Euan Fraser

Charity Karma

I knew all that good work last weekend would pay dividends, and today the universe rewarded me with a free bike! The flatmate of one of our friends Amelia has moved back home after finishing her placement and she didnt have room to take her bike back with her, so she asked if i wanted it.  Beat that Iain and Lorraine, $0 and it works! Well... its not perfect; the back brakes aren't great, its an attractive white, turquoise and lilac colour and (technically) its a girls bike!  But as they say, beauty is in the eye of the bikeholder and for free, i can learn to live with it!

The Weekend Do Gooder

This weekend was pretty tiring; I spent most of my time doing charity work.

I should probably qualify the above comment as it’s not strictly true! On Friday we I went to a local fair and on Saturday we ventured into Indianapolis to go to a beer festival – both of which were in aid of charity ...it still counts!

The fair was really fun, there were all the traditional games, food and rides you could want and it seemed that the whole town had come out to attend.  I had varying success with the games but after a lot of trying, money and a minor mental breakdown I managed to win a plastic sheriffs badge and, you guessed it... a goldfish!  Not quite knowing what to do with my new pet I released him into the massive pond beside our apartment.  Although everyone else seems to think he’s been eaten by a duck or dead now, I’m pretty sure he’s living the good life!

A friend I met at work, Joe, told us about a charity beer festival that was happening near the area of Broad Ripple in Indianapolis.  Of course I’m not really into beer, but I can’t get enough of that charity!  There were over 250 local beers to sample and I like to think I got a good cross section.  After the festival had finished we went to a local restaurant for a great meal.  Once fed, Joe took us to his favourite local bar: Connors.  The place was great, an old wooden building that looked just like an American bar you’d see in the movies!  Broad Ripple is an area made for students and we had a great night meeting lots of new people, a Scottish accent goes a long way over here!

Naturally, after giving of myself so generously over the weekend, I spent Sunday relaxing and getting ready for another week at work.

Off to work I go.......

After a relaxing first weekend, I was less than thrilled about having to leave the apartment at 6.30 on Monday morning to go to work!  But once I was up and out the door I was looking forward to getting started.  The first day consisted of an induction and safety training, most of it was pretty interesting.  It was obvious from the length and structure of the presentations that Rolls-Royce take this process very seriously, making sure to emphasis their values, history and ethics.  Whilst watching a short video about the past exploits of the company it struck me what an honour it was to work for Rolls-Royce (a brand which is almost as recognisable as Coca-Cola in the US).  Echoing what the rest of the students have said, I would like to thank the SaltireFoundation for giving me such a great opportunity.  After the presentations and form filling were completed it was time to go home.  Everyone at work has been great at helping us out with lifts and this time Margie, the woman taking the induction, was kind enough to take us home.  She even offered to let us go and watch her husband at work as the County Judge! 

On Tuesday we were supposed to have a student induction, but there was a mix up with the room booking so it got cancelled.  This wasn’t the worst news in the world as it meant we got the day off to relax in the sun.  I took the opportunity to check out the local ‘mall’, it’s pretty cool and everything is a lot cheaper than at home!

Wednesday was my first proper day at work.  After another security briefing we got our security passes which must be worn at all times. Due to the fact that a large amount of the contracts are  from the US military there is a lot of sensitive and highly secretive information which us foreign nationals are not allowed to see.  This means that we must always be vigilant and aware of our surroundings so as not to stray into an area where such information exists.  After this final security briefing I finally made it to my department (Quality Engineering) in Plant 5.  It is located in what is probably the biggest building I have ever seen, let alone been in!  Entering the manufacturing area for the first time was a daunting experience.  The whole place seems to be alive with people, machines, forklifts and even bicycles constantly moving around.  I began to understand the importance of the safety training we had been given, although I have always felt very safe due to the preventative measures undertaken by everyone working there.  Even though I have studied a reasonable amount of manufacturing and operations management there were many machines and processes that I did not recognise in the slightest!  Later that day one of my supervisors, Jeff, told me that the whole building was constructed in 90 days (as part of the war effort in the early 40’s) and the frame is made completely out of wood.  I couldn’t believe that such a facility could have been erected so quickly, especially as it used to be almost double the size it is now.   After being introduced to my supervisors, Tim and Jeff, I was given an extensive tour of the plant, which left me equally impressed, confused and apprehensive! 

My first task has been to examine the welding symbols and information on the inspection routings and to make sure that they are compatible with the blueprints (created by the design engineers).  This is to make sure that the inspections being carried out are appropriate for the welds that have been done by the fabricators, thus ensuring that high standards demanded from Rolls are upheld.  If there are problems or errors with the manufacture this could have serious implications for parts that are pushed to the limit during every use.  At first I was daunted by the prospect of having such responsibility, but after I got used to the process and computer programs used I began to relish the importance of the job.  The first set of blueprints I was working off were for diffusers on commercial helicopters, the complete engines are worth around $1million, so you can appreciate that mistakes are best kept to a minimum!

On Thursday and Friday I continued with my task of updating the routings.  All the while I have been watching how my supervisors interact with each other, their superiors and subordinates and this has lead to some great lessons in management.  The most important thing I have learned is that it is imperative to have open and fluid lines of communication between departments and also with the shop floor, particularly in an industry where processes and best practice can change all the time and problem solving is a constant challenge.  I can see that I am going to enjoy working here and at the same time learn a lot of valuable lessons.

First days in Indianapolis...

Sorry for the late blogging but my page hasn’t worked until now!

22hours after getting out of my bed in Glasgow we finally arrived in Indianapolis.  Stepping off the plane the heat and humidity hit us like a wall, I think that’s when it set in that we were actually doing this: we were in the US of A!

One of our fellow interns, Richard, gave us a lift from the airport to our apartment in Plainfield, about 25 miles from Indianapolis.  Its kind of in the middle of nowhere, but is really nice.  The apartment is brilliant, everything looks brand new.  Since there was one bigger room with a t.v. and en suite and one without, I was a perfect gentleman and insisted that we have a coin toss to see who got it!  Luckily it was me; sometimes life just isn’t fair Elaine! 

The apartment had everything, it seemed, apart from plates or cutlery, we couldn’t find them anywhere!  Defeated and pretty tired I went to bed.

On Saturday I woke up to the sound of rain pounding down on the window, I didn’t leave Glasgow for this!

As the thunder and lightning continued I decided that since it was still 6am local time (11 am my body time) that I would watch a bit of t.v.  The first channel I put on there was a woman telling parents that a good way to get their children to eat their 5 a day was to dip slices of apple into peanut butter then sugar, I think she had missed the point somewhat!

Fortunately the rain stopped pretty soon after, and it was back to perfect sunshine and 80 degrees heat, that’s what I signed up for!  After finding out where the local shop was we headed out to get some supplies in.  We were beginning to realise that not having a car here was going to be a challenge! 

Returning from the shops we discovered what had happened to the kitchen wear, some lunatic had hidden it all in the dish washer! 

The rest of the weekend we spent exploring, sunbathing around the pool and getting over the jetlag, I could get used to this!