My career started in 1992 by working for a local machine factory van Wees Waalwijk as a mechanic during the holidays
in my school period. Here I learned lots of mechanics and how to build and maintain machines. After 2 years of working
here, I was told to build a new machine from scratch. A few weeks later this machine was up and running. In this
company I also did the first part of my apprenticeship of the MTS.
The second and last part of apprenticeship was done in the company Progress Control. Progress Control develops and
supplies high-tech imaging solutions for the industry and laboratory. Here I designed and build a “table top dark room”
which could be moved by hand over a UV transilluminator. This table top dark room was designed to work easily and
safily with the dangerous 312 nm UV light. You could easily move the whole dark room over the required object, without
being exposed to the UV light.
School’s out and it’s time for the real world. Engineer in the workshop of Xomox Resistoflex was the first real job after
graduation. Xomox Resistoflex produces lined piping and tank systems for the chemical, petrochemical and
pharmaceutical industry. The most common lining is being done with PTFE, PP and PE. The company was quite small and
there was a huge potential so we needed to be prepared for growth. There was no standard equipment and machinery to
produce these pipes and tanks so we had to design and make all our selves. Besides designing new equipment, I worked in
the production, gave service on the customer’s site and did maintenance on the hydraulic systems in the company. After
working one year in the workshop, there was no room for personal development in the company and I decided to move on.
I found a new job at ISCO Technic as production manager of 3 departments. ISCO Technic is a manufacturer of metal
parts for various industries and especially for the shoe industry. It was my job to manage 3 production departments
with about 25 workers with an age range of 42 to 65 years. At that time I was 26 years old, so the beginning wasn’t
easy. After a few months all was under control and the departments were running well. Deliberation with sales, purchase
and quality departments and making the weekly production planning was taking a big part of my time. In the rare spare
time, I implemented an AutoCAD LT system to design new parts and pieces. Until then, all was designed and drawn by
hand.
Two years later I took the opportunity to go back into the piping and valve world. EVAC (European Valve Automation
Centre) offered me a job as a technical -commercial engineer. EVAC is a supplier of (automated) valves for the
(petro)chemical, (waste)water, energy and food industries.
I was running internal sales, managing the workshop and preparing their production drawings, giving technical support on
and off site, creating pneumatic diagrams for safety valves, project management, purchasing, sourcing and much more. I
was promoted to technical manager with the responsibility of all technical issues in the company. In the period I worked
for EVAC, I travelled throughout almost whole Europe, Iran and China.
After working more then 7 years for EVAC, I quit my life in The Netherlands and went to France for personal reasons. I
started working for some companies on a free-lance basis as a mechanical engineer and/or project manager. I worked on
several projects for QI Press Controls, CMIE Benelux and Progress Control.
In 2008, the president of the association La Palabre asked me to help them out with the construction of a shelter for
woman and children in Thiès, Senegal. I went to Thiès for a couple of weeks to make general construction drawings,
electrical diagrams and water supply diagrams. I also advised local people how to work according to European standards.
The most interesting project during my free-lance period was the development and construction of a “product definer”
for the company Key Technology. The product definer is a machine to define the optimal situation and parameters for
various products in sorting machines. I designed and build the mechanical and electrical part and did the installation in
the USA.
Besides these activities, I created a range of flat speakers in collaboration with several artists, a website to promote all
and participated at the annual “faire of Marseille”.
During my search for a job, I am often questioned about my education. The most relevant school I attended to was the
MTS, where I studied mechanical engineering.
I was educated in The Netherlands and for this reason it’s not 100% comparable with the French or English scholar
system. We don’t have the BAC system, so it’s rather difficult to tell whether I’m BAC+3 or BAC+5. After some
research I found out that the MTS can be placed between a BTS and BAC+4/5.