Monica Akyeampong summarises her interim results:

"I’m Monica Akyeampong  from Ghana and I am a student in the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana. Through IAESTE, I gained a three months internship at the Chair of Tunneling and Construction Management at Ruhr Universität Bochum supported by the SFB 837 ‘’Interaction Modeling in Mechanized Tunneling’’. I am pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Geomatic Engineering in Ghana and will hopefully complete my Bachelor in 2024.

As an intern at the Institute of Tunnelling, I have so far performed a Screen Drum test and worked on an analysis to determine the dispersion tendency of soils for the U5 Mitte Project. Also, I assisted and learnt a lot about a combined methodology for clogging evaluation by means of a new device known as the ATUR device.

Through this internship, I am gaining the opportunity to work practically, mostly in the Technical Laboratory for Bentonite (TLB) and I am able to challenge myself and embrace new experiences by working on projects that I have only a little background knowledge of thus far. The insights gained at the Chair of Tunneling and Construction Management have increased my passion for the Tunnelling industry and I am eager to apply these insights to my studies. Looking ahead, I aspire to further my education by pursuing a master’s degree and I am hopeful that I can return to Germany to contribute to and benefit from the innovative works being done here. The conducive work environment here has played a major role in shaping my career aspirations."

Fernando Fogliatti also reports on his internship at the Chair of Tunnelling, Pipeline Construction and Construction Management:

"I’m Fernando Fogliatti, I come from Santa Fe City, Argentina, and I’m currently in the final stages of my civil engineering degree at the National Technological University - Regional Faculty of Santa Fe.

Since September, I’ve been doing an internship at Ruhr University in the Chair of Tunneling and Construction Management supported by the SFB 837 'Interaction Modeling in Mechanized Tunneling’. In my initial month, I dedicated my time to studying literature related to tunnels and technologies pertinent to the ongoing research at the institute. Simultaneously, I compiled a glossary for the course 'Conventional and Mechanised Tunnelling: Design Engineering Technologies', corresponding to the Subsurface Engineering master's programme.

I’ve been assisting in the laboratory with studies related to the properties of the "muck" in the construction process using a TBM-EPB. This involved both soil preparation and the preparation of the "slurry" using a machine designed by the institute itself. The tests consisted of determining penetration resistance with a cone and analysing permeability through a constant head test.

Additionally, I developed a program using Python for the analysis of data obtained from a 4-point bending test, focused on the study of fiber-reinforced concrete following the "DafStb Guideline: Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete" standard. This programme includes data editing through a graphical interface, calculation of parameters according to the standard's guidelines, and result export. This is presented in a user-friendly graphical interface allowing users to analyse their results without programming knowledge.

Currently, I’m analysing data from various sensors placed on a TBM, using various statistical tools in Python to understand the processes and draw conclusions for future process optimization."