ESR 11’s secondment experience at Joanneum research

I have completed my first secondment of the project in the Summer of 2020, between July and August. This secondment was foreseen as a part of my project. During this secondment, I had a chance to take a closer look at metal Additive Manufacturing at the Institute for Surface Technologies and Photonics of JOANNEUM RESEARCH: MATERIALS which is located in Niklasdorf, Austria.
Since the company’s location was close to my current city of residence, I decided to travel every day during this time. It was a pleasant trip every day through the beautiful countryside of Graz. I enjoyed a daily walk to Joanneum research as the countryside in this area had an impressive beauty.
During my stay in the first two weeks, they gave me basic training and an introduction to the Joanneum research facilities. I had the priceless opportunity to gain some hands-on experience during this time. Afterward, I started working on the fabrication of my prototypes. I successfully managed to optimize my prototypes’ fabrication process to achieve the high standards required for space applications with the help of experts at Joanneum research.
During this time, I learned a lot, and whenever I faced a problem, the experts at Joanneum Research took their time to guide me through the problems. I fabricated more than a dozen prototypes during this time, which I am confident would help me excel through my Ph.D. research. I would certainly look forward to revisiting them in the future as working with a high-tech company and with its elite experts would be my dream research experience comes true.