You might not expect to see the parts on the table in the photo at a renowned technical university in the Netherlands. Still, it made perfect sense, as our Director of Technology, Pieter Kappelhof, was once again on a mission to promote knowledge of materials and production technologies among students at TU Delft. This time, he addressed a wide range of students in the course “Materials and Processing for High Tech”, part of the TU Delft Semiconductor Technology minor.
Pieter Kappelhof: ‘I try to teach the next generations of engineers that process knowledge will give them a huge advantage. So what you see on the left of the table is a cast aluminium part made at our foundry using sand moulds. Sometimes, low-tech processes such as sand-casting, a technology already used in ancient Rome to cast bronze statues, really surprise the students.’
And what is the box on the right?
Pieter: ‘When I said that a wide range of steps in the process is essential for the future, I also meant that engineers need to know about the less obvious parts. That ‘box’ is a high-tech cooling unit we manufacture in-house, an essential part of the semiconductor industry. Cooling high-tech machines to stabilise temperature, so extreme stability can be guaranteed, is something many students know little about. By widening their understanding of the Manufacturing industry, I try to prepare them to apply their knowledge in practice.’
