The engineering students of the HTCC morning program are still walking around when the first visitors to the open day are ready for a guided tour at 1 p.m. Recognizable by his red Resato polo, director and co-owner Ton Driessen enthusiastically leads the first interested parties through his factory. The spectacular water jet cutter in particular attracts attention. Driessen explains. “With a pressure of no less than 4,000 bar, the water 'cuts' almost any material. Think of aluminum, steel, copper and titanium.” But glass, plastics and composite materials can also be processed well with the waterjet cutter, because no heat or harmful vapor is released. "What we can't do with the strongest diamond cutters, we can do." waterjet cutter from Resato goes all over the world and can be found at the bottom of the car industry and where sheet metal and plastics are cut for the assembly of machines, for example.

dash

Further on, children play with dash, a floor robot that is operated with special apps on an iPad. Branch organization FME has set up a playground in which the children steer the robot along a track. In practice, this turns out to be more difficult than it seems, but no less fun. Children react enthusiastically, just like their parents. Because the age limit for these toys of 5 to 13 years is interpreted broadly. Logical, because older people can easily make their own apps to control such a robot.      

Vacancies

At the technoplayground where the high-tech companies of Innovatiecluster Drachten present themselves, visitors are introduced to all kinds of practical applications of technology. PerkinElmer shows a machine that tests the quality of milk, just after the cow has been milked. The farmer can immediately see from all kinds of values whether his cow is healthy or not. Bee Neopost, known for the fully automatic packaging machines for web stores, children can build their own metal airplane from all kinds of parts. And Philips shows next to the high-end shavers mini models of vacuum cleaners and a real human hand, 3D printed with a brand new industrial plastic printer. Ventura employees even get down to business when a visitor shows interest in one of their vacancies.           

solar boat

The solar boat of the WhisperPower Solar Team also draws attention. The boat the team is showing for this year's solar races is a much-improved version. ,,We have managed to reduce last year's boat by no less than 120 kilos. That saves almost half the weight," says team manager Jeroen Antonisse. Over the past year, his six-person team, together with technicians from high-tech companies, has WhisperPower, worked hard. ,,We are going for a podium place this year'', says Antonisse. Does that work? The first competition that the team will show its skills is Friday 31 May and Saturday 1 June during the NK Zonnebootrace in Akkrum.