On November the 9th, the first lunch lecture of the academic year was hosted by Teun van de Sande. Teun, a former TU Eindhoven student, is a full-time Mechanical Engineer at Prodrive. While having a sandwich from Leo, first of all we learned that Prodrive is active in multiple markets. They are currently working on video & sensing devices, embedded computing systems, control systems, power conversion systems and motion & mechatronics. Afterwards, Teun elaborated on the linear lift. This lift doesn’t only go up and down, but also goes sideways and can be used to transport people or goods. This lift makes use of a linear motor, that unlike a conventional motor, doesn’t spin. Furthermore no cables for the movement of the lift need to be used. At Prodrive you get the opportunity to develop such unconventional solutions, and there are many other interesting projects you can work on. Also some insight was given about how it will be to work at Prodrive. Prodrive has a young team and employees work mainly in smaller teams within the company. Many prototypes are built and tested in-house and you get a lot of freedom to decide when and where you want to work. Prodrive has multiple facilities all around the world, from their main facility in Eindhoven all the way to the US, China and Japan. Especially for High-Tech students, there are many possibilities at Prodrive. It is possible to do an internship, do your thesis at Prodrive or work there part-time of full-time during or after your studies.
Finally, we also got the opportunity to ask questions to Teun. After the presentation a bottle of Taylor Port was presented, which he will receive by mail.

~T. Neeft

HTE student 20/21