Engineering your career

I first heard about VIRO at a company lunch, but I only knew it as an engineering firm. One of the job sites I used posted a vacancy for a FEM analyst – precisely the field I wanted to work in. The head of the Engineering Analysis department told me about the different projects and opportunities for me. What stood out to me most were the relaxed working style and the opportunities to work very independently. I like awesome, bigger-is-better, challenging engineering projects, like roller coasters, dikes, the Palm Islands in Dubai, and mega structures. These are obviously world-famous projects, but VIRO’s presentation also showed a couple of examples that got me excited.

In the four and a half years that I've been at VIRO's Mechanical Engineering department in the Echt office, I've worked for three different companies in the high-tech industry on five different projects and I followed ten courses. Work here is never a grind – it's always changing, and I keep on learning. I'm gaining a wide range of experience both because of the range of projects and the different people I work with.

Industrial Design primarily focuses on the consumer market and on the aesthetic part of a product. It doesn't really focus on the technology behind that. However, the mechanical aspects and such interest me. I was one year into my study programme when I realised this. I then decided to finish my studies while also taking on board as much as possible on the topic of mechanics during my internships and graduation. In my search for a suitable graduation assignment, I found VIRO in Arnhem.

From a young age, I have been busy with building things, and this interest developed further as the years went on. To expand on this interest with knowledge, I decided to study Mechanical engineering. I haven't regretted it for a moment. After my study programme, my current colleague told me that VIRO was looking for mechanical engineers. After a series of interviews, I set to work here. Since then, I have completed a number of projects and I am curious about what else the future holds.

During my bachelor Industrial Design at the University of Twente I realised that the technical side of the field really interested me and I decided to do more with this. The University of Luxembourg’s Sustainable Product study programme was the perfect follow-up and is similar to Mechanical Engineering in the Netherlands. A staffing agency later contacted me and introduced me to the VIRO office in Arnhem. I was immediately interested, as VIRO works on a wide range of projects and is involved in many different types of activities. The great workplace atmosphere also really appealed to me.

I ended up at VIRO after attending an introductory day for companies and students, which was organised by Hanze University of Applied Sciences. Here I got talking to Klaas Krol, Group Leader in the Mechanical Engineering department at VIRO Groningen. I was really interested because as a starter at VIRO, you get involved in a lot of different activities so you can learn a lot. I had only graduated two days previously when Klaas called me to invite me in for a job interview. After two enjoyable interviews, I could start my adventure at VIRO.

After my work placements for my higher professional education course in Mechanical Engineering at HAN University of Applied Sciences I discovered that I preferred working on more diverse projects. While searching for a graduation project, VIRO soon caught my attention. Because of the positive things a fellow student had told me, I decided to get in touch with them, and soon I was invited to attend an introductory meeting. Once VIRO had set out my assignment, my mind was quickly made up. I started a fantastic project that involved setting out the basis for a new kind of pendulum-style amusement ride. During this period I found VIRO to be a no-nonsense company with great colleagues and a pleasant workplace atmosphere. After obtaining my diploma, I was faced with another easy choice; I started working at VIRO as a TPD Engineer.

During the third year of my mechanical engineering studies at HAN University of Applied Sciences in Arnhem, I completed a work placement at VIRO’s Arnhem branch. I chose VIRO because it is an engineering firm that offers a broad range of services and has huge wealth of knowledge and expertise in Product Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Industrial Projects. I became aware of VIRO during the HAN University of Applied Sciences job fair, where they showed a number of projects from their different fields of expertise.

What really appealed to me was the fact that they are responsible for project management as well as engineering on a wide range of technical projects in a variety of different sectors. I have been working as a Project Engineer at VIRO’s Hengelo branch since January 2019. It’s already been ten months, and I can safely say that I’m really enjoying it here. Most of my time is spent working on the engineering for one of VDL Defence Technology’s projects. What I also like about VIRO is the friendly atmosphere at the company, and being able to work as part of a team on diverse projects. Teams are made up of colleagues with different areas of expertise, so everyone has specific qualities they can bring in.