On Tuesday 8 July, the Boessenkool Prize was presented at Alma College in Almelo for the 56th time by Machinefabriek Boessenkool's business manager Harry Nijkamp. It has been an annual tradition since 1969 to award the prize to young technical talent in the region. The prize emphasises Boessenkool's commitment to technical education and also as a stimulus for future technical talent in the region.
Winner: GREEN kart team
Bram Krukkert, Conner Eshuis, Lucka Veendorp and Sam Verhagen all passed this year's Producing, Installing and Energy (PIE) level 4 course. Together, they worked about 2 days a week on a cool and challenging project: building a GREEN kart. From a completely bare frame, all parts were assembled, welded and tested.
Working together
Working together was an extra challenge for all four men this year. Each team member brought in his own qualities and character traits:
- Bram was always enormously enthusiastic and rightly a real pacesetter in this GREEN kart project. He was regularly so enthusiastic that you had to slow him down because sometimes he almost passed himself. Bram went full steam ahead.
- Conner was pretty much the mood creator of the group, always had more than enough to say and sometimes he was the only one who could still follow himself. Especially his standard statement on Mondays his teacher will not soon forget: "Ah, t'is almost weekend!".
- Lucka likes to be challenged during training and assignments. Originally, Lucka was brought up on technology and, according to his teacher, you can really call him a 'Handy Harry', a real craftsman in the making.
- Among other things, Sam turned out to be a really good welder and was someone who invariably worked quietly and seriously on the kart. Sometimes a little too quickly so that something that had already been welded had to be done again. In any case, Sam has what it takes: after graduating, he can start work as a welder at Machinefabriek Boessenkool via a BBL-trajectory.
Lecturer Erwin Geerdink
As a teacher and project supervisor of this GREEN kart project, Erwin indicates the importance of getting students to work together on such a joint project. "Despite all the differences, learning to deal with setbacks, solve problems, consult and literally build something beautiful together."
Silly: no participation in endurance challenge
From the outset, the intention was to compete with the GREEN kart in a national endurance challenge. It was not about a racing competition but about the challenge of driving the GREEN kart around as much as possible and with the same lap times. Unfortunately, the team could not be enrolled because the school insurance did not get it covered to allow students to participate in the challenge with a motorised vehicle. That the GREEN kart could not compete with other teams was a real bummer though.
Effort and ambition
The Boessenkool prize won by the GREEN kart team is also a reward for their tireless efforts and dedication to everything that came their way during their training. It is safe to say of all four of them that they are toppers who have a bright future ahead of them in the manufacturing industry.
Promising technical talent from the region
Director Eelco Osse: "Attracting talented young people is crucial. Not only for them, but also for the prosperity of companies in the metal and electrical industry. The Boessenkool award is a means by which we want to fuel this enthusiasm and inspire the young generation to pursue a promising career in engineering."
