My name is Cléa Maricourt. I am a 21-year-old French student from the engineering school École Centrale de Nantes. I am currently in my first year of master where I study hydrodynamics, sea keeping, offshore renewable energies, naval architecture …I would love to work in the offshore renewable energy field as I feel it is high time for us to focus on more efficient, sustainable and renewable energy sources. And oceans have the potential to provide us with that.
As part of my course I am doing a five-month internship in the University of Exeter in the marine renewable energy group based in Penryn. I was able to do this internship thanks to my teachers back in France who gave me the contact of Professos Lars Johanning.
Here I am working with Edward Mackay on the Resln (Resilient Integrated-Coupled FOW platform design methodology) project. The main objective of this project is to come up with models for floating offshore wind platform. For these models we are looking at reducing the load. One of the idea is to place porous cylindrical structures around the floating turbine. The first tank tests were conducted in Dalian University of Technology in China last year and the next one are scheduled at the end of June this year, still in China. Before those tests we have to work on modelling the platform.
As for now my role here has been to model the platform on the software Orcaflex and then study the motion RAOs using MATLAB. I will then be able to study the RAOs according to several criteria: the environment, the mooring lines properties…
This internship is a great opportunity for me. It gives me the chance to improve my knowledge in hydrodynamics and marine renewable energies but also on how to use different software such as Orcaflex and Matlab. Thanks to this internship I have an insight on how a research lab works with different projects going at the same time and everyone having their own speciality. It gives me a better understanding on what it is to do a PHD, to be researcher…Moreover as a foreign student it is really helpful to become fluent in English be able to work in English. Finally, this internship offers me a great opportunity to go to China in July to participate at a Summer School for a few days, which, I am sure, is going to be extremely interesting.
