Innovation Manager Mike Newman on secondment at Fraunhofer IWES
After a fantastic whirlwind of a first week at the Fraunhofer IWES North West, I have learned a huge amount about the commonalities and differences in our neighbouring research institutes on the continent. One thing I can say for sure is that the weather is similar but the coffee is much better!
Dr. techn. Marcel Wiggert and his team here have welcomed me with open arms and I am already deeply involved in project TIMES, their O&M modelling and simulation project funded by the BMWi (German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy). TIMES is a follow on project to the development of COAST, a weather data-based offshore planning tool.
I have also had the opportunity to meet a much wider set of people across the organisation to discuss alignment of strategies and development of future industrial research opportunities that aim to provide industry with the tools they need to ensure integrity of existing and future wind farm assets.
Next week I will be joining the RAVE conference to hear about the research undertaken at the Alpha Ventus Demonstration wind farm.