Synnøve Brynjulfsen

Synnøve Brynjulfsen

After 18 months as a Hydro trainee, Synnøve Brynjulfsen has started work as process engineer at Hydro’s metal works on Karmøy, and has moved to the town of Haugesund. Before ending up at Karmøy, she spent nine months at Hydro’s technology centre in Årdal. During her trainee period she also worked at the casthouse on Karmøy, and with electrolysis process support at the same location.

Theory, research, and industry

At school she was particularly interested in the sciences, and at sixth-form college she found she liked chemistry best. She started thinking of a future job within environment-related research. This led her to the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim.

She talks in glowing terms of the transition from studies to industrial life in Hydro: “I would go as far as to say that the chemistry degree from NTNU has been just about perfect for the tasks I have been given as a Hydro employee. I have had many of my wishes granted in the job, as far as what I wanted to work with is concerned. I get to use my technical abilities,” she says.

I have been able to experience how close and valuable the cooperation between industry and research environments is,” she points out.

What has it been like to be moved around as a Hydro trainee?

“Brilliant,” Synnøve replies, without stopping to think. “Professionally, it’s a great help to get to know a business in that way.”
 
Network is one of the key words she uses. “If I see there’s room for improvement somewhere, I also know a bit about where the experts are who can help. The fact that I know Hydro from different sides and have met colleagues in a number of technical environments means that I can do a better job than if I came in from outside. After all, Hydro is quite a big company – with a lot of expertise and capable people. It’s easy to get lost in a big organization. You need to know where you can get help, and with what. In that respect too, the trainee scheme has clear advantages. Personally, I feel that I get a lot of backing – and of course, in that way I’m also able to develop my own expertise.”

Production support

Synnøve doesn’t try to conceal the fact that as a young employee she has had to demonstrate what she can actually do – but the path to responsibility and challenging tasks has not been long. In the metal plant at Karmøy she doesn’t work in the normal line organization that produces aluminium 24 hours a day. Instead, she is part of the support apparatus for operations. This means that her tasks are extremely varied, and some have a longer time perspective than others.
 
Among other things, her work tasks with a short-term perspective focus on documenting operations – the actual production of the metal. Synnøve participates in making measurements, carrying out tests, taking samples, and evaluating analytical data. It is always possible to initiate measures that can lead to improvements in operations.

“I don’t have to do this job on my own, not by any means. Not least, I talk a lot to the operators when we encounter problems in operations. This cooperation – and the help it gives me in my work – is extremely rewarding,” she says.

Synnøve talks about projects to increase energy efficiency and improve the quality of the anodes in the cells, as well as reducing the build-up of slag in casthouse furnaces. She has also participated in testing higher currents in the test cells. Projects of this kind are future-oriented, since they can make it possible to increase production capacity at the plant.

Efficient metal production

“Both big and small initiatives of this kind have as their aim to produce as much metal as possible from the energy and raw materials that go into production. Good running means smooth, reliable operations – and this is also best from an environmental perspective. A well-run metal plant shouldn’t ‘provide heating for the crows’,” she explains.

There are a variety of paths into a new environment, and a variety of ways to get to know other people. Synnøve says that she consciously chooses to use a number of channels. She is an active member of company teams for both football and handball.