If there is damage to a ball-bearing unit inside an aircraft engine, how much time does the pilot have to react before the unit is destroyed

This is a question being examined at SKF Aeroengine-North America, and Jamestown High School student Andrew Robertson was there Monday to help find the answer. Robertson, a senior, was brought to the business through the Technology Academy at JHS.

''I've had Andy in three different classes as a student,'' Scott Van Stee, technology teacher, said. ''He has a good work ethic, he has a very good mechanical background, and he's very interested in engineering. ... I just thought that he would be one of the best candidates for (the opportunity).''

While at SKF, Robertson worked with a machine programmed to determine what happens when a ball-bearing unit is damaged.

''I like to see how things work,'' Robertson said. ''And then when I heard they're destroying things - well, that's kind of cool, too.''

According to Bob Swanson, associate engineering technologist for SKF Aeroengine-North America, the 200-horsepower machine performs ''failure-mode testing.''

''We're testing jet-engine bearings,'' Swanson said. ''We try to generate a failure in the bearing and see how long it takes for the bearing to be totally destroyed.''

The research is being done for Pratt & Whitney, a major manufacturer of aircraft engines. SKF Aeroengine-North America also does testing for GE and Rolls-Royce. As for having a high-school student in the room helping with the testing, Swanson says it is a rare occurrence.

''I don't think there have been any others recently,'' he said.

It may become more common in the future, however, as Van Stee says he hopes to send more students from his classes to SKF in coming years.

''We're going to continue this program,'' he said. ''We're hoping to set up a good relationship between our school and SKF, sending kids down there to get some real-world experience.''

Tim Piazza, manager of research and development for SKF Aeroengine-North America, said Robertson was getting a chance to work with some of the most high-tech machinery of its type in the world.

''For aerospace, there's two, maybe three other places in the whole world that can do what we can do,'' Piazza said. ''It's a neat local resource and an opportunity.''

Robertson, who plans to attend Jamestown Community College in the fall, said he was happy to get the chance to use his interest in technology for real-world applications.

''It's pretty different (from what I've worked on in class),'' he said. ''I have learned about some of these things on my own time, though.''

Van Stee said that sending a student to SKF provides the opportunity to see the hands-on application of procedures just touched on in his classes.

''It's similar to what we teach up here, but obviously way more in-depth down there than what we get into,'' Van Stee said. ''I knew that Andy had taken (a class in programmable logic controls) with me, and I knew that it was going to tie in real well with what they're doing down there.''

According to Piazza, Robertson was fitting in and holding his own.

''Andrew's doing just fine,'' Piazza said. ''He rolled his sleeves up and he's getting into it.''

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