“At my surfing club we desired to measure wind speeds remotely. I spoke about it with my students, and we spontaneously decided to make a project of it. That really energizes me.”

I played water polo, I was the goalkeeper. It’s a very intense sport. As with all sports in which you play together, it’s all about teamwork, feeling each other out. You carry that mentality with you into whatever you do later on. After that period, I worked in the business world. In executive and coordination positions. I experienced a lot. Done a lot. But in my position as project/change manager, I ironically came up against too many limitations. The energy ran out. I actually always wished to get into education. And also, to work together more and to get energized from my job again. When a reorganization came along, I took my chance.

That’s exactly what it feels like to me. We don’t simply lecture the class, we teach ICT talents to stand up, to take ownership, to engage in discussion. There is no hierarchy between teacher and student here. If I undertake something, I do so as a human being who wants to help. As an equal.

It demands something from you. You have to let go of your ego. And be creative because you want your students to become more creative themselves. In other forms of education, that disappears. As a student, you work on finishing a number of ‘tricks’. We have them explain why they choose to do something and discover themselves what they have to do to achieve it. Here, they mainly work on developing themselves.

Not in the core of what we do. We stand for the same thing and the education is identical. I think it is very exciting to see that the set-up with the Open Innovation Labs really adds something both here in Eindhoven and in Tilburg. The big difference is the size. Fontys ICT is located on several floors, in more square meters, and our labs are bigger. I can imagine it can be too large and organized for some students. It’s great they get to make a choice in what suits them best.

Working together is the basis here. I collaborate with my students. Not as a teacher, but as a connector and coach. I like it when I can help them shine. For professional tasks, we create groups of students from the open innovation lab. Then we let them devise a project around Sustainable Development Goals. We also discuss our fields of expertise, recent developments, and new techniques with co-workers. Everyone seeks feedback and gives it freely.

Apart from the projects: when I can help a student and I notice them performing better afterwards, and above all, be happier. If you don’t feel good about yourself, you don’t learn well and you feel even worse. I like to help break that cycle. It’s great to see it often has the desired effects. And in terms of a project: at my surfing club, we desired to measure wind speeds remotely, but there was no range. I spoke about it with my students, and we spontaneously decided to make a project of it. It really energies me to get them involved and then think broadly and creatively.