I’m Lisette Knijn, and I have an Industrial Design bachelor from the University of Twente. During that bachelor, 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 started at ASML straight away, and I’m now working on two different contracts, both with their own challenges. We support the American branch of ASML in Wilton with machine conditioning, which is essentially the piping for water and gases and everything associated with this. The project is challenging because of the number of people working on it and the fact that everything needs such careful coordination. All components also need to fit like a puzzle within the available volume. The other project I’m working on is a module located in the machine’s vacuum and involves absolute precision work. The challenges here are really something else, as every gram of weight and every millimetre counts.
I work mostly at the Arnhem office, but I’m also at ASML’s high-tech campus in Eindhoven at least once a week. The atmosphere at VIRO is just fantastic – not only at work but also after work. I can always ask my colleagues for support or advice. We also organise regular activities, such as drinks or a barbecue, as well as bigger activities including skiing in Winterberg (Germany) or a soapbox race.
As well as learning so much during work from my colleagues, VIRO offers many courses for continuous learning. For instance, I’ve taken courses on construction principles and TRIZ (Russian for Theory of Inventive Problem Solving) and I’ll be doing tolerance analysis and manufacturability soon. In short: working here is so much fun, and I learn so much!