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ENGINEERING IN HIGH-TECH

VDL Enabling Technologies Group (VDL ETG) is focused on fundamental research, design, production, assembly and testing for customers’ mechatronics systems. VDL ETG is an international organization with facilities in the Netherlands, Switzerland, China, Singapore and the USA. VDL ETG’s customers are based in the semiconductor, solar, medical, science & technology, mechanization and analytical industries.

Victor de Bar works as a mechanical engineer in VDL ETG’s Contamination Control department. “Our group is focused on keeping products clean. We minimize particle formation and ensure that any unavoidable particles do not reach critical parts of a machine.” After completing his Master’s in Mechanical Engineering at TU/e, majoring in Mechanics of Materials, Marc van Maris, the supervisor of the Multiscale lab where Victor carried out his master’s project experimentally, points him to VDL as a possible employer and gets his name into VDL. “VDL invited me for an interview and our conversation immediately sparked my enthusiasm. The projects that I could end up working on were precisely what I was looking for. VDL ETG is in the high-tech field and your work is related to complex problems. For example, the wafers in a wafer handler machine are in motion, but the chips have to stay ultra clean. I find it really interesting to think about how you can tackle those kinds of challenges.”

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Development and production under the same roof

“Within VDL Groep, I work for VDL ETG Technology & Development (T&D). Here, the high-tech development work is done right next door to the factory. This means that we don’t only have lots of design and technology knowledge, but also machine building expertise. After all, whatever we come up with also has to be assembled. The combination of those two worlds makes the work very diverse. There is also a department that develops new equipment, besides a department that is focused on improving and maintaining the existing equipment. Plus we do much more than just semicon.”

Diversity

“The people are also a positive aspect. The company is very diverse, it’s a multicultural mix of all kinds of people, some of whom are extremely intelligent, and we all really love tech. VDL Groep comprises more than a hundred companies, of which VDL ETG T&D is just one. But T&D itself has got facilities in China, Singapore and Switzerland, so there are also international options in this area of high-tech. I really like the atmosphere here in Eindhoven and there are plenty of social activities outside of work.”

Making an impact

“Another advantage is that the company is small enough that you can make an impact as a new arrival. For example, a good-quality microscope comes in quite useful in my line of work, but our department didn’t have one. So I submitted a proposal, there was budget available, we wrote a business plan about our preferred model and which functionalities we needed, and we ended up with a new microscope. I don’t think you’d have as much freedom at other companies to shape your own work as you do here.”

Why work at VDL?

“VDL ETG T&D is a very interesting option for graduates from a technical university, and especially for mechanical engineers. We’re involved in so many different areas related to so many interesting problems, and we’re working at the forefront of new technology. You have a really wide choice here; you’re not restricted to a single machine or a single component.”

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