French master student Florent Debonne completes internship at the Department of Building Service and Process Engineering

Students of French universities have to complete a two-month-long internship abroad before finishing their Masters. Florent Debonne, Master student of Mines ParisTech is participating the energy-engineering programme ISUPFERE. He was particularly interested in building services engineering and building energy and therefore joined the team of the Department of Building Service and Process Engineering at BME. His work is supervised by assistant professor Dr. Balázs Bokor.

Why did you choose to come to Budapest and have a 2-month internship at BME?

Florent Debonne: I was interested to learn about the energy supply of buildings. My professor contacted Balázs Bokor, who participated in a summer school at Mines ParisTech one year earlier. I think it is a great opportunity, and I am very happy to have my internship here at BME Department of Building Services and Process Engineering.

Balázs Bokor: Florent is a master student of an apprenticeship programme at Mines ParisTech, a prestigious French university. It is a joint programme of working and studying, which contains two months of international internship. So, what we are offering him now is actually work.

Building V2

What is your task here?
Debonne: My task is to create a simulation model of the university’s building V2 in TRNSYS. As this building is an empty one now, closed from the public, it is very interesting to have a look at the temperatures which come to be inside without any disturbing factors of people or even a heating system. In the course of the year, measurements have been carried out which will serve as a validation of the simulation model I am developing. Measurement results show the effect of solar radiation in rooms with different the orientation. Also, indoor temperatures can be evaluated in the knowledge of the weather. Even if there is a colder winter day, indoor temperatures can reach significantly higher values than the exterior, due to solar radiation. As a result of the evaluation we expect to describe the thermal mass of the building and the utilisation factor of the thermal gains from the external environment.

What are your further plans? How do you think you can use the knowledge and skills gained here?

Debonne: I would like to discover new cultures, working at companies in different countries. We are planning to write an article with Balázs Bokor. This would help me show later that during my international internship I participated in a scientific project, which I am sure companies would highly appreciate. I have one year until my graduation, so we have enough time to finish it.

Bokor: Florent was given here a computer, on which TRNSYS building simulation software is installed. We invited him to take part in a course to learn the basics of the software. TRNSYS is used worldwide to model buildings and evaluate their performance. I think this is a good opportunity to let him return with new skills gained at BME, which help him stand out at future job applications. Florent can work individually has a great deal of technical comprehension, which lays on a reliable basis knowledge.

On the other hand, we look forward to strengthening ties between our universities and Florent is hopefully a pioneer of a future strategic partnership between BME and Mines ParisTech. We hope to welcome more students from France to join our team even for a short time as two monhs.

How do you like staying in Hungary?

Debonne: I really like Budapest, the city has a lot of attractions. I visited many of them, Heroes’ square, Fisherman’s Bastion, the House of Parliament, several thermal baths and the Basilica. I liked the panorama from the tower of Matthias Church very much. We also made a day trip to Tihany and Balatonfüred with Balázs Bokor and Mohammad, a PhD student of the department. As the COVID situation gets better, I would like to return and show Budapest to my friends too.

László Benesóczky