Students receive lessons from ASML engineers
Stef Voermans is a quality engineer at ASML, but in recent months he has also been teaching one morning a week. He supervised students in the fourth year of vocational secondary education (VMBO 4) on a project involving design and 3D printing, which he works with on a daily basis. This gave students the opportunity to delve deeper into the subject and learn how the design process works in practice.
After studying Applied Physics, Stef Voermans went on to do a master's degree in Education. He enjoys sharing his knowledge and interacting with young people. "After completing my master's degree, I started working at ASML, but I also wanted to continue teaching," he says. "That's why I gave guest lectures at secondary schools on behalf of ASML. ASML also gives employees the opportunity to provide longer-term support at schools. On hybridetechniekdocent.nl, I saw a vacancy at Sondervick College. They were looking for a technical professional to supervise a group of students in the PIE (Production, Installation, and Energy) program at a vocational school in a project involving design and 3D printing. That immediately appealed to me."
challenge Sondervick College likes to work with hybrid teachers, professionals who bring practical experience to the school. Not for extra hands, but to offer students in-depth knowledge at a professional level. Some students in the fourth year of vocational education had already completed the regular program on design and 3D printing, and the school wanted to give them an extra challenge. At the beginning of this school year, Stef started working with three students. Stef: "We looked at what problem they wanted to design a solution for. One student came up with a cable holder for his computer cables, another designed clips for clip-on sunglasses, and the third came up with a record holder to store his LPs." Under Stef's guidance, the students created a complete design and ultimately printed their products in a 3D printer.
Practical learning
Stef looks back on the project with great pleasure. "I really enjoyed interacting with the students and learned a lot about teaching," he says. "Motivating, persuading: these are skills that I can also use at ASML. For the students, there is a lot of added value in being taught by someone with practical experience. I explained how design processes work at ASML and what you encounter in practice. This gave the students a good insight into how things really work at a company."
