Team VERO part one

Sjoerd

Hello everyone! I am Sjoerd Dijkstra, and currently working on my bachelor degree Medical sciences and engineering at the TU/e. Usually I like sports, having fun with friends but corona made it pretty impossible to enjoy those things. That’s why I have joined this project! Because I wished to do something relevant instead of hanging/studying during quarantine. Team VERO was the ideal opportunity so when I saw they wanted help, I joined up immediately. During the meetings I have assumed the role of chairman, for I want to lead these kinds of projects for a career and this is a great way of learning how to give direction to a project. I am constantly guided and helped by my team members and our mentor Nico Schouten, which makes it such a great project! It is truly a group effort! 

Iris

My name is Iris Lauwers and I am a proud member of Team VERO. When I graduated from my master’s Biomedical Engineering in early March, I felt on top of the world. I was relieved of all responsibilities and free to do whatever I wanted: travel, get a job in my field, or do volunteering work. However, this freedom was quickly replaced by self-isolation as the number of covid-19 cases increased rapidly. 

I think many of you will recognize the unsettling feeling when you are just watching Netflix in your PJs or hording toilet paper, while the world is at crisis. I felt to urge to do something. Team VERO really spoke to me as I always desired to do research aiming to increase people’s quality of life. Also the setup of the project excited me: we started with a complex problem that we defined and broke down doing literature research and meeting with experts. Currently, we are doing experiments to test easily implemented and available solutions for a problem that initially seemed very complex. I really enjoy working in this highly motivated (and fun) team and I am looking forward to see the results of the experiments. 

Tim

Every team needs a Benjamin, in this team that’s me: Tim de Jong. During Team VERO’s first team building activity we found the average age of team members to be around the 26 years old. I am lacking behind that; I am 21 years old. After my upbringing in Almere, 3 years ago I have made the choice to start a bachelor of Applied physics at the TU/e. Just when I was finishing up this: it hit. Corona made me change my plans, I could no longer do my bachelor end project. This meant I had lots of spare time. Sadly, I am not the kind of person that can stay in bed for bingewatching. I sought something to keep me busy. Through the Innovation Space I encountered this project, which eventually led to Team VERO. 

It couldn’t have been a better choice. Working in this team allowed me to gain professional skills and technical skills. On one side the online meetings, which are way different form real life meetings. On the other side working with the physics of ventilation and setting up complex experiment. But of course it was, working with these experienced students and university staff made my pandemic much more enjoyable. I even got the opportunity to develop my creative side by making the logo for the team.