When you go to a different country, it is usually to get away from the stuff you are used to back home…like university. But for some reason we are always intrigued to see how things are done in other places. Since Adriana is a metallurgical engineer, I just had to go see what her work looks like. She is currently doing research on corrosion of pumps used to move crude oil from the offshore Brazilian mining fields to the land (if you didn’t know, Brazil does not depend on the middle east for its oil. They get it locally, even though the fuel prices don’t reflect this), which she does at Cidade Universitaria in the North of Rio.
We arrived by bus. This was another wild ride. I think everyone on the roads think they can drive like Senna. The lady on the bus was very helpful to make sure we got off at the right stop. As we were a bit early, we had a quick tour of Adriana’s building with has been newly build and sponsored by Petrobras (the Brazilian oil company). There is a pond in front of the building which is a clever design by the architect. They need to have a certain amount of water in case a fire breaks out, so there is a Koi pond in front of the building which serves this purpose.
After a quick look inside, we went for lunch. Everything is very modern inside with a card system to pay for your meal. Dish up what you want and then only pay for the weight. So meat works out quite cheap…score! For company we had Adriana’s friends from university: Tozelli, Andrea & Sergio. By this time a felt quite at home, since I’ve come from a university environment.
Adriana was able to organise a tour of the ocean lab. This isn’t part of the university, but on the same piece of land. The idea is to keep the academics and industry close together. This place was truly impressive. They have a huge tank (40x30x15m, with an additional 10m depth via a shaft) with a whole bunch of automated paddles on the one side. These paddle can be programmed to generate any type of wave. 6 pumps are located outside (to be installed this year) which control the current a various levels and control the tide. And to top it all off, a wind machine. So they are able to recreate any sea-state they wish! We were lucky to be there as they were doing a confidential commercial test while we were there.
Sergio gave us a lift to the ocean lab, but there was no regular bus service. So we had to walk halfway back to Adriana’s lab before we could get a bus. And it was incredibly hot!
Back at the metallurgical department, we went around the building. Now I am not a metallurgical engineer, but if I was….I’d be drooling over the equipment that they had. Adriana is doing a lot of work with an X-ray defractometer, which she pretty much has to herself! They have at least one electron microscope, multiple stress testing equipment and more. I can’t ever remember everything. If this is your field, try to do some research at this facility! It isn’t very pretty outside, but I’m certain one can look past that.
Sergio was kind enough to give us a lift home in his car. So all 5 of us squeezed in and off we went.
The building where Adriana’s works.
Inside & outside of the cafeteria
Outside the ocean lab. No photos allowed inside..sorry
Dye from the heat while walking back (all buildings have AC)
One of the labs in A’s building; The locals: From left Adriana, Tozelli, Andrea and Sergio; I’m standing in front of a tank that is used for blast testing. The last test shook the whole building. People thought there was an earthquake :)
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