On Wednesday May 15, 2024, we were lucky enough to be able to visit the SKF Magnetic Mechatronics site located in Saint-Marcel (27).
The aim of our visit was to visit the site and also to demonstrate our robot in preparation for our participation in the FIRST Global Challenge 2024 in Athens. We were first welcomed by Pierre Bouculat, Sales Director at SKF Magnetic Mechatronics.
The first stage of our visit took place in the The first stage of our visit took place in the meeting room. This division of SKF is a world leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of products such as magnetic bearings and high-speed motors. Applied to rotating machines, this solution is mainly used in the natural gas extraction, transport and storage markets.
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This expertise enabled them to be selected to extract natural gas in extreme conditions at the bottom of the Norwegian Sea, at a depth of over 300 meters, while at the same time environmental impact.
Another essential point, Pierre also explained to us the importance and value of skills in and math skills (and in part those already covered in high school) in a company like SKF. Given that most of the young people on our team are destined for scientific studies, we found this part all the more interesting !
We then headed for the workshop, complete with safety equipment, for a tour of the production production tour (Very confidential). Then it was We Robot’s turn to show SKF its potential! Timothé gave a presentation before we explained what the FIRST Global Challenge was all about.
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With Elina and Quentin at the controls, our robot brilliantly performed the same actions it had at the FIRST Tech Challenge in Lyon. Our demonstration must have pleased the curious employees present, with whom we had the pleasure of chatting and answering questions.
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The last part of our visit ended with an exchange between the team and the employees present, who told us more about their careers. SKF’s Saint Marcel site is very open to the world, with over 22 nationalities represented. Having employees from all over the world enables SKF and its employees to discover other ways of working and designing, and thus to promote rich exchanges between teams to produce innovative, quality results. Passion, determination and perseverance are the keys to blossoming and excelling in this field.
Thanks to SKF and Pierre for taking time out of his busy schedule to show us around the Vernon site and introduce us to their business. SKF has already supported us in 2019 by participating in the purchase of our 3D printer, which is still very useful to us today. and we look forward to continuing this collaboration!