Hi everyone,

This week I did one of the craziest things of my, admittedly rather risk free, life so far. Along with Anton, Jen, John, Valerie Mathieu and John Lee, I, William Scott Tyre, jumped out of a perfectly good aircraft at 14000 feet. It was one of the most sensational experiences I’ve ever had, accelerating to 126 mph under the force of nothing but gravity. I don’t think words can really describe the feeling of an experience which some people call life-changing. We were all delivered a massive adrenaline rush and I think the buzz is still hanging around. We turn to each other every now and then and say something along the lines of “Can you believe we jumped out of a plane at the weekend?” All I can say of the experience is that, if you’ve ever considered a sky-dive but have doubts or are scared, adopt the Houston mentality and “DO-IT”. You won’t regret it. Although, having been asked, “Would you do a sky-dive again?” I might be slightly hesitant as I don’t fancy tempting fate.

This leads me onto something which has been at the forefront of my thoughts this week. I feel that “life-changing” is a phrase which is thrown around all too much these days, and I think that all of the previous Saltire Foundation interns which I have spoken to, have described this internship in that light. I don’t believe that it’s wrong to make that comment when describing the Saltire Foundation to others. However, I feel that it isn’t the experience itself which is life-changing, but how you as a person respond to it. That is, to motivate yourself to progress and develop based on your prior experiences in order to affect your own future. If you just sit there and wait for things to happen based on what you’ve achieved this summer, you will not succeed. The reason I've been thinking about it is that the question has come up a few times this week, “Do you think we’ve made the most of our time here in Houston?” I believe that to make the most of this fantastic experience a lot of hard work will be required once we return home. Although we have all gained a wealth of knowledge and are undoubtedly smarter and a lot more experienced in our relative fields, it will be how we use this to push ourselves in order to succeed in the future. I believe that this is the main idea behind the Saltire Foundation. I remember discussing this through-out the application and interview process, but now that I have experienced it for myself I can understand what is expected of me in return for this once in a lifetime opportunity. 

Wow, that was a tad philosophical; maybe it’s time to talk about engineering! This week at LIT I’ve spent a lot of time learning about gas turbine performance calculations. This has been a really interesting opportunity and has allowed me to further my knowledge of gas turbine related thermodynamics. Something which I’m quite pleased about considering my university curriculum for the upcoming year. I get the feeling that this sort of stuff might be covered in 16599 – Aerodynamic Propulsion Systems. Further to this, I’ve also been spending time learning about how LIT reports to the customer and why specific data is calculated and passed on in this way. This has given me a fantastic insight into the way reports are completed within the engineering industry, and how the quality of work at the facility is assured. I’ve also been trying to wrap up some of my other projects and have again been handed some fresh work. I’ve spent a bit of time in the workshop again this week measuring the dimensions of various turning vane diaphragm assemblies. This data will be used to validate 3D computer models which have been constructed recently. As computer modelling packages tend to do a lot of the ground work for you these days. By comparing data gathered by hand, to that produced by the computer, the model’s accuracy can be validated. With a few more tasks on the immediate horizon it’s definitely not going to be a slow final two weeks.

I don’t think I have that much more to report from Houston this week. However I'm sure the next couple of weeks will be mad as we try to make the most of our remaining time here, and I’m told there may even be a trip to NASA on the cards. My fellow interns will tell you that this is something that I’m really looking forward to, after a few of them made the mistake of asking me some space related questions. They complain about me talking about engineering, but they keep asking!

Looking forward to seeing everyone soon

Scott T.