Master Community 2

On February 19th the second Master Community of the year took place! The subject of this master community was multidisciplinary projects, internships and the additional thesis.

In the MSc track Hydraulic Engineering there are 10 EC’s that can be fulfilled by one of these three projects. The Master Community was organized to inform the students on the possibilities and to make them enthusiastic. Our students learned from Jeremy Bricker and Mark Voorendt the practical side of organizing one of these three possibilities followed by two students that shared their experiences. First off was Sebastiaan Woerlee, who talked about his multidisciplinary project in Mexico shortly after that Bob van Maris shared his internship at Witteveen + Bos at their office in Jakarta.

After the presentations the students had the opportunity to ask all their questions over some drinks and appetizers. The students got all the information they came for and we can conclude that Master Community 2 was a success!

Lunch lecture Waterschap Rivierenland

On the 15th of February 2018, ‘Het Waterbouwdispuut’ hosted a very interesting lunch lecture by Waterschap Rivierenland. Eric Kuindersma came by our faculty to tell our students something about the organization and functioning of water boards in The Netherlands, along with some innovations that they have recently implemented in the field. The set-up of the lecture was very interactive, which led to a lot of interesting questions and mutual exchange of knowledge. Thank you very much Eric for your great lecture!

Lunch lecture Royal HaskoningDHV

On December 20th Cock van der Lem, a senior port consultant, has enlightened us during a lunch lecture in which he spoke about two recent projects of Royal HaskoningDHV.

Both projects are fine examples of how innovative methods were used to obtain the best-suited design. Cock also told the students what working under challenging conditions is like, let it be extreme wave heights or not so cooperating local governments. All students enjoyed the lecture and the lunch, thanks again Cock!

Hydraulic Dinner December 2017

When the days are getting shorter and the sunny days make place for cool and windy times, people tend to spend more time together in a warm and cosy environment.  In such a setting, enjoying good food and plenty of wine, the winter is at its best. That is why the annual Hydraulic Dinner becomes an unforgettable evening time after time.

Last December, the Hydraulic Dinner took place in the heart of Amsterdam, in a beautiful house alongside one of the ‘grachten’ of the city. At this location, 24 hydraulic students met with four well-known hydraulic companies, enjoying a four-course menu. All students passed a selection in order to be able to participate, which resulted in an enthusiastic crowd.

Students could ask whatever they wanted to the companies that were present, which were Witteveen+Bos, Van Oord, Royal HaskoningDHV and Boskalis for this year’s version. Each company had an own table where every student had to pass by at least one time during the dinner, to share a course with the employees that were present. Besides, there was an opportunity for the students to hand in a unique question for one of the companies anonymously. These questions were all put into a hat, so that every single time one of the students had to ask a question from somebody else. This created a good balance between the conversations at the table and some central conversations due to these questions.

Apart from this, every company presented themselves in front of everybody by means of a powerpoint. We heard a lot of interesting stories concerning the working environment, company activities, ongoing projects and interesting opportunities.

The crowd that is attracted to the Hydraulic Dinner is always really diverse. Approximately half of the students is just starting their master and hence they are still orientating and trying to get an impression of all of the companies. The other half is trying to find an internship spot or a graduation project, making their goals entirely different. In addition, this year was the first time we welcomed international students to the Hydraulic Dinner, which turned out to be a huge success.

After all, it can be said that the evening was both inspiring and entertaining. I personally really enjoyed organizing it and I could not be happier about the result. We want to thank all attendants of the companies as well as the students who were present during this evening. For all the others: we hope to welcome you guys at next year’s version!

Lunch lecture Arcadis

On the 11th of December, ‘Het Waterbouwdispuut’ hosted a lunch lecture by the design & consultancy firm Arcadis. One of the designers of the giant sea lock doors of the new sea lock in IJmuiden gave a very interesting presentation, highlighting the technical difficulties and challenges they faced. The rolling gates form a crucial part of the overall lock design, which is why it was very interesting for the students who were present to have some background concerning these massive structures. Thanks a lot!

MTBS Company Case

Written by Servaas Kievits

During a successful lecture at the TU Delft with a full classroom, the new Hydraulic Engineering students got to know MTBS and their business a little and as many people got excited, the company case was only a logical next event to organize.

On the 6th of December this group of enthusiastic students assembled at the Oudehaven in Rotterdam where the office of MTBS is located in the White House. In this beautiful building, that is recognized by some as the first skyscraper of the Netherlands, MTBS had just opened a new floor so that the group of Hydraulic Engineering students were the first to try out the new desks and chairs.

After being welcomed by one of the directors, it quickly appeared that our friends from MTBS were not intending on only letting us try out the chairs but also wanted to put us to work. Following an introduction of the company the business case for that afternoon was unfolded: a challenging case study in which the students got a feeling on what a real MTBS project could look like. That a sophisticated model was used in this case troubled some minds at first but soon everyone had figured that out with a productive afternoon as the result.

By the end of the day, all groups had come up with an interesting solution to the challenge leading to an open discussion to conclude with. As, besides MTBS and some other companies, the White House houses a café, there was quickly agreed upon moving downstairs to end the day with drinks that were well deserved. With other employees joining, we were able to ask our final questions after which the day was concluded.

We would like to say a word of thanks to MTBS for hosting this wonderful event and providing us with an insight in the challenges they face daily.

MEX 2017

This year a group of 25 Hydraulic Engineering students as well as Tjerk Zitman and Sierd de Vries gladly exchanged the rainy streets of Delft with the sunny, warm hills of Lisbon for the 3 day excursion of 2017.

The city trip started off on a Thursday afternoon where everyone gathered at Schiphol airport and headed towards the check-in area together. After check-in, we enjoyed a cheeky beverage and then made our way to the plane. Everyone was scattered all over the place and new friends were made on the short 2,5-hour flight to Portugal.

Our bus chauffeur for the weekend met us with a friendly smile as we landed and took us to the beautiful Independante hostel in the center of the city. It is an old building that has been very well maintained over the years with its own beer garden and bar with happy hour each evening, the perfect place to get to know each other better. Once everyone was settled in we made our way to a tapas restaurant for dinner and spent the rest of the evening roaming the busy streets of Lisbon, including the famous Pink Street.

Friday morning we hopped on the bus to our first hydraulic related excursion – the coast of Caparica with coastal geologist Celso Pinto. We had an introduction to the sediment distribution along the coast and the problems the locals are currently facing. We had a tour of the coastal structures that are currently in place and how the coastline has developed over the recent years. This was an extremely interesting case and tested us to think strategically and consider different viewpoints with different challenges than those in the Netherlands.
The afternoon was spent touring the city in true tourist fashion during a walking tour of Bairro Alto, a neighbourhood in the city. We discovered hidden gems of Lisbon and ended the evening eating at Timeout food market where we were spoiled for choice for food and wine.

Saturday morning we were up bright and early and headed towards Alqueva Dam which was our second educational trip of the weekend. The two-hour drive flew by and before we knew it we were staring at the largest dam in Europe. This was a breathtaking construction and it was difficult to imagine the enormous volume of water it contained. After an explanation of the area and the dam, we had time to take some pictures and then it was time to head back.
On the way back to Lisbon we had a pit stop at Monsaraz, a civil parish near the Spanish border. Lunch in the afternoon sun, and a view of the horizon where Spain lies made for the perfect time to recover from a long day. This was also the last night of the trip and we celebrated in style back in Lisbon at a classy restaurant where we ate like kings.

Sunday may have been the last day but an evening flight meant that the daylight hours could be taken advantage of. We started off with the last excursion to an Oerias Marina where we marveled the huge breakwaters and listened to the stories of 15 meter high waves causing chaos in the past. We spent our last hours in Portugal enjoying the sun and views of the blue coastal waters of Cascais.

Overall our time in Lisbon was filled with laughter, learning and lots of sun, little did we know that about a week later we would be covered in snow back in the Netherlands.

Master Community 1

The Hydraulic Engineering Student Association (‘Het Waterbouwdispuut’) organises a student/TU Delft staff meetup twice a year that focuses on a different particular subject every event. The main aim of the events is creating an informed and well connected climate among the hydraulic engineering students. The first master community of the 17/18 year aimed to focus on track/field choice and what it is like to work for the TU Delft. Since hydraulic engineering covers a wide spectrum of subjects, it is important to inform students as early as possible on their options. The host of the day was dr. ir. Stefan Aarninkhof and our speakers for the day were four PhD’ers from different fields within hydraulic engineering.

After the presentations, students were given the opportunity to have a chat with the PhD’ers and ask for any specific unanswered matters and opinions. From the received feedback from our students we can conclude that the first Master Community was a great success and that the chosen subject was very relevant to our staff and students!

 

Master Kick-Off

One of the most important and biggest activities organised by Het Waterbouwdispuut is the master kick-off day. About 100 students start their masters Hydraulic Engineering every year and participate in the event. The master kick-off day is the first activity in the new academic year which brings all new Hydraulic Engineering students together to get to know each other, the faculty and some of the professors. It is a busy day with presentations, excursions and a big barbeque with drinks. 

The day started with presentations of Het Waterbouwdispuut, the master coordinator, and a professor. After approximately an hour of presentations, the first Hydraulic Coffee of the year took place. The Hydraulic Coffee is an event that takes place every week, where everybody can talk to each other, meet fellow new students and the department. Afterwards, four busses took off to visit several Hydraulic Engineering projects. These projects were hosted by Rijkswaterstaat, the Port of Rotterdam, BAM International and the TU Delft.

Around 6 o’clock we all arrived back in Delft, and a big barbecue with drinks was waiting for everyone. 

 

Swell Volume 38, Nr. 3

In this edition of the Swell: travelogue of the MEX to Copenhagen, a report on the Hydraulic Dinner, multi-disciplinary project Ecuador, Coen Disberg’s internship at Van Oord, some reports on the lunch lectures given this quarter, a company story about ARUP and of course a ‘Tjerke Verhalen’!