Amon Cheruiyot
Bsc. Mechanical Engineering
Technical University Of Munich.
I was attached at the Institute under DAAD-IAESTE internship program and the project I was assigned involved:Familiarization with multi-stepadditive manufacturing technologies, Involvement in the construction and setup of an extruder print head to mix a binding media with raw powder material; Programming of the control unit for an extrusion-based printer prototype; Fabrication of green parts (samples consisting of binder and powder material) for material testing.The internship basically involved 3D printing an additive technology used to manufacture parts. It is ‘additive’ in that it doesn’t require a block of material or a mold to manufacture physical objects, it simply stacks and fuses layers of material. It’s typically fast, with low fixed setup costs, and can create more complex geometries than ‘traditional’ technologies, with an ever-expanding list of materials. It is used extensively in the engineering industry, particularly for prototyping and creating lightweight geometries.
Germany is a highly industrialized country with brands like Siemens, BMW and Mercedes dominating the market and as a mechanical engineering student it’s the place to be, I gained new professional and was introduced to new technologies( 3D printing, integrating Marlin Software using Visual Studio Code and Cura )
IAESTE’s motto is “Taking Cultural Experience Beyond Kenya’s Borders”and culturally I was impacted. I met people from all over the world since Munich is a very cosmopolitan city and English is widely spoken. I tried food from all over the world and particularly liked German food and the beer culture. I also travelled to 7 other countries in the European Union a brilliant idea and I think East African Community should integrate even more. I have been an IAESTE member for 4years and having met interns from all over the world and made friends and linkages hence visited them on my stay in Germany.
Munich is a historic city and capital of Bavaria and having lived here I visited various attraction sites like:Marienplatz, Nymphenburg Castle, Olympia Park, BMW Museum, AltePinakotheck Art Museum, English Garden, Deutches Museum and least forgetting Dachau Concentration Camp a somber memorial for all the victims of WW2 horrors.
I travelled to German cities of: Bochum, Essen, Cologne, Duisburg and Nuremberg. I also travelled to; Hungarian cities of Debrecen and Budapest, briefly stopped at: Prague Czech Republic, Bratislava Slovakia, Venlo Netherlands,Vienna Austria and on a weekend to Warsaw Poland. On Christmas break I spent witha friends family at Schladming Austria on the Alpsand went skiing ,experienced Christmas away from home for the first time but never felt homesick due to the warmth and great hospitality of the Austrian people.
OverallyI gained technical skills and was introduced to new technologies and experienced new cultures and an amazing travel experience even on the backdrop of the COVID 19 pandemic. I have gained more passion and motivation towards my aspiration for furthering my studiesin the field and I would highly encourage all students to apply for the internship given the opportunity.