W.S.G. Isaac Newton

Avantes is a company focusing on spectrometer instruments. One of their goals is to reduce the CO2 footprint of their products, such that they comply with their sustainability goals. A previous intern found the part in their products responsible for the highest CO2 emissions, is made of aluminum. Another intern further materialized on this work, by suggesting it is made of a glass fibre-epoxy composite. The question arose whether this could be done, and how thick this part would need to be in comparison with the previous aluminium version.

I was responsible for modelling the optimal thickness of the mentioned part, taking into consideration possible orientations of the glass fibres in it, based on the required properties of this part. In my work, I made calculations, and drawings, prepared experiments, performed experiments, analyzed data, modelled composite behaviour for general understanding and finally created a model that would find the necessary plate thickness for a variety of different composite laminates. I enjoyed the variety of tasks I did, making this internship very multi-faceted. The employees of Avantes are very friendly and their working atmosphere is very pleasant.