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2 months in Singapore for Youness
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Youness Idlamine has left for a two-month research stay in a laboratory at the Satellite Technology and Research Centre of Singapore (STAR@NUS). His work focused on micro-satellites and their orientation system.
He tells us about his experience there!
2 months in singapore
“With the help of the Foundation, I was able to do an internship in the city-state of Singapore from May to July. This internship was more than beneficial to me on several aspects that I will develop in the next paragraphs. I also wanted to take advantage of this first paragraph to thank the Foundation for its support of this research project, which is also above all a personal project. Thank you for this support which was useful and necessary given that the internship was unpaid, due to its short duration and the fact that it was not part of a program specific to the laboratory. “
What were your motivations for this trip?
Youness Idlamine
“At the end of this stay in Singapore, the assessment is rather positive for me. The feedback from my supervisor at ISAE-SUPAERO, from my supervisor at the host organization and from the research director on site is very positive. Personally, I was able to learn a lot during this stay on many levels and this course fully met my expectations.
My motivations upon arrival at my host university were multiple. First of all, I wanted to improve my technical knowledge on the subject of micro-satellites and their orientation system. An immersive research experience in an international laboratory expert on the subject seemed to be a very good way to proceed. Especially since this laboratory is attached to one of the best universities in Asia: the National University of Singapore. The latter is at the forefront of research in terms of CMGs (Control Moments Gyros) that allow a satellite to control and change its orientation.”
What was your work?
My work has been to perfect an algorithm related to the roll stability system using inertia wheels and to design a ground test environment reproducing on-orbit conditions to experiment the developed algorithm. The researchers are very aware of the advances of the largest laboratories in Southeast Asia and update themselves regularly. Finally, since the lab is publicly funded, the budget associated with precision equipment was not an issue.
Secondly, my stay in Singapore was also motivated by the desire to perfect my English and to advance my learning of Mandarin, which is an official language, although not widely spoken. Here again, the objective was achieved in English. Working every day in an English-speaking environment leaves no choice in the evolution and daily learning of the language. The English that I was able to learn was conversational but also technical. I had to learn to use vocabulary related to mechanics and electricity to be able to talk with colleagues, suppliers and superiors in the lab. Although the stay lasted only 11 weeks, it was fully immersive and very dense in learning.
Finally, I was strongly motivated by this internship because of the international experience it would bring me and its value on my CV. This research experience is highly valued and demonstrates an ability to work in an international context. She also demonstrates good language skills, even in a technical English context without much prior knowledge. I am convinced that an international experience outside of the academic world and not being surrounded by students speaking the same language is extremely instructive. This internship also allowed me to understand how much the local culture influences the way of working: the habits in terms of meetings and synthesis of the work done, the working hours, the interactions inside and outside the lab, etc.
In conclusion of your stay
During my stay, I was able to witness several highlights, both key moments in the development of the projects I worked on and moments outside the lab. First of all, each completed development phase was filled with satisfaction, as were the advances in the search for the best guidance algorithm. Then, the moments shared with the colleagues and other local trainees also marked me because they were very instructive moments and of great cultural opening.
This internship allowed me to reflect the quality of the ISAE-SUPAERO training in an internationally renowned laboratory. The lab is indeed quite willing to host other trainees from the Institute as the on-site research director was more than satisfied with the quality of the work provided. I think that the relationship between the Institute and the laboratory has developed positively and that this collaboration will allow ISAE to have an ideal research partner in the future, the STAR Lab, in the heart of Southeast Asia.
Here, the article describing the development process of the satellite test environment which concerned the second part of the work done by Youness Idlamine