'We combine technology with social interest'

"Sick! Impressive. wow! really? Is that possible with a 3D printer?'' Just a few reactions from students of study association Atlantis† On Tuesday 25 February they experienced a high-tech safari at our companies.

Founded in 2013, study association Atlantis is the youngest study association at the University of Twente. She is part of the Technology and Liberal Arts and Sciences (ATLAS) bachelor's program. ,,We are a new kind of study association and we combine technology with social interest'', says Commissioner of External Affairs Renzo Besseling. Together with 20 fellow students, he is on a high-tech safari at our companies.

Impression

Coming from a region with many technical start-ups and familiar with the latest techniques, the students are nevertheless impressed by the 3D metal and polymer printer in the ICD Shared Facility Center at the Philips site† “It is wonderful to see that we master this technique in the Netherlands. To be honest, I didn't know 3D printing had so many possibilities'', reveals Besseling. The safari starts at Philips with a visit to the ICD Shared Facility Center and a lecture by NTS Norma about 3D printing. Afterwards, the students will visit Quadient (formerly Neopost) to see how sensoring and big data are applied in the automatic packaging machine for large web store. After lunch, the students travel by coach to XPar Vision in Groningen. Here they hear a story from Sander de Jong, Lead Development Engineer, about measuring the glass quality of bottles with sensors when they have just been blown and are still piping hot. ASTRON conclude the safari with a story by Technology Transfer Officer Ronald Halfwerk and Competence Group Leader Johan Pragt about how 'super big data' is used to make scientific discoveries in the universe.

Social interest

Not only these, but also other ICD companies are interesting for the study association, according to Besseling. ,,Our students combine creativity with social sciences and engineering and are interested in sustainability. This makes them attractive for companies that want to have a social impact in addition to beautiful products. A few high-tech companies in the Northern Netherlands are certainly a good partner for us to work with.”