Student stories: two interns about their CITC experience

March 23, 2023 – On March 1, CITC said goodbye to two interns who had been with us for just over a year: Ted Guijt and Nils Sistermans. The two ROC Nijmegen students in Creative Technology were working on a new demo: an enlarged chip package including a video screen for trade shows.

Chip packaging demo

In February last year, Ted and Nils started at CITC when one of their teachers asked them to follow up on a project started by a fellow student. For both students it was their first internship: two days per week. Nils had no expectations beforehand, but Ted was pleasantly surprised. “I had expected a very strict work environment compared to school, but that was not the case. Everyone was very open and friendly. We often made jokes with each other”.

The assignment they had to continue consisted of designing a demo that would stand out on trade shows. The students came up with a neat design of a chip package including LED lights aiming at a video screen in the middle. After approval of the design, they started to realize it. Nils: “At first glance, the assignment seemed quite simple. Later, however, we ran into many practical problems that we had to consider. For example, when a board cracked, the delivery time for a new board was longer than we expected”.

Pleasant working environment

As the demo is not completely finished yet, two new students will take over in due course. That was a bit of a disappointment but both students liked the internship itself. Nils: “CITC offers a very pleasant working environment, and I felt I could learn something from everyone”. Ted adds: “I really enjoyed the internship. The environment is stimulating, and I also liked the Noviotech Campus. And the colleagues were very helpful”. Both students agree that the internship fitted well within their education. “Many things we had learned at school, we could now apply in practice”, says Nils.

They both now move on to another internship. When asked to characterize their CITC internship in three words, Ted chooses fun, educational and openness. He has also recommended CITC to fellow students: “I told them about my positive experience, the good supervision and the fact that the internship is generally fun”. Nils opts for high-tech, challenging and also fun. “I would definitely recommend this internship to other students. However, I think that it is not suitable for everyone. This kind of internship requires a lot of independence and a good basic knowledge of electronics and mechanics”.

Wanted: new students

Interested in an internship or graduation assignment at CITC? Check out the opportunities or send an open application.