{"id":13313,"date":"2026-02-09T22:08:56","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T21:08:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.icdrachten.nl\/?p=13313"},"modified":"2026-02-20T10:54:26","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T09:54:26","slug":"rug-studenten-op-ontdekkingstocht-bij-hightech-bedrijven-in-noord-nederland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.icdrachten.nl\/en\/news\/rug-studenten-op-ontdekkingstocht-bij-hightech-bedrijven-in-noord-nederland\/","title":{"rendered":"RUG students on discovery tour of high-tech companies in northern Netherlands"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the stroke of 10 a.m., a tour bus drove onto the grounds of\u00a0Exosens \/Photonis Netherlands<\/a>\u00a0in Roden. On board: 30 FSE students from the University of Groningen (RuG)<\/a>. They were actively exploring their future career options that week. At the request of Innovatiecluster Drachten (ICD) suggested\u00a0Arjan Boerma<\/a>\u00a0put together a hands-on program, with a central role for alumni from the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"students<\/a>
students at high-tech companies<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Alumni share their career paths<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The morning started with a brief introduction about Exosens and Photonis Netherlands. Then former students told their personal stories.\u00a0Mathijn Lensen<\/a>\u00a0took the students through his career path: from Astronomy and Mechanical Engineering at the RuG through internships to his current position as R&D Scientist at Photonis. In doing so, he gave a clear picture of his daily activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Subsequently, the\u00a0Jamo Momand<\/a>\u00a0explained how he progressed to R&D Manager via Physics at the RuG, a PhD program and a postdoc at Photonis. He outlined the challenging physics issues and sophisticated equipment his team works with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

High-tech in practice: labs and sensor technology<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The presentations were followed by an active program. The students were split into groups and given a look at the R&D labs. Among other things, they were introduced to a fast laser gating setup, a solar-blind UV setup and experienced for themselves the operation of night vision technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From\u00a0ASTRON<\/a>\u00a0joined two ICD colleagues:\u00a0Tammo Jan Dijkema<\/a>\u00a0(mathematician) and\u00a0Morag Brown<\/a>\u00a0(electrical engineer). They told about their work on high-tech astronomical instrumentation, supported by impressive images of galaxies. They also gave a clear overview of career opportunities at ASTRON for future astronomers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Roden to Drachten: innovation in production<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

With a well-filled lunch bag, the group left for Drachten. At the SKILL building, the students were welcomed by alumnus\u00a0Paul Huizenga<\/a>. He talked about his career at\u00a0Philips<\/a>, with a focus on design and production of cutting and cutting elements within the Drachten plant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the subsequent factory tour, the students got a unique insight into the largest robotized factory in the Netherlands. A concrete example of how profound technical innovation comes about within a large industrial company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"students<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Entrepreneurship and technology at XPAR Vision<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The day ended with a contribution from\u00a0Tim Bakker<\/a>, Head of Services at XPAR Vision<\/a>. This ICD company develops, manufactures and maintains inline inspection systems for the production of glass bottles and jars. Tim outlined his career, with a PhD in the United States and a combination of science and business, including at\u00a0ASM<\/a>. An inspiring example of an alternative career path within high-tech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"students<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The future is closer than you think<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

With the message \u201cThe future is closer than you think\u201d and an overview of all the ICD companies in Friesland, Groningen and Drenthe, the students left for Groningen again. It is expected that some of them will soon find their way back to the high-tech ecosystem of the Northern Netherlands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ICD remains committed to connecting talent, knowledge institutions and innovative companies in the region.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At the stroke of 10 a.m., a tour bus drove onto the grounds of Exosens \/Photonis Netherlands in Roden. On board: 30 FSE students from the University of Groningen (RuG). They were actively exploring their future career options that week. At the request of Innovatiecluster Drachten (ICD), Arjan Boerma put together a hands-on program, with a central role for alumni from the region. Alumni share their career path The morning started with a...<\/p>","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":13316,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_breakdance_hide_in_design_set":false,"_breakdance_tags":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nieuws"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nRUG-studenten op ontdekkingstocht bij hightech bedrijven<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Er was weer een praktijkgericht programma met centrale rol voor\u00a0alumni\u00a0uit de regio en de bedrijven Photonis, Philips, ASTRON en XPAR Vision.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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