And this is the second time I feel myself so close to the God. Haha…

There is a demonstration in Gendarmenmarkt square by the time I visited there. It is quite crowded over there. It made me curious. Therefore, I went and asked them for reason. A man told me. It is a demonstration by the cow farmers. They want the government to increase the price for milk.

This is Berlin wall, which separated Berlin for 28 years. Berlin becomes East Berlin and West Berlin. One friend of mine (He is from “East Germany”) He told me it is impossible for people to cross the wall. (In fact, more than 200 people were shoot for trying to cross the wall.) Finally, by 1990, the fall of Berlin wall make it possible to access to each sides. It was my first time feels so close to the history. (I was born in 1988. I am only 2 years old when the wall falls down.) In fact, we are making history every day…isn’t it?

Checkpoint Charlie, a symbol of the Cold War. It is a crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin. and the photo below is the famous sign at the former East-West Berlin border. Can you tell which side it is?

This is the traffic light in East Berlin. It is a little man with a hat. So if you see this. It means you are standing in East Berlin.

This is the first tank that entered Berlin by Soviet Union troop during the end of World War 2.

Avenue of June 17th (view from top of victory column)

This is the Olympic Stadium for Berlin Olympic game in 1936. (49 countries were competing.) But it become a stage for Hitler to show off to the world how efficient the Nazi Germany was. It was two years before the Nazi came to power.

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe is a memorial in Berlin to the jewish victims of the Holocaust.

My friends they all brought me to taste different food during our stay in Berlin. We went to a Chinese restaurant for Chinese food. (They want me to tell the difference.) Hah… I think the Chinese food here has been modified to suit the western tastes.

This is typical Berlin food and drink: currywrust(curry sausage) and Berliner Weisse (mixing of Berlin local wheat beer and woodruff or raspberry syrup).

I was busy with my schematic drawing last weekend. But I finally make it! Two A0 size schematic.
Hahahahah..... So next week I will be learning Solid works.

Chiong ah….(冲啊)…..haha…..

Week5 report

2008-10-10T22:15:00.001+02:00

Haha… one more week has pass by. Weather here is getting colder. It rains some time. Nice to hear from my teacher in Singapore. Knowing that our new EE Society is planning FOC (Freshman Orientation Camp) right now. (Just Chatted with Stephen by MSN, hah…He got the same feeling as me, we miss our “FOC time”. Haha…Time flies, it feels like yesterday, but the truth is that we are final year student already.)

OK…Enough for Singapore now back to Germany…haha…I went to Dusseldorf with my friends last weekend. It is the capital city of the state. (North Rhine-Westphalia) Rhine River is one of the most important rivers in Europe. City Dusseldorf is where the river flows through. This photo was taken by the riverside.

Look down from the TV Tower (Rheinturm) 240 meters high

This is Dusseldorf city hall

My Spanish flat mate he taught me how to cook traditional Spanish food this week. It is call Tortilla de Patatas (it is basically egg omelette with fried potatoes) So we made two plates. And we have our dinner together first time. Why do I say it is first time? Haha.. there is story inside. For me, I have my dinner at around 6 pm usually, And other two German guys they have their dinner at around 7 pm. (consider normal…hah…) but our Spanish friend he has his dinner at 10 pm. (It is common for people in Spain to take their dinner at around 10 or 11 pm.) So… that time was his first time to take his dinner at 7 pm. (The guy stand beside me is from Spain, he is a good chef.)

So this is Tortilla de Patatas….Hmm… Taste good…I know how to cook it already. I will find a chance to put the theory into practices.

I went to a party this week. It was my flat mate’s friend birthday party. First time to attend such a party. And my first time to communicate with westerner in Chinese. (They study economy and politics for East Asia area, Just came back from their internship in China.) They can speak Chinese very well. And the Chinese they speak has Beijing accent. It was quite funny. Hah…Surprise!

This is another party with all the Spanish. We are cooking “paella”. It is a very famous Spanish food. (Seafood rice basically, but we change it to meat because seafood is expensive here.) It looks “Hot”, and taste really good.

Coming back to school

I saw something, which I think is a good example for answering why German Engineer is so popular in the world. Hah…A friend of mine, He is complaining his laptop keyboard is too “soft” for him.(there is not much reinforced structure on the back of the keyboard.) He took out a piece of unused carbon fiber sheet. Within few minutes, a carbon fiber reinforced keyboard has done.
And it works very well. (Key words: DIY, Practical skill)

I am now working on two A0 size electrical system schematic. These schematic for the old car were base on two different motor controllers, my leader ask me to draw them out using ”eplan”, and translate all the terms into English. There is a lots of works to do. I also bring my work back to home. Working OT…(without pay…haha..)

By the time I posted this report. I got a big problem. I lost my files. (The file was deleted accidently by other software…..OMG….!!!!!!!!!! 60% of works has gone!) It ruins my weekend!I need to work on weekend….. Sianz….
You……… guys……..have…………a………nice……..weekend……..

Week4 report

2008-10-03T21:46:00.000+02:00

First, I would like to thanks Mr Lee for giving me so many suggestions. They are very useful for me.
It has been 1 month since I came here. My flat mates finally came back from holiday. It is great to see them. One guys from Spain. He is doing his attachment here in Ruhr University. Another one is from Germany. He just came back from Japan. Lucky they all know how to speak English.hah …And it is funny to see my friend and I cooking western food and Chinese food at the same time.(I should take some photo next time.) Haha…

I went go Munich for Oktoberfest last weekend. It was a nice trip. You can see people from all over the world. They wear traditional German clothes. It was crowded down there in the theme park. They were here for one reason: Beer! One glass is one liter! In Germany, they called it “one Mugs”!

Moreover, I visited few castles (located in different cities). They are : Neuschwanstein Castle, Hohenschwangau Castle, Heidelberg Castle. Here we go!

Neuschwanstein Castle is one of the most famous castles in Germany. It was built by King Ludwig in 19th-century. It is place of fairy tale. For me..Hah.. It is more like a heaven. You can close your eye and imagine if you are standing on the top of the castle. Clouds are around you. Thousands of houses are under your feet. And your back is the Alps Mountain. You dominate the whole view of these. Oh…Man…You got the whole world in this moment! (It is good to be a king~hah)

Hohenschwangau Castle which is located near the Neuschwanstein castle. Where King Ludwig lived in during the construction of Neuschwanstein castle. but what a pity, He died during the construction of the new castle. It is yellow in color. As you can see from the photo, it is completely different style.

Heidelberg Castle is a famous castle ruin in Germany. It was built in AD 1214. But was destroyed during the war. There is a huge wine cask inside the castle.(Largest one in the world) It was said that the king who stay here can’t live without wine. Wine means water for him.

Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart City,This city is the headquarter for Benz company. I got to know more about the car history. From the first steam engine car to the latest modern car, Haha…(Oh ya…Singapore is having F1 night race right now. Let’s cheer for Singapore!)

Castle square in Stuttgart

Ok, Back to my project.

This week’s electrical meeting is the first time our leader trying to conduct it in English. Although it is only 20% in English,but it is a big step for me.
Most of our team members they are writing their report for last year World Solar Challenge in USA. (It is part of their graduation works.) And some of our team members were graduated recently. Right now our solar team is recruiting new members. There is a lot of logistics stuff they need to do. (But I can’t do much help on this.) Beside that, our mechanical team they are busy with the modeling of the new car. (Remember I went to the EEW company two weeks before?) After weeks of discussion with our professor and the company, we decide to build the negative form part by part. (It will shorten the consumption of time) we have re-ordered the material from other company, Hope we can finish the modeling by next few weeks.

For me, I still busy with the small model car. Because our total number for the cell was increased to 2118,(told by our professor) So…Boh Bian, I got to take out all the “cell sticker”, (The cell position need to be changed) and make new one. I got it done finally. And my professor is happy with my work. Hah…The photo is part of the cell module from the model car. (You can’t see the car yet.)

I was told by my leader to learn two software by myself. (not material given, start from nothing.) we are going to use them for the electrical component position drawing. ”solidworks” and ”eplan” So…I think for the next two weeks. I will be doing this all the time. T.T

Oh ya!…… I went to see their model form for the old car (both positive form and negative form) this two forms are use to do the lamination of carbon fiber. It is made by glass fiber. (more detail in my report)

Today is German National day. (3rd of Oct) China national day was two days before (1st of Oct).
Happy birthday to these two countries!

Meeting with the whole team.

My team leader- Armin:Are you trying to be funny ?)hah…

Have a nice weekend!

Week3 report

2008-09-26T15:28:00.000+02:00

Hmm.. Another week already..

My teammates they all finished their exam last week. And this week is the beginning of the new semester. However, not all my teammates come back for the solar car project. Some of them went for holidays. I am working with some friends in the project room. Start at 10 am, and end at 6 pm. (Different from Singapore 9am to 5pm.)

Bismarck tower in Bochum(Largest one in Germany,last landmark I visit in Bochum)
I met other three guys whom from China last weekend. They are here doing their internship also. I went to their house and we chatted for the whole afternoon. (It has been a long time for me kept on speaking English since I came here.) There is not many Asian here in my school. And we have decided to go to Munich for Oktoberfest (it is a sixteen days festival in Munich, a festival for beer~~) in this weekend.(and I am going to look for Princess Snow White.HAH…more detail in next week report. Coming Soon! )

Oh..Ya! I get contact with other NP Friends who are doing their attachment in Germany (ECE). I got all their hand phone number. Knowing that they all doing quite well in the past few weeks, I need to work harder to catch up with them.
Some of my friends asked me what I eat usually. OK. Let me tell you.

I wake up at 8am every morning. First, I will boil some water. Then use boiled water to heat up a cup of milk by thermal conduction. Then eat with some German bread or toast. After finish my breakfast. I recycle the used water, which now become warm to wash my cup. (You can imagine if you wash a cup with cold water early morning in winter. then you will do what I do) Like that fast, comfortable, and environmental friendly (save water).hah…

Lunch normally I settle at the canteen in school. However, sometime if I am outside then it is different story. My school has one canteen, not as big as canteen 1 in NP. The choices for the food are not as many as Singapore. There is no Chinese food, Japanese food, Muslim food, but western food. It is more like set meal in that senses. The menu is different every day. However, it is between pasta, fries, vegetable, rice, sausage, chicken chop, bread, etc…

One set meal (one dish) cost you about 2.5-3 euro. You can choose some side dishes like vegetable salad, or dessert. (More money of cause) The food here tastes nice…I like it. I am learning how to cook western cuisine right now. Haha…

If you go outside, you can have some German sandwich that cost you about 3 euro. By the way, it is cold bread. (Look nice, but hard to chew) and I have try something special. Hah…My German friend call it “German sushi”. Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to present to you…

German bread with minced pork. The pork here is raw one. Yes. Uncooked! Would you dare to eat it? hah…it taste quite strange, but “nice”….for me.

My school canteen does not provide dinner, that is why I need to cook myself every day. I got an oven in my kitchen. And I decide to make good use of it. I have tried grilled pork ribs, pizza, or things like that. Although my first pizza 50% gone (overcook.), but after that I start to learn how to use an oven. (I Can say I am a master of oven by now) hah… Meat and vegetable is a piece of cake for me. I don’t cook rice at home. Because I don’t see any rice cooker in the supermarket. So… western food all the way till now. I miss Chinese food…hah..How is it? Taste good!

We were told to go to other city for a TV show. They are going to give an interview for us with the car. And we have loaded our car to the container. (it is not a easy job.5 guys working together to move a car.) Everything was ready. But…it end up the TV show director called us and said the TV show is cancel due to some reasons. My student leader told me this was not the first time. They have experience it 4 or 5 times. Hah… No choice, we got to put the solar car back to the workshop. Sian… T.T

My school has organized a welcome BBQ for all the year one students. (like EE BBQ night) Our solar team is invited. Beers, sausage, steak etc. (German style! haha..) I have updated my progress with Professor. Here are some photos with my Group mates.

Poster, they are recruiting new members for solar car team

Ok. Back to my project.

I help to stick some “solarcells sticker” on the new solar car model which in a scale of 9:1.The reason why we do this is to see how the solar cells can be arranged. (1980 cells in total) and how much space we left. This is important. Because we need to show this model to our sponsors by our professor, (The more space we have for the sponsor’s logo, the more money we can get from them) we need many sponsors. I can’t post any photo concerning the new car due to some confidential matter. Sorry…hah…

I just get my project timetable from my leader. Here it is:

Possible alignment of solar cells based on mechanical facts <23/09/08—17/11/08>
Take out the solar cell from the old car <31/10/08—13/11/08>
Cleaning of solar cells (alcohol, TESA) <31/10/08—14/11/08>
Measurement/Test of solar cells at TUEV Rheinland <14/11/08>
Calculation of positions based on test <17/11/08—07/05/09>
Mounting of solar cells <17/11/08—07/05/09>
Wiring of solar cells <17/11/08—07/05/09>
Checking of wiring <>

Our new car will be using the same solar cells from the old car. Because they cost a lot of money, we can’t afford it to buy new cells. You can calculate it. One single cell cost about 300 USD = 430 SGD. That is 43 times different compare to the commercial silicon solar cell we can get from market (10 SGD per cell). And we have 1980 cells together!
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My project is quite different from what my friend they are doing in NP. (Get a topic from adviser and then working on it for one semester, and submit a prototype at the end). It more like learning from them. Help them to do some research work. (Finding MPPT,DC-DC Converter.)
Follow them to some company or things like that. My personal feeling so far is that, maybe due to some sensitive information (confidential) or something. I can’t really get in to the job they are doing. (Or maybe what they say everything is in German. meeting for example.) I feel sense of lost now. Hope it will change when it comes to real solar cell. (Will have more technical stuff for me to do I think.)

Ok..Yes.. This is all. Have a nice weekend! Cheer!

Week2 Report

2008-09-19T13:43:00.001+02:00

HAHA…Sure a lot of people waiting for this… Here we go…

I went to downtown city of Bochum by myself. Visited place of interest like: Deutsches Bergbau-museum (Germany miming museum), City hall, Propsteikirche St .Peter und Paul (the most ancient church of the city), zeiss Planetarium Bochum. Further more. I also traveled to other city (Dortmund) which next to Bochum. Visited the television tower, which is more than 150m in high. And all the transportation fee? Haha…It is all FREE. (I can travel around the Ruhr area with my university student card for free. Bus, subway, “Regional express” train)

Germany miming museum, which show you the miming history of Ruhr area (heavy industry area in Germany). This area is famous as its coal and steel production. I went down to more than 17m underground. People can feel how is the coal-miming environment looks like. There are so many machines inside the tunnel even during the age of steam power. What an Impressive place! No wonder Germany is famous as its heavy machines. Awesome!

Full view of Bochum city from the shaft of the museum. no high-rise..Everything seems to be so peaceful right here in Bochum.

City hall Planetarium

Oldest Church in Bochum

This is the television tower which located in Dortmund (another city of Ruhr area)

I have experience “life without computer” this week. The fuse which inside my electrical converter get blow. (It used to convert three pins to two pins to adapt German electrical socket.) Overload I think. I try to find a shop to buy a fuse. But you know what! In Germany, all the shops CLOSE in Sunday. Therefore, I was then being isolated from the world. You can’t imagine how tough it was. (Although it is only 7 hours) Until I find a solution. The old converter that I brought from Singapore, I use nothing but a dining knife! Cut its plastic ellipse form to round form. And It works! Finally, I got my power back!

Cooking heater uses to heat up the knife. The outer shape of the plug is round in Germany. (Not only the pin.) Haha…It proved nothing is impossible!

I went for a football match last weekend. It was my first time to watch a football match in a stadium (real LIVE). Player: Bochum city team against Bielefeld team. People have cup of beer with them during the match. I also got one.hah…Let’s cheer for Bochum! (The blue scarf representing the team we supported.) Bochum wins Bielefeld with two goal. Result is 2:0 (Drinking beer while watching football match is part of the German life or can say culture in that senses)

The cup you can return after the match. Then you can get one euro (2 SGD) back. (Hmm… good way of prevent littering. And environmental friendly)

Am I now in China? hah… No…This is a Chinese Garden which named “Qian Yuan”(潜园) located at the back of Ruhr-university. And this is the only Chinese Garden in Germany. I found it. Although it is small, but it has all the Chinese element inside which form a harmonic picture. Surprise….man…hah…

Ruhr-university's convention center. It is the first university in Ruhr area.

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OK…Now back to my project. This week is my teammate’s exam week. Therefore, everybody is preparing his or her exam. There is not much thing for me to do. I have an email from the MPPT companies. Some companies don’t provide MPPT anymore. And I do receive datasheet from drivetek( company name). And we have order one from them.

I went to EEW (company’s name which doing some modeling stuff), located 469 km away from Bochum. We drive to there by Car. Hah…There is not speed limit in highway after 8PM. We reached a speed of 200 KM/H. (the max speed for my friend’s car). Hah...(Highway is invention from Germany ).

So this is the CNC machine.CNC stand for Computer Numerical Control. this machine cost 800,000 euro. It is basically a machine which can move in three axis (direction). With a cutter attached to the motor, by inputting coordinate data to the machine which done by programer. It will then doing the job for us. This White color stuff is polystyrene, used to create the modeling of our new car.

But suddenly there is one big problem. Because there is a metal frame structure inside the polystyrene, and the cutter cut into the metal. And more worse it leads the cutter to break. It was broken into two parts. Luckily, not one get injured. We find out the problem is the metal structure itself. It is wrong in dimension. We need to figure out a way to solve it in university. Any way… We have to go back to Bochum. We canceled our hotel everything. (we planned to stay there for two days.)

Before we leave, we went to the north coast of Germany. It is a place called Kalifornien (not USA California, although they pronounce the same.) From there to the north will be other countries like Denmark or Norway. Enjoy the wind blow from the German sea. Have a nice weekend!

Some wind turbines alone the highway.

House powered by solar panel. Stand-alone? Grid-tie? I don't know. :)

Week1 report

2008-09-12T16:16:00.000+02:00

This is my first weekly report.It have been one week since I came to Germany.This week is really a “problem solving”week. I need some time for me to actually adapt to this new environment. (culture and food).But I can say this week is a good starting of my intership.

At the first day, After I geted off from the plane. I tried to find my way to the the train station. By asking people like airport police,staff who working at the airport,business man,etc..I finally make it from Frankfurt international airport to Bochum HBF (Stantion). (it is about 2 hour journey by train.) And I find that people here are very friendly to me even though they don’t speak English.But they will try to give you info as much as they can. And I think body language( international language ) it works very well for me.hah..(Don’t be shy to do this because it is going save you in that sense.

Students who from the project team Macrus and Martin(Electrical team leader).They helped me a lot during the first few days. I got my Internet,bank account,accommodation,etc settled quickly with their help.Thanks…

My flat…hmm…look quite nice(for me).I have one big and bright room with all the furnitures I need inside. And I share kitchen and toilet with other three guys. But I don’t know where they are right now. The administrator said they were out for holidays and will be back in couple of weeks.

Washing clothing is really a “challenge” for me. In every student flat’s basement .there is a room used for washing clothes. And there are washing machines and clothe dryer there.And I need a cash card to operate them.But every thing here is written in German.I got to figure it out myself. I keep on trying.lucky there are two French student who came here want to wash their own clothes.I asked them for help. Finally got my clothe washed.and I knew two French friends.(I don’t expect it.hah…But it happened in this “international flat”.)

There is a uni-center nearby where I can eat,shopping etc. it is only 5 minutes walking by foot to my flat. And From my flat go to school it takes about 20 minutes by foot.
First week here in Bochum.I have met most of the team members.Because it is their exam week now.That’s why not all of them show up.I tried my best to grasp any chances to ask them questions.hah…not only electrical part.But the whole car!The students are very nice and try their best to answer me.Here are my result from few days of interviewing the student:

The body of the car are using carbon fiber which is very light material.it comes in the form of sheet. layer by layer and add in “form” in between.using chemical which amount is well calculated and mixed together.This is how they get the structure of the car.They are light and very strong in strength.(more detail in my final report..hah..)

The new car which going to take part in next year competition have been designed.But due to confidential matter I can’t take any photo.But here I can say it is very different from the normal solar racing car.

Here is the wheel of the new car.it is made by 100% carbon fiber.(The old one they used is aluminum which quite “heavy ”in solar car.Every gram it counts!!)this is student from mechatronic engineering.

Solar cell here they used is 27% in efficiency. They are very expensive compare to nomal solar cell.It is GaAs triple junction solar cell. It is used for space technology.

Here is the picture of me and the car..nice car…if you have any questions regarding to the car.Can just leave me a message.

And this is my Professor Dr. Pauzke. My student leader told me that he’s favorite sentence is: I don’t know how…..I don’t know What…(Our project is problem solving base.Professor here act more like a coach rather than a teacher.That’s mean everything here is done by student.)
Meeting conducted by the student.

My first mission here is to find Maximum Power Point Tracker (MPPT) from three different company. Get the data sheet from their best product.And find the best one out of these three.So that we can use it for our new car.Base on the information that I have got.Because this is a problem solving project. And the student here they are now having exam these two weeks.(exam week).So I can’t get any schedule for my project. I think I should be able to get it in two weeks time.

Ok..That’s all for this week.hm….I going to the downtown city by myself tomorrow...Have a nice weeken!

Finally get my visa to Germany

2008-09-06T03:11:00.000+02:00

HaHa......Finally got my visa from German embassy...It has been one month since I applied it.flying off next few days.My attachment in Bochum university of applied science,Germany is coming soon....

pai seh show off my Deutsch that i have learned:Dankeschoen