St. Petersburg - Week 7

Week 7 has once again involved some unique experiences that I will never forget! First off, I had the opportunity to visit a laboratory at SUAI here in St. Petersburg that was performing research on superconducting electromotive engines! Afterwards the week went pretty smoothly with Russian language classes and visiting the city center a few times….oh and I got to shoot an AK-47.

 

The laboratory was incredibly interesting as I got to see first hand how graduate students in Russia perform research! I got to apply what I learned in magnetics regarding three phase circuits and used some basic knowledge of calculus to create a model in MatLab that demonstrated a superconducting motor’s performance under various conditions. By altering load resistance and motor rpm, a few beautiful graphs were made – I will eventually write a small report on this.

A messy laboratory and multi-meter...

 

Now I asked myself, what could be more exciting than being in a laboratory full of hardworking electrical engineers? My question was answered when I had visited a shooting range and got to fire off some rounds of an AK-47! For engineering application sake, this was the finest product of mechanical engineering I have ever had the opportunity of operating. In fact, most Russians consider it a hallmark of Russian engineering and the greatest assault rifle of all time! However, it is important to note that the gun I fired was a sport friendly and was fired in a strictly controlled environment. I was actually quite nervous before shooting – it was incredibly loud and sounded like it had the kick of an excited horse at noon. I was sure that I would leave with some nice bruises in the shoulder after shooting; however, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was quite comfortable to handle and I barely felt the recoil. The first three shots were practice of course and the next seven hit the target…I think.

A French student shooting a few rounds! Needless to say I was impressed. 

Week 8 is almost over as well…but I won’t spoil the surprise of what I did this week yet. Thanks for reading and check in later for more interesting stories of what Russia has to offer!!!

 

Comments

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