On Thursday May 28th we visited the new research building of DSM Ahead, Materials Sciences R&D, Geleen, the Netherlands. The visit is part of the course 4LB00 Strength and Structure.
Goal of the visit was to get a picture of what a mechanical engineer, with a focus on materials sciences, can contribute to the development of new materials and applications; see the relevance of the various courses taught at university in the framework of industrial activities, and last but not least, get to know the company DSM.
Program of the afternoon was as follows:
Arrival at DSM 14:00 hrs
- Intro DSM (Annemiek Knijnenburg – Recruiter R&D - 30 minutes)
- Solid mechanics @MSC (Tom Engels - Scientist - 30 minutes)
- Fluid mechanics @MSC (Michelle DHaese - Scientist- 30 minutes)
- short break (15 minutes)
- Lab tour (45 minutes)
- Example from Application Development (Roy Proost – Application Developer for DSM Engineering Plastics- 30 minutes)
End at 17:00 hrs
Some feedback received from participants:
“De excursie is zeer leerzaam geweest en het heeft me een beter beeld gegeven over het bedrijfsleven (zowel de technische kant als de economische kant).“
“heel goed het verband tussen R&D en de vrije markt te zien en hoe daar de spelregels zijn.“