Weather Station Project in Grenada – I have been very excited and planning for this International learning program since the day I got selected in the interview. Being an Electronics Engineering and Technology student we have been learning a lot of things, skills (both theoretical and practical) and I always wondered how it is going to be to work in real world where I can implement my knowledge. I would say this is an amazing lifetime experience. Me along with two other students (Luc and Rafat) from our class have been working on this project since November 2016.

The team we have is amazing. Each one of us has different set of skills. So, we like to combine those and try to accomplish our goal which is to create a working prototype of a weather station and the main purpose of this is to generate the measurements of solar radiation.

So basically, we used a couple of microcomputers (Arduino and Raspberry pi) to get data from the sensors and save it to the micro SD card/USB device. The data can also be derived from the web using web File Transfer Protocol, or could be sent via email. We have been using the DHT 22 for measuring temperature and humidity and Pyranometer to measure solar radiation and we are using a camera to take pictures of the sky for getting the cloud coverage. The system can also measure the core temperature of the microcomputer (Raspberry Pi) which is like a compact version of a computer. We made a box to fit all the electronics components inside except for the two sensors. We also 3D printed some of the housings for the components.

That was our game plan that we had to follow. When we had to do it all in the real-life work environment we came up with several complications. But each time we faced any complication we would troubleshoot and come up with solutions to fix it. Our faculty Gordon Wilkie helped us a lot throughout the whole process. He has been an amazing mentor/guide to us. He also motivated us and helped us come up with solutions whenever we faced any problems and provided us with the utmost support. I had a lot to learn from him.

We had the chance to work with the main power company Grenlec, in Grenada which is my first time being exposed to the real-life work industry.

Nevertheless, the people, the culture and the natural beauty in Grenada is amazing. We had the chance to enjoy the beauty of Grenada in between our very hectic work schedule.

To sum up, I learnt a lot working on this Solar Weather Station project, met lot of new people, learnt how to deal with stress and still being able to stay calm. However, I will be going home with a bag full of memories and a lifetime experience upon finishing the work term and I am glad I chose this international learning program as my work term.

Salsabil Chowdhury Tory

Electronics Engineering and Technology Student

NSCC Waterfront Campus