ENGINEERING EXPERIENCE CULMINATES IN FAIRY TALE WEDDING

ALUMNUS IN DE KIJKER

The Engineering Experiences are unique in many ways. Not only do they integrate sciences and technologies, but they also bring people closer together. On an international campus, they manifest themselves as a veritable melting pot of nationalities and cultures. What this can lead to is demonstrated by the touching story of George Athanassoulis Makris and Jesheena Appalsawmy.

May 2022 sees exuberant celebrations in Quatre Bornes, a small town near Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius, the exotic island with its pearly white sands and azure Indian Ocean. It is clearly not a party like any other. It involves a 'vivaah', a Hindu wedding, a ceremony that lasts for three full days. First there is the Mehndi, the henna ritual on the bride, followed by the Bhatwaan or bachelor party and finally the Sahdie, the apotheosis with joyous music, graceful dancing, delicious food, and beautiful outfits.

Melting hearts

Looking back to 2014 now, one must conclude that George from Greece and Jesheena from Mauritius were destined for each other. Once they arrived in Leuven, they could not avoid each other. It already starts with their surnames. The first letter in both is an A, so they are immediately placed in the same group in the first bachelor. The following year, they meet in an Engineering Experience where they form a team with four fellow students from the USA, Egypt, and Ukraine. The international team gloriously wins the EE competition with the first 3D chocolate printer built with Fischer Technik tools. However, the Engineering Experience not only melts the chocolate but also the duo's hearts.

From then on, they are inseparable and for the rest of their studies, they walk on a pink cloud. They both choose the same major (Electromechanical Engineering Technology) and after graduation, they both find their first job at the Swedish multinational Atlas Copco Airpower in Antwerp, where the global headquarters of the compressors division are located.

George starts first in the position of tool designer. “I came at the right time, because an ambitious investment plan in new production technologies with even greater automation was just launched,” he says. For Jesheena, things were less smooth because of administrative formalities applicable to non-EU citizens, but she was eventually hired as a process engineer in the central Air Tech Department. “My job initially was programming robots used for automatic welding,” she explains. “Through applications of Artificial Intelligence and machine learning, we want to build smart and sustainable compressors that can provide even better services to customers.”

Jesheena Appalsawmy & George Athanassoulis-Makris

Implant

In 2019, George returns to Group T Campus as a PhD student in Prof. Kathleen Denis' Smart Instrumentation Research Group. There, innovative instruments and supporting technologies are developed and validated for the medical sector.

“I am working on optimising a measuring system that checks the fixation of an implant in the hip bone,” says George. “Fixation is usually done by press-fit, but this does not always go according to plan. Often there is either too little fixation or too much pressure is applied, which can lead to intra-operative bone fractures. A solid measuring system that monitors fixation during surgery can prevent this. Vibroacoustic measurement has already been experimented with, but the method is not yet up to scratch.” During 2023, George hopes to obtain a PhD in Engineering Technology. About his plans afterwards, he does not want to say much yet. A job in the R&D department of a high-tech company would appeal to him though.

Social skills

Jesheena is still quite happy at Atlas Copco. Her mainly technical job has evolved over time into project management. This manifests itself, among other things, in greatly increased contacts with suppliers, requiring her to increasingly use her social and communication skills. “Let that be precisely the skills that were so important in the Engineering Experiences at Group T Campus,” Jesheena laughs. “Admit it, that cannot be a coincidence. Apparently, the same laws apply to these skills as to people: they do not meet by chance.”

Yves Persoons