Interview - Benjamin PERGOD - Trainee in HVAC engineering

- Who are you and what are you studying?

Benjamin Pergod, I'm 20 years old, and I'm a Process Engineering student at the UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes. I'm a trainee in HVAC engineering.

- What did you do during your three-month internship ?

I worked on a study of a range of products, namely heating pipes, and more specifically Terrendis Terrendis pre-insulated heating pipes.
The aim of my internship was to carry out studies on heat loss, in particular using a tool called Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD).
The aim was to model these pipes in 3D on a computer, so that I could then study them directly on the model I had created.
The aim of this internship was to take part in the group's research and development, to find out more about the products; with the ultimate goal of being able to note the product's faults from a technical and thermal point of view, and possible areas for improvement.

There's a need to check whether the proposed heat loss values really make sense if we try to use digital simulation, because it's a highly accurate calculation tool. And that was the first stage, the diagnosis, the study. Then, in the second phase, which is more concerned with product innovation, we can play around and perhaps obtain values that are even closer to what we're looking for.

- What have you gained from working for a company like Elydan?

Well, I've had a lot of experience! Working on a very concrete project with specific expectations, I also understood the importance of research and development in a company in relation to its competitors, and the need to always be up to date in order to offer things that aren't necessarily available elsewhere.
It also gave me knowledge of software like the one I used (SOL), which is a digital simulation software. I'd never used this kind of software before, until now I'd only seen the theoretical part in class. This enabled me to learn how to use this software and also to see the interest it has in industry. For example, by using software like this, you can avoid having to go through testing laboratories, which can be extremely expensive. And if you can use software and do everything digitally, you'll save an enormous amount of time and money. It's really advantageous for this kind of research.
In the company, it allows me to learn how things work in a professional setting.
And as part of my studies, it allows me to see a lot of technical and concrete things that will be useful later on. So on those two points it's great.

- Have you been entrusted with any responsibilities?

My internship assignment was very specific and very technical, so I worked with very few people, within a very precise framework. I had to work a lot on my own, while regularly checking in with Marc PALOMARES (Technical and Innovations Director) to make sure there was a framework and that I was following a guideline. At the end of the internship , I had to present all the results to Pascal VERBEKE (Terrendis Director) and Marc, i.e. present all the results, why we obtained them, what they were going to explain, why and how I obtained these results, and make them credible. A real report.

- Will your work be used afterwards?

I've been asked to write a study report so that there's a written record of everything I've been able to do, that it's been useful and that people understand my work for the future. Today, a new trainee has arrived, and I'm in charge of training him on the software and the interfaces I've developed, etc. I've also been asked to write a report on the work I've done.

I've developed a tool that will enable other people, even those who aren't precisely in the business, to understand this work. The idea is to make it clear and accessible, so that it can be used to make other calculations and save time.

- If you had to sum up your internship at Elydan in 3 words?

Technical, that's the key word for my internship, science, technology and physics
Friendly, the people here are really cool.
Research, or Development. R&D what! My internship was really based on product research and development, in very concrete terms.

Benjamin was present in the Elydan teams during the spring-summer 2024 period.