Vorsprung Durch Technik

Vorsprung Durch Technik is the official slogan of Audi. It means, "advancement through technology."  In Germany, it is critical to harness this intellectual ideal, especially during lunch:

It was a good sandwich.

And then sometimes you see cool cars:

Solar Technik

At some point in the last month I visited a PV company to learn about home solar installations.  It was pretty great talking to the owner, who was the relative of a co-worker in California.  He set me up with one of his technicians to discuss PV history within the Saarland (within the contect of the Energiewende legislation) as well as to see the monitoring systems they use to track value-added and functionality of units.

The monitoring systems track instantaneous power consumption of the home, and can present the data in a number of ways:

Solar power creates excess power during the day, and more often than not energy sold to the grid is less value than energy consumed on site.  To combat this, the company also installs 10kW batteries if customers wish... these batteries allow PV owners to save more money by using their daytime energy at night.  But the problem is that batteries are expensive, and the current kWh paid to PV producers is high enough to make the economics behind a battery purchase somewhat complicated.

Either way, it pays to own solar in Saarland.  Here is random snippets of data presented in a paper I wrote for school:

I thought it was all very interesting... Hopefully you do to, even seeing the stats without the context of the paper.

And here are some pictures from while I was there:

Vianden Pumped Storage Hydro-Electric Plant (Pumpspeicherkraftswerk)

     A friend from one of my classes invited me on a field trip the Energiespeichern class was making to Luxembourg.  The system in Luxembourg is similar to systems in the US (such as Raccoon Mountain); excess power during low demand times is used to pump water up to a reservoir built on a mountain, which is later on sent through turbines to generate power.

      Energiespeichern covers any system that saves energy for future use, and is very useful for balancing out the demand on a grid.  Germany (and the world) is doing a lot of research on energy storage because it is one of the major drawbacks with renewable energy, and is also the cause of a lot of energy waste within traditional energy production systems.  "Batteries" allow you to instantly fluctuate power supply and avoid over-producing or running plants in inefficient conditions.

     We visited the Vianden Pumped Storage facility, which is just outside of Luxembourg city:

The plant has existed in some form or another since the 1930's.  Here is one of the original turbines from one of the power systems built from the dammed river.  You can see that cavitation (extreme low pressure on blades causing water to "boil/implode") is a very powerful mechanism for wearing blades.

When we got to the facility we sat in the sites visitor center movie theater and watched to histories of the facility.  The site has seen major renovations is both capacity and efficiency throughout its past.  Here is a picture of area (from a scale model!), the pump station is the void in the mountain:

The videos were very cool, although Luxembourgian is complete gibberish.  It was a truly colossal engineering feat to build the reservoir and install the systems underneath the mountain.

After the video we got to go on a tour inside the pump/house, which is underneath the mountain.  The visitors path is lined with interesting exhibits on area history, carbon and emissions politics, energy sources, etc.

 Helping visualize what emissions really are:

Here they showed how much a kWh of energy was in different resources, including oil, compressed air, batteries, petrol, etc:

 This showed major countries and the emissions per capita. The US isn't the worst in the world but is definitely being beaten by a lot of other countries.  Step it up America!!!!  Also, this is not the only time generic Americans have been portrayed as cowboys- I'm always entertained by the stereotype.

A decent picture of the reservoir on the mountain:

A scale model of one of the older models of the pump/turbine/generator combination:

There are 9 of these 100MW generators in the main cavity of the site. Elsewhere there is a 200 MW tubine hiding.

 Escape route. Or Maintenance route. But when you're standing next to a shaking, 100MW turbine operating at 430 psi, the exit looks like a necessary escape. It was loud and awesome:

Each turbine has a throughput of 300 cubic meters per second.  Repeat: 300 cubic meters of water per second (20'x20'x26'); with all 9 turbines, they can drain the 500,000,000 cubic meter lake in just 3.5 hrs.

Afterwards we went to the reservoir to see the view (it was pitch black). Luckily they had a visual guide so we could pretend:

 Overall, the plant can operate at 80% + efficiency (Energy Out/ Energy In).  Although this energy efficiency doesn't sound that great, it is obviously good enough to be economically viable and save the state lots of money.  Coal and Nuclear power plants are not that flexible, and when they are asked to change energy output, it can put a lot of strain on the equipment, as well as effect the conversion of heat to energy.  Gas power plants are much better, but still not perfect.  Luxembourg coordinates with their Coal, Nuclear, and Gas plants to make sure they operate within near-constant parameters, and then uses renewable energy and the pumped water to meet the rest of the fluctuating demand.

I'm glad I got to visit and it was cool learning more about systems we have in the US.

Fun fact: a town in Germany pumps air into an abandoned mine to store energy created during the day or during low demand periods.  The cavern acts like a giant pressurized oxygen tank, and they can release the air pressure across turbines to generate electricity when they need it.  The future will be creative!

Geburstage

      There have been a few birthdays while I have been here in Germany.  With both my international and German friends, people bring sweets for everyone when it is there birthday.  I don't think I have seen this happen in the US after middle school, although maybe people do this as well.  Anyways, I have benefited greatly from this custom:

Would be cool to be in Berlin for this:

I had some friends who were able to be in Germany for the 25th anniversary celebration. It looked very beautiful and fun.  Here are a few cool videos explaining the main art installation:

A Series Of Unfortunate Events

Alternate Title: I'm an idiot and Friday night.

Alternate Title II: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Run.

     Twice a year the radio station, HTW, and University of Saarland throw a huge party for students.  The party was held in the atrium(s) of three different buildings at the University.  There were different genres for each building, and plenty of bars selling beer and mixed drinks.

I was invited to this party by some guys from my lab and gladly agreed to go.  At the party, we stayed in a room that played a lot of American music mixed/fused with electronic/dance beats.  It was fun hearing James Brown, Stevie Nicks, The Macarena, and other songs mixed to be a little bit more "party friendly."  There was also normal, modern pop songs.

There were thousands of students, and we had a good time:

My German friends were amused when I told them the US doesn't really party past 2am because everything closes; they also assured me we'd be out past 2am (they were right!).

At about 2:50am, I began perfecting my "standing while sleeping dance." We decided to go home.  There happened to be Nightbus at 4:09am, the next chance home was at 6am.

In the 50 minutes waiting at the bus stop, I got real sleepy.  I barely made it on to the bus, and sleep soon took over again.

The picture below explains the timeline of the following events:

Unfortunately, waking up one stop after Kleinblittersdorf ended up being a huge detour for me.  The bus driver seemed like he was going to be nice, but in reality we had a misunderstanding.  When I was dropped off 5km from home, I was pretty annoyed- it was 3 degrees, late at night with no cars to hitch-hike, and no cell service due to my proximity to France.  I only had one option, and that was to walk home.

I decided to run, because it was very cold and I didn't want to waste anymore time than I already had.  I took off at a great pace (considering the activities of the day).  Then my phone died-- taking my GPS with it-- and my imagination went wild with "100 ways to die on the side of the highway at night"...  

Here was the last photo I took:

In reality, this is farmland in heavy fog with a full moon (camera-phone technology needs to improve!).

Although the night was a huge inconvenience, it ended up being very enjoyable seeing the little towns and farms I never had seen before.  And, no cars or people bothered me along the way.

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I received a standing ovation from everyone when I showed up for breakfast at 12pm the next day.  My host family now refers to this event as Jourdan's Odyssey.  

Lindy Hop

Lindy how has been going pretty well- the people in the class are really great, and I've started going to this bar, "The Jazz Keller," each Thursday for more (attempted) dancing.  A large part of the beginner class goes, but it is vastly the advanced class that shows up.

Walking into the bar is a surreal experience. The decoration and activity inside is a total timewarp.  The television screens play black and white films of old-time dancing and the speakers blare Big Band music (lots of Louis Armstrong).

The good dancers are realllly good- Dancing With The Stars instructor status.  On both nights I went, it was someone in the room's birthday, which requires a Lindy Jam to form (apparently).  The person who's birthday it is must dance with everysingle person in the room, and a ring of intense, energetic clappers forms around the couple of the moment, until someone new gets dragged in.  Here is an example (less energetic, less awesome dancers):

Now you can imagine that this is actually a terrifying event when you are new to dancing and to the group of people.  I, and the other newbies, tucked my tail and hid in the corner.  It was really awesome though, and one day it would be cool to join in. 

To give you an idea of how the people dance, they dance the style beginning at 1 minute 50 seconds, and they dance it well:

School

This is a general post on school.

I really love a lot of things about German social programs and attitudes towards education.  For example, for university students in Germany, all of the food sold by cafeterias is subsidized by the government. 

NOTE: the food sold on Auburn's campus actually has a premium added to it, which causes droves of students to go across the street to the fast food restaurants. It doesn't make sense to me that the school is trying to make money off of food and it seems like it creates terrible eating habits.

The understanding here is that students aren't making a lot of money and need help.  The cafeteria sells lunch 5 days a week at 1.90 Euro a plate (+.60 for a Salad and Yoghurt).  The cheapest thing you could get at a fast food restaurant or Imbiss is usually 3.00-5.00 Euro here.

Long story short: I've been really enjoying the cafeteria.

The other day, we had spare ribs:

The wind lab is trying to make a Vertical Axis Wind Turbine.  I have been working on generating the CAD for the rotor-blades.  The design the teacher came up with is quite complex, and is difficult to construct while maintaining the correct airfoil cross section at every point along the blade.  Here is the common blade ours is based off of:

This is roughly the shape a rope would make if you spun it in a circle with the ends fixed.  It is significant because it means the blade theoretically would be mainly in tension as it spins, which lowers the strength requirement, thus saving weight. Theoretically.  But we also added some rotation so that the wing performs better in low speed... it is easier to see than explain:

This model is going to be 3d printed at 1:10 scale so the professor has a display item at an upcoming conference.  Here is the printer being calibrated:

Other than working in the lab, school is going alright. It is extremely difficult to focus for so many hours in a language I hardly understand- but it is getting easier. Funny story:

I'm sitting in a class about power plants, so the word Waerm (heat) is used a lot.  The teacher is eccentric (I'm noticing a pattern) and speaks with a lot of inflection.  I am struggling to track everything that is happening.  Here is how my brain is working:

....there is something about coal and steam and ... did I hear the word doctor? no... oh okay so heat transfer he understands well and ... did he say woman doctor? no... okay yea the heat thing again and ... brother? why is he saying 'Warmer Bruder' ... I think that is slang... okay now he is definitely talking about doctors for females and his wife.  Yes, he is addressing the girls in the front row, the guys look uncomfortable... back to the brother... I think he is telling us about his gay brother... what the hell is going on? Is my German this bad? I swear this is not power plant engineering...

At this point I lean over and write on my neighbor's paper "Warmer Bruder = Gay Brother? und... Gibt's etwas mit Gynocologists (is there something with ____)?"   The dude realizes instantly how confused I must be and erupts into laughter.  He admits that yes, we are talking about this, but the even he has no idea why.

And that is what it is like to be a foreigner in school- total complete confusion that even 100% effort cannot abate.

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And then one day I found out that Word has a function where it gives you statistics about your writing style and level:

Family Life

I'm a little behind, so here goes a Blitzupdate!

Halloween happened in Germany, a lot of people didn't get the memo. Luckily, Lena, the lil sis, threw a party with some of her frightening friends:

They were able to go trick or treating and to watch the Adams family.  I think only one group of kids came to the house- but apparently it is growing within Germany.  My Vater zu mir sagt dass it only for 10 years been celebrated has.

On a Saturday morning we visited the graves of my Mother's parents and brothers.  The priest and entire community were present to see the resting places of their loved ones blessed.

Saturday was also a big game for soccer. BVB (Dortmund) played against the evil empire that is known as Bayern Munich.  Fabi was very excited and made us all wear something from the team. Unfortunately, we happened to lose.

On Sunday we had a family outing to a zipline park.  It was pretty awesome! I didn't have high expectations and was very surprised by how difficult and thrilling some of the obstacles were.  It was also a beautiful day to spend in the trees next to a lake.

Some people were too slow for Fabi:

The kid before us cried when his parents pushed him off over the lake:

After the zipline park, the family (minus pops) went to an all-you-can-eat sushi bar.  He didn't want to go because it would mean that he implicitly supports gluttony.

It was awesome though.  There was an Ipad we used to order; every 15 minutes everyone was allowed to order 5 items from the menu.  For every item not consumed, there was a huge fee- needless to say we made sure we cleaned our plates.  Fabian and I lasted 6 rounds. I may have eaten 1-2 pounds of raw fish.

TIMELINE BREAK

The cats are always happy when we come home from school and work:

And every evening I'm pretty much this excited for whatever my host mom has prepared (add drool though):

*** Reality TV dating show concepts are bizarre in Germany (more so than just the fact that the idea everywhere is a little weird and contrived).  Sexy Beasts is competing against naked truth (self explanatory) and some other gems, I've heard***

Race Car

I expressed interest last week in the Formula SAE race team here- Dr. Callis but me in touch with the captain.  I met him at the University Des Sarlandes campus to see the car and talk to him about their group.

The team competes in the electric race-car competition and has a pretty cool car.  They definitely have a lot of problems to overcome for this year's design and build.  As I was seeing the car part of me wanted to be a part of the team, but the other part was afraid to go down the rabbit hole.  I could see it getting real ugly and time consuming.

The captain was really nice, though, and understood my indecision on commitment to the group.  He agreed to put me on the email list and will let me know when they kick-off the year.  I think I will try to help in any non-committal fashion.

Also, the lab had a really cool 7 or 8 gear transmission built and spliced by ZF:

Klettern

This week I joined the local climbing gym in the hopes I'll get exercising more often.  The gym is pretty massive and has a great set up:

If all goes well I'll be spending a couple days a week here.  My first day back was pretty rough, but I had fun.