On Wednesday, March 12, the ICD was once again prominent at the Beta Business Days (BBD) in Groningen. With a well-attended booth, manned by representatives of Ventura Systems, Kwant Controls, Philips and ASTRON, the interest of many students was piqued. The event provided an excellent opportunity to meet talented engineering students and inform them about career opportunities within ICD's member high-tech companies.
Speed dates and valuable conversations
One of the highlights of the day were the speed dating sessions. In these, Kwant Controls and ASTRON conducted ten-minute conversations with students. During these sessions, wishes and ideas were exchanged. In addition, there seemed to be a good match between the desired profiles and the expertise of the students. The participating students had backgrounds in computing science, AI, mathematics, physics, control and software, and astronomical data processing, among others.
According to Ike Tsjeard Hoekstra of Kwant Controls, the speed dates were a valuable experience: “We spoke to many enthusiastic students who were doing masters in fields such as AI and applied physics. They showed great interest in both the nautical instruments and the systems we develop at Kwant Controls. This provided great opportunities to talk about how their knowledge can be applied in navigation.”
Business Expo and informal networking opportunities
Later in the afternoon, the Business Expo took place, where students could engage in informal discussions with companies. Again, the ICD booth was a popular meeting point. The diversity of companies affiliated with ICD made it easy for students to be referred to the companies that best matched their studies or interests.
In addition, ASTRON participated in the ‘Sip and Connect’ concept: in an informal setting, fourteen students spoke with two ASTRON colleagues about what it is like to work at a research institute. Topics such as the required expertise, working atmosphere and corporate culture were discussed in detail.
A successful event
Participation in the Beta Business Days 2025 was once again a great success. The presence of the ICD and the involvement of the participating companies resulted in interesting conversations and valuable contacts with promising talents. Such as Hilbrand Wijbenga of Ventura Systems noted: “The ICD appeals to students because there are many different companies affiliated. This gave us the opportunity to link students directly to companies that perfectly matched their studies or interests.”
With this year's positive experience, ICD is already looking ahead to future editions of Beta Business Days, where we will once again bring engineering students and companies closer together.