Wei Liang, our other mentor, told us to meet at the e-Space today, as it was the meeting point till then; from where he would bring us to his experimental labs. The reason being that it was far from the main MSE building, and we didn't exactly know our way around a giant university campus.
So we began walking. And we walked. And walked. Walked more. Still more. And finally, after going down a hill, up another one, under some buildings, through winding turns, we did a journey Bilbo Baggins would be proud of, on foot, to boot.
Wei Liang's lab was a grey (yeah they seem to like grey round here) squat, low building, that was at the bottom of yet another hill. Kind of isolated from the other buildings, and few students around. Must've been due to the sensitive information and research that lab was doing.
Saying no names, that lab was affiliated to a local defence conglomerate, so yeah this post's been censored.
But its still worth your reading time. Way more, actually. Information being worth more than gold these days and all.
Wei Liang introduced us to the rest of his colleagues, and we introduced ourselves to each other. Easygoing bunch, and easy to like.
They work on research regarding amour systems, on behalf of the local defence industry. So they basically have this giant machine that hurls projectiles along at blazing speeds, at sorry targets, that get ANNIHILATED.
This is the entire machine. Big is an understatement, and massive would do it an injustice.
Poor Mr Target.
One of the types of projectiles.
They do this not for fun (though it damn well is), but for research. So like they'll take the target and analyse it, to see which materials work better as armour composites, do they work better under pressure etc.
Then, we fired a shot. Target took it okay, and the once it cooled, we removed it to take a look. Tried to rearrange pieces like it was a jigsaw puzzle, before we decided to break bread together.
Took a comfortable bus ride to another sector, where there was a canteen. We waited (really long) until everyone had their food, before tucking in. Joked all the way back, mostly at each others expense. Exams for the undergrads just ended, so canteen was full of the perps. Went back to the lab, where we rested and talked.
Then, the most important part of research (as one of them put it) came along. Cleaning. Yup. As a guy, I was drafted to help in this ignominious task. (Actually it was pretty fun, as we joked, but we got the job done.)
So we cleaned the barrel of the machine, with brushes attached to a flexible pipe. Yea, like a plumber, one could say, plying his trade in the pipes.
So here's me with the pipe and the brush attached. It goes into the main barrel. I look like a guy with some wrong thoughts LOL.
Here is how it goes in. And there's y'all imagining things. Seriously, people.
Here's me extending the cleaning hose by attaching another component. The guy behind me seriously belongs on the parade ground, with a drill sergeant's rank slapped on his arm.
So the cleaning got done soon, and then we ended off with some refreshments, before firing another shot, from the safety of the control room. Sound is deafening.
I found out that I wasn't even strong enough to pull a section of the chamber. Wei Liang could. I was mollified when he told me that when they started out, it took two men to pull it. They probably get all the gymming done in the lab then.
Overall, the day was good. Really got me interested in the local defence industry, and asked around. Maybe will ask my mates how it is, during NS.
See y'all soon.