On Thursday, July 10, the festive final of the very first ICD Student Award took place in the SKILL building on the Philips grounds in Drachten. Three students presented their innovative internship or graduation project before an expert jury and an audience of professionals, teachers, fellow students and family. The atmosphere was enthusiastic and engaged, and the afternoon provided a wonderful stage for young technical talent.
A special anniversary year
The ICD Student Award was introduced this year as part of the 10th anniversary of ICD, or Innovatiecluster Drachten. With this award, ICD wants to contribute to the visibility and stimulation of technical talent in the Northern Netherlands. In this pilot edition, students were selected who did internship or graduation research at affiliated high-tech companies.
After a preliminary process with video pitches, three finalists were selected:
- Lucia Kalkman - ASTRON
- Thomas Jensma - Philips
- Maurice Wijker - Batenburg Bones
Conduct of the final afternoon
The afternoon began with a warm welcome and a brief opening by program manager ICD Joost Krebbekx. Then gave Thom Verwater an introduction to the origins of the Student Award and the importance of young engineers in the region.
This was followed by the three final pitches, each consisting of a presentation of about ten minutes, followed by questions from the judges and the audience. The diversity of topics, technical depth and enthusiasm of the students impressed.
The jury consisted of: Sipke Hoekstra, Alderman of the Municipality of Smallingerland (jury chairman), César Mol, director at Viventris and Prof. Bayu Jayawardhana, professor at the University of Groningen. Each of the judges judged the pitches on impact in different areas. For example, Sipke Hoekstra paid particular attention to impact on society, Cesar Mol on business and Prof, B. Jayawardhana on innovation.
And the winner is...
After a brief jury deliberation, the judges proved unanimous. The very first ICD Student Award went to Thomas Jensma with his beautiful project for Philips! His project with the cobot arm and a lot of ingenuity in the field of 3D printing convinced the jury the most. The corresponding trophy was thus for Philips. With that, Philips will design the trophy for next year. Thomas also already had a great use for the €1500 he won. He plans to further expand his range of 3D printers, and with that his service to design and print parts for customers. What great plans!
The jury - chaired by Alderman Sipke Hoekstra - was impressed by the level of all three finalists and awarded the prize with visible pleasure. At the same time, the conclusion was clear: actually all three were winners.
Afterwards, the event was followed by an informal summer drink, where students, supervisors and professionals met and exchanged ideas.
Annual tradition in the making
The positive reactions to this first edition give confidence that the ICD Student Award can continue to grow in the coming years. Starting in 2026, the initiative will be expanded to include participation by MBO students, providing a stage for an even broader group of young technical talent from the Northern Netherlands.
Want to know more or participate?
Are you a student or teacher and would you like to participate in the 2026 edition? Or would you like to be involved in the next edition as a company? Please contact us via info@icdrachten.nl or keep an eye on our website for updates.
