First I must apologise for my lack of blog action recently...too much travelling to other places, meeting new people...and maybe some work thrown in there too! I cannot believe it is week 7 already. Seems like only yesterday I stepped off the plane and was hit with a wave of heat, humidity and instant sweat! Finally beginning to climatise just in time to go back sunny Scotland...

During my time here I have been working on joint projects with another engineering intern, Sotha Heng. He goes to Texas A&M University studying a Major in Mechanical Engineering. Last week (my week 6) was his last and we were asked to do a presentation on the projects we had undertaken over the summer to the Vice President of GTS (Gas Turbine Services), Huw Jones, and the Supply Chain Manager/Intern Advisor, Tom Bueche. This presentation summarised our goals for the internship, our method of achieving them, the results, and what we gained/gave to WG. Sotha and I hope that the end result of our internship is that WG-GTS understands the importance of reverse engineering and benefits that can be brought to the company if it is implemented. If what we have achieved is ran throughout just one of GTS's companies then there is a predicted saving of $4million. Being part of a team that is able to achieve such a result has been the most rewarding thing from this experience, and I am sure Sotha would agree with me.

My remaining two weeks with WG will be spent finalising the design drawings of the parts Sotha and I reversed engineered and trying to get quotes for how much they will cost to manufacture. A nice conclusion to a great 6 weeks so far.

As Sotha and I arrived back to LIT from the GTS presentation, Dan Kramer, Production Development Manager LIT, had arranged a fair well treat for Sotha....Texas Style.... That only means one thing...Guns!

It was a great afternoon, and all the guys from the office went out to the shooting range with us to have a de-stressing Friday afternoon. It is interesting to see the difference in culture between the UK and US. It reinforced the presentation by Bill Cochrane, Director of Field Operations Development for WG Production Facilities, which I attended. This highlighted the differences in culture that can be present in an international company. Something that Sarah talked about in her last blog "Lost in Translation". Where back home, a team bonding exercise may consist of a lunch, possibly a round of golf....in America its down to the shooting range or getting a hunting lodge for the weekend with prospective clients....its just the way things are done here. It certainly brought our team closer together and I wish Sotha all the best with the rest of his university studies and future career.

Sotha and I de-stressing with some pistols...