Interview: Susanne Hoecht, Fotos: Susanne Hoecht
Flavia, what fascinates you about engineering?
I have always been interested in how things/machines work. At TUM, I think it's great that you can learn a lot about different technologies in the master's program in mechanical engineering. I've been particularly interested in energy technology since my bachelor's degree, and at TUM you can learn a lot about renewable energy systems.
How did you decide on your course of study?
I specifically wanted to come to Germany to study in 2016 because I am half German. At that time, I looked at what I was interested in and what courses were available. With the bachelor's program in engineering here at the Technical University of Munich, I found a program that was a bit broader and more general. That was better for me at the time because I didn't know what I wanted to specialize in.
What fascinated me about the master's program in mechanical engineering was that the choice of subjects was very open. This allowed me to tailor my studies to my interests and what seemed to make sense for me and my future.
When you finished your bachelor's degree, did you already know that you wanted to work in wind energy?
No, I didn't. My focus at the time was on renewable energy. Gradually, I came across the topic of wind energy by taking different courses. I also took many courses at the Chair of Wind Energy and did my research internship there.
What is the topic of your master's thesis?
My topic is "Experimental wind tunnel study of dynamic yaw control technique for faster wake recovery of wind turbines".
What is your thesis about?
My topic is an experimental work, because there are few simulations on this topic. I want to find out the potential of a new control technique for wind farms, Dynamic Yaw.
Wind turbines in wind farms affect each other. In a wind farm, the front (upstream) turbines create a wake, which is characterized by turbulence and a wind velocity deficit. This velocity deficit causes the rear turbines (downstream turbines) to produce significantly less energy. These wake effects also lead to higher loads on the turbine and therefore faster wear. To reduce these effects, we are testing dynamic yaw on the upstream turbine and observing changes in power production on the downstream turbine.
What makes this work special?
I have the opportunity to test a new turbine model in the wind tunnel. It is really exciting to do the experiments, see how the wind turbines work, change the parameters and observe the changes in power production. Also, there is not much research on dynamic yaw, so no one knows what the real potential of this control strategy is.
Why did you choose this topic?
I believe that wind energy will be very important in the future because of the energy transition. Therefore, it will become more and more important to test the optimization potential of wind turbines.
What challenges have you faced in your master's thesis so far?
With an experimental thesis you really have a lot of problems. Despite good planning, I could not foresee many problems. For example, some parts were not available in December, so I had to stop working for four weeks. The challenge is to stay motivated, not give up and keep working. My supervisors help me a lot. I am very thankful for their support.
What can you take away from this work and your studies for the future?
First of all, the technical side, because I want to continue working on wind energy. I learned a lot about how wind turbines work and how to scale models. There is also a lot of organizational experience or troubleshooting.
What do you want to do after graduation? What are your career plans?
After graduation, I will go into technical consulting as a project engineer and work in the field of renewable energy. So I will continue to work on wind energy.
Thank you for your time, Flavia.