Visit to SAAB Surveillance by IMechE Scandinavian Group

In December 2017, several members of the IMechE Scandinavia Group paid a technical visit to SAAB in Gothenburg, Sweden. David Llewelyn gave us a guide to the day.

SAAB Surveillance offered a very interesting tour of their production workshops for some of their current radar systems covering many aspects of the production process, including:

• research and development of critical software
• design and testing of key radar components such as cables, mechanical components, connectors, and their assembly. 

We were shown some aspects of their integration and testing facilities and saw many radar sub-systems in various states of testing and assembly.  We were also able to see a complete radar system including its cabin with the necessary power generation and air conditioning units and were able to walk through a part assembled radar cabin.

We discussed a little the importance of recruiting the right people for this highly complex work; SAAB confirmed they have close links with several universities including Chalmers.  The tour was supposed to have lasted about an hour, but with all our questions and the enthusiastic Marco, we spent just over two very enjoyable hours at SAAB.  Due to the classified nature of the work, we were not able to take pictures, however SAAB kindly provided a photograph. 

After the visit, we took the opportunity to continue our discussions in a more social setting.  As well as confirming what a rewarding visit it had been, we generated a number of positive ideas for IMechE, cooperation with other institutions and future visits for the group. 

Overall, we had a very interesting visit, made some good contacts and renewed friendships. We are looking forward to the next opportunity to meet-up and discuss engineering topics.