Internship is more than educational experience for MSE, MAE grad students

Angshuman Kapil, MSE PhD Research Associate in the Impulse Manufacturing Laboratory (IML), and Ryo Nakahata, Graduate research student

with the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, enjoyed the experience of a lifetime over the summer. The duo spent 10 weeks in a NSF-funded internship program at the Institute of Forming Technology and Lightweight Construction (IUL), Technische Universität (TU) Dortmund in Germany. They had the privilege of working for renowned professor Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr.-Ing. E.h. A. Erman Tekkaya, Director of the Institute, from the beginning of June until the start of the Ohio State's autumn semester. They each recorded their accounts below.

Angshuman Kapil

Advisor: Professor Glenn Daehn  

My name is Angshuman Kapil, a fourth-year PhD student in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. As part of the Impulse Manufacturing Laboratory led by Professor Glenn Daehn, my priority is to understand the process-structure-property relationships of dissimilar metal welds produced using a novel welding technique called Vaporizing foil actuator welding (VFAW).

This past summer, I had the privilege of spending ten weeks at Technische Universität (TU) Dortmund in Germany as a research intern. This was possible because of the efforts of Professor Daehn and Professor Srinivasan (from MAE) and the generous funding provided by National Science Foundation. While at the Institute of Forming Technology and Lightweight Construction (IUL), I investigated the newly developed, high-speed, contactless forming method called vaporizing foil actuator forming (VFAF). I was able to characterize the process by employing multi-channel Photonic Doppler Velocimetry (PDV) as a diagnostic tool. Although not part of my thesis, this project gave me the opportunity to work on something different and learn a new method of characterization.

As a first-time visitor to Europe, I had apprehensions about the language and the culture. Within the first few days of my stay, it felt almost like home. The internship provided me with much more than education. Those 10 weeks provided a lifetime of memories built by cultural exploration, adventurous travel, new friends, exciting social events, and amazing colleagues. I have gained a lot, both professionally and personally, from this experience, and it was undoubtebly the best summer of my life. This program is highly recommended to any graduate student in the materials science and engineering field who wants to advance their studies in a setting guaranteed to enrich their life.

 

Ryo Nakahata

Graduate Research Student (MS), Mechanical Engineering
Advisor: Professor Krishnaswamy Srinivasan, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

I am a first-year master’s student in mechanical engineering at Ohio State and took my research on the road this summer to the Technical University of Dortmund. It was my second trip to Germany for research, and I gained much more technical knowledge compared to my inaugural visit as an undergraduate student.

Leading up to my original foray in Germany as an undergraduate student, I conducted research on optical sensing for incremental profile forming under the direction of Professor Srinivasan. Once in Germany, my international internship experience was limited by culture shock and what seemed like an abbreviated stay (time went too fast!). Adjusting to a culture juxtaposed to a sharp learning curve were challenges for me. More time to learn about the Incremental Profile Forming machine, which aligns perfectly with my research, was on my short list for summer 2019. 

As a master’s student, I was more aware of what to expect, and I was able to obtain much more technical data with a better understanding of the Incremental Profile Forming machine at TU Dortmund. Though it was just a span of 20 weeks over two summers, I believe these experiences have changed my view about how the experiments in machine designing and controls work. The internships have made me more aware of different engineering cultures and gave me experiences of a lifetime.