Visited a combined cycle power plant with some friends to learn about its operation. We learn that natural gas is mixed with air and injected into the gas turbine. The mixture get ignited causing the turbine blade to spin. The spinning turbine drives generator that generate electricity. The very high temperature exhaust is not wasted, but is used to boil water into steam to spin another steam turbine to generate more electricity as well.
After visiting combined cycle power plant, we had a tour at solar farm nearby. The solar cells are made up of layers of silicon. When sunlight hits the solar cells in a panel, it energizes the electrons in the silicon. This process is called Photovoltaic. The generated DC electricity is then converted into AC electricity by an inverter, making it usable for household appliances and other electrical systems
My first experience with civil engineering involved learning the construction of DoHome warehouse. At the construction site, I discovered that the process begins with 2D and 3D drawings. These designs must receive an approval from the engineer to ensure the building is safe. The construction company build as per the designs while the engineers monitor and supervise that strictly follow.
At the 2nd site, I learned about the installation of electricity and water systems in a building. I was taught to read the basic signs in the drawing blueprints and how they are connected together.
On July 10th, I visited ThaiCom, a Thai satellite company, to attend a presentation on the current operations of satellites in Thailand. I learned about different types of satellites, including low orbit, medium orbit, and geostationary orbit satellites. They also show me the applications including TV broadcasting, satellite internet broadband service and other geolocation and mapping services.
On July 19th, I had a rare opportunity to visit AIS Network Operation Center(NOC) and Cyber Security Operation Center (CSOC). I learned how phone signals and data are transmitted through radio waves from our mobile phones to 4G/5G antenna and telecommunication networks and servers. At the NOC, the dashboard showed antenna and signal traffic across the country. AIS Head of cybersecurity also showed us their cyber security detection and protection measures. We learned that on average the network is attacked over 100,000 times a day. They must have a very good prevention and detection system to handle cyber threat 24/7.
Throughout the summer of 2023, I explored various fields of engineering, including civil, mechanical, electrical and environmental engineering, by visiting numerous construction sites, power plants, solar farms, telecom, satellite, etc. A month of internship at Gulf Energy Development was not only eye opening, but it also allowed me to put the real things next to Physics I studied in school.
