Naval Architect Stefan Rauws on the strength of sharing knowledge
After completing senior general secondary education (HAVO) with a specialisation in Economics and Society, I looked for a higher education programme that offered more of a challenge.
While working a side job at a winter storage facility for boats, I was inspired by the technical issues in the shipbuilding industry.
I decided to follow the Shipbuilding vocational education and training (MBO) programme. The MBO programme teaches you to think in a practical way, and this was very beneficial to me. After finishing that study programme, I went on to complete the naval architecture higher professional education (HBO) study programme Cum Laude (with distinction).
After my training, I started working for Damen in Den Helder. As part of a small team, my responsibilities involved drawing work, project management, engineering, etc. My time there provided me with a wealth of knowledge and experience. I was then approached by the VIRO office in Groningen. At the time, it was a small office that aimed to set up a Shipbuilding Department. VIRO asked me to support and shape this new department.
At the time, VIRO concluded a co-development with De Voogt in Haarlem. I worked at the client’s location for the first eight months of this. That was to learn how the client worked, including their standard rules, the way they think, and what their drawing methods are. Subsequently, VIRO tasked with establishing a small team of Mechanical Engineers, for which I was made directly responsible.
Thanks to our weekly meetings and direct contact, I could transfer my knowledge and my colleagues could quickly get to work. In my experience, training on the job was an efficient way to share my knowledge and skills with my closest colleagues. To further improve the transfer of knowledge, my colleagues were given professional literature so that they could get a better feeling of the material.
The transfer of knowledge is important for self-development.
VIRO offers its employees opportunities to broaden the knowledge that suits their work. This offers them great development opportunities and prospects to shape their own careers at their own pace and in the direction they choose – that's what makes a role at VIRO so interesting and fascinating.
Also read the stories of Jacob about career development, Kay Wilmsen, about the training centre en Rick, about Engineering Analysis