Four Namibian Master’s students spent six months at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) in Braunschweig last year. They were all interviewed during their stay in Germany, and this is what Ndamononghenda (Mona) Uunona had to say.
First things first
We were relieved to hear that nothing exploded while Ndamononghenda Uunona (known as Mona) was doing her research at PTB last year. At least, nothing exploded where it wasn’t supposed to. This was in keeping with the goals of the working group focussing on International Harmonization in Explosion Protection which hosted her for half a year.
Our talk with Mona began with us learning about her background. She is an electrical engineer with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Namibia (UNAM). After graduating she worked for the U.S. embassy and then went back to the UNAM to do her Master’s degree in renewable energy. Researching hydrogen explosions in Germany was part of her studies.
Mona spoke about having younger siblings and how her family depends on her to some extent. She explained that being the oldest daughter makes her a deputy parent in the Namibian culture. And that was what motivated her to go back to university. She hopes to have better career opportunities after finishing her Master’s and to be able to support her family more in the long run.
On the move
When asked about her transition from Namibia to Germany, Mona described it as being “smooth, stress-free and amazing”. This was down to the PTB’s International Office which organized and prepared everything very well.
The interview went on to compare Namibia and Germany. One thing that struck Mona about Braunschweig was that people of all ages ride bicycles. She told us that you wouldn’t see an older person on a bike in Namibia as people there would find that scary. For many Namibians, bikes are just for exercising. Mona then laughed as she pointed out one similarity between the two countries: the beer culture.
Researching hydrogen explosions
The conversation turned to Mona’s research at PTB. Her project was to study the influence of enclosure shapes and internal installations on the explosion of hydrogen. She was looking into how the shape of an enclosure affects explosions. This included the way that different enclosure shapes affect the pressure of hydrogen. She was also investigating internal installations and how they affect pressure. She told us to imagine a pressure cooker that has different shapes and hydrogen inside it. The pressure cooker would not be able to contain an explosion in this case. It would burst.
The research Mona was doing could improve the lives of people in Namibia, Germany or any place that hydrogen is being used, she told us. This is because it revolves around the safety of hydrogen and handling hydrogen gas. Hydrogen explosions are very dangerous, so making sure that the gas is contained and that it does not cause damage or accidents is of high priority. In that way, Mona stated, it is making lives safe.
From left to right: Mohsen Shekoohian (PTB), Mona Uunona (UNAM) and Tim Krause (PTB) in PTB’s explosion protection facility
Nothing exploded
Mona stressed that her fellow workers at PTB, especially Tim Krause and Mohsen Shekoohian, were helpful from the beginning. They went out of their way to teach her thoroughly. Her colleagues soon trusted her to do her work alone and that went well. “Nothing exploded!”, she laughed. “Nothing exploded outside the enclosure!”
Looking forward
The next part of the interview focussed on the future. Mona explained that she wanted to carry on improving her German on returning to Namibia. This is because she plans to gain more industrial experience from German industry in the long run. That correlates with her five-year plan as well. The wider industrial experience she gains will make her ready to contribute to Namibian industry in a few years.
Right at the end of the interview Mona emphasized that she wanted to give her gratitude to everyone in her department at PTB. She once again emphasized that all the members of her team had been extremely helpful. And she concluded our exchange by saying that the whole PTB family was “really amazing”. We would like to thank Mona in return, we hope that things go well for her, and we are looking forward to hearing about her future achievements.
Interview conducted by Sabine Thomas, article by Ella Jones
Copyright © all pictures: PTB/Stephanie Rubrecht
