In February this year, I packed my bags and moved nearly 7000 kilometres southeast – after completing trainee rotations in Orkanger and Oslo, it was time for a change of scenery. The change from an office environment in Oslo to an industrial plant in India has been a big one, not least because of the sudden temperature increase of around 30 degrees. Fortunately, I have received a very warm welcome, and my third and final trainee rotation in Elkem has been a very special one indeed.

It has now been almost nine months since I started my position as a technical trainee, and Elkem has already given me the chance to see an incredibly wide range of academic challenges, people and Norwegian nature. As I am writing this blog post looking down on a four-lane highway (E18) from an office in Elkem’s headquarter in Oslo, the contrast to my first trainee location could not be much bigger. My first rotation was spent at Elkem Bjølvefossen, located in Ålvik, a village of less than 600 people situated in the inner part of the Hardangerfjord. It is time to look back at some of the experience I gained from there.