When you can't go to Japan - go to Finnsnes!
News from 2020
Every 5-10 years NTNU professors are excused of their teaching duties and have the possibility to visit other universities, or cooperating partners, to gain insight. 2020 was the year that Professor Merete Tangstad planned to go to China and Japan to spend some time at University of Science and Technology Beijing and University of Tokyo. Read about Merete’s experience with sabatical 2020, in her own words:
a (not covid related) facemask!
«As a subproject of the SFI Metal production, we are cooperating with University of Science and Technology Beijing and University of Tokyo. This is as a part of the Intpart project Thanos, to strengthen the thermodynamic understanding and use in the metal producing processes. As for most people, also I had to reconsider my plans in 2020. According to national restrictions my plan was changed to stay in Norway and I approached Finnfjord Smelteverk in late August. One week later I was travelling to Finnsnes and to Finsnes gård with their boathouses for rent!
The stay at Finnfjord Smelteverk for one month was a good and interesting experience in many levels. First, as a desktop scientist being in the real world with day-to-day issues, it was educational and gave a lot of insight in the operation. It also gave motivation to new research projects and activities.
As an example, we collected samples at the plant that we are now investigating at NTNU. We are also now proposing new projects partly based on the results obtained there.
Secondly, the whole plant was giving me a warm welcome. Operators, furnace managers and staff were all very helpful, and was always interested in discussing aspects of the operation.
In a busy month for the plant, it was good to be included in number of projects and activities of interest for the plant; from wood choppers to slag chemistry.
The tappers were also helpful to extract samples from the furnace, even in a busy day.
Finally, Finnsnes, in beautiful Senja municipality, is a treat in September. Living in the boathouse with daily visits of cranes and other sea birds, looking over to the island Senja in sunsets, is like living at my summercabin at Frøya. Sightseeing at the island of Senja was also more interesting than Lofoten (sorry Karin Jusnes).
The stay at Finnfjord gave insight, was interesting and are close to most of the projects we are working on in Trondheim. I would hence like to thank Finnfjord Smelteverk for their effort during my visit. Hopefully it will not be 5-10 years until next opportunity.
PS. I was also going to visit Eramet Sauda in November, however at that time the Corona was getting worse and the trip had to be cancelled."