This summer I got the great honor to have a summer internship at the ACE Lab at Hanyang University. For this I would like to thank Professor Myoungho Sunwoo for giving me this great opportunity. The internship was a unique chance to work together with people form a totally different culture. This text will give a brief view of my research project and of my experience with the ACE Lab.
During my first days at the ACE Lab my supervisor Donghyuk Jung gave me a research project which matched my educational background. The project involved the control of a EGR valve in a diesel engine. This task required among others knowledge about combustion engines and nonlinear control theory, which were new to me. So my first two weeks went to study about this. During the first month I designed a control system containing a nonlinear controller. My supervisor trained me to use the HIL system which allowed me to test my control algorithm on the real valve. The results turned out to be promising. So the last two weeks went to the validation of the controller in the real target engine. This was something I really enjoyed. Especially when my control algorithm was outperforming the previous controller.
Being a member of the ACE Lab family was a great privilege. From day one I understood that ACE Lab is not a normal lab, at least compared to my home country. ACE Lab is a lab containing both master and PHD students and they are one big family, the ACE Lab family with Professor Myoungho Sunwoo as the respected father of this family. They work together as a big team, hang out together in the lunch hours, play sports together and generally have fun together. This synergy was something I truly enjoyed during my stay. The workdays could be boring at times, but I always had some fun time with the people at lab. The lab was incredible friendly and helpful. I never felt left out. At several occasions I got to join dinner and drinking after work with the lab, and also a trip which included a lot of fun in a water facility.
The time spent with the lab truly gave me a good impression about Korean culture. They made me taste a lot of different Korean food and I learned about the differences between our cultures. The level of English could be limited for some of the members, but that did not stop them from trying to talk to me and know me.
My internship was organized by the organization IAESTE (International Association for the Exchange of Student for Technical Experience). Like the name tells, this is an organization which offers students around the world to get an internship in another country. The local committee made the integration to live in Korea really easy. They also organized several trips around Korea during my stay. This helped me meet new people from Korea and also from all around the world.
Overall my experience in Korea at the ACE Lab was truly valuable. I did without doubt improve my engineering skills, much due to the professionalism and way of working at the lab. Also the time with members has thought me a lot on a personal level. Finally, I would again like to thank Professor Myoungho Sunwoo for accepting me as an intern, Donghyuk Jung for the supervision and guidance and IAESTE for organizing this internship.
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