Each year, Windesheim University of Applied Sciences in Zwolle offers students the opportunity to participate in a project week. The aim is to gain practical experience at companies that have an issue or challenge for which they seek a solution. The students bring their knowledge, curiosity and practical skills to do research and come up with tangible solutions. This time there were 36 groups of students participating at different companies.

ICD companies Philips and Beenen participated in the project week by submitting a question. They were looking for concepts and ideas for a challenge in the field of robotics. A second goal of the ICD was to create more brand awareness among students in order to arouse their interest in the high-tech companies in the North.  

To introduce the assignment, Joost Krebbekx gave a presentation on ICD, its member companies and their cooperation and knowledge sharing in the field of technology. Important current themes are Industry 4.0, digitalisation, and the so-called High Tech Big Five: 3D metal printing, remote sensing & big data, vision & deep learning, robotics and sustainable propulsion. 

After listening to these inspiring developments, the students started off. Sixteen students, divided into two groups, participated in the ICD project. They worked on a challenge concerning Robotic Warehouse Shopping.The assignment was as follows: How do you make a narrow aisle in a shop automatically move filled crates to the back and empty crates to the front? Think of an economic solution to this challenge. The students worked on this project online. A number of great concepts and useful ideas emerged, which Philips and Beenen will elaborate on.

Did you get inspired and are you looking for a job or internship at one of the high-tech companies within ICD? Then take a look at: Partofthesmart.nl/en