How do you design and produce smart systems? About 65 students in Mechanical Engineering from Amsterdam discovered this during an ICD safari on Friday 9 October. The program focused on Smart Manufacturingand brought the students to ICD companies COMECER, Philips, Ventura, Batenburg Bones and DEMCON.
The students are following their studies at the Free University of Amsterdam. Thanks to a special program in collaboration with the University of Twente They also regularly attend workshops in Enschede. During this safari they got to know the development and production of smart systems in practice.
From system development to process engineering at COMECER
The morning began at COMECER Netherlands B.V. in Joure. With several short demonstrations, the students gained a practical insight into the technology and systems that COMECER works with.
Various topics were discussed, including radiation, IRIS and process engineering. The students also received a tour of the factory, where desktop assembly takes place, among other things. This gave them the opportunity to discover how technical knowledge is translated into concrete systems and production processes.
The morning was concluded with a presentation by Ventura. The company spoke about the development and production of bus doors. This gave the students insight into the technical challenges of a completely different application.
Smart Manufacturing at Philips in Drachten
After the morning in Joure, the program moved to Drachten. At Philips, the students got a glimpse of the production of large quantities of consumer products, such as razors.
During tours at SKILL, they discovered how production technology and production processes come together. Batenburg and DEMCON also shared their knowledge and practical experience. They showed how they develop advanced production systems for a wide range of applications.
The examples made the breadth of Smart Manufacturing visible. Among other things, lens production, systems for sex determination in eggs, and weed robots were discussed. Batenburg then presented his own product developments, including a tomato picking robot and drone-in-the-box-solutions.
Connecting education and high-tech practice
With this ICD safari, the students gained a broad overview of Smart Manufacturing. They got to know various companies, production techniques, and applications. Moreover, they saw how technical knowledge is translated into concrete solutions for customers.
ICD brings students into contact with innovative companies in the North of the Netherlands. This helps future engineers connect their education with the real world and shows them the opportunities that the high-tech industry has to offer.