6 questions for Robin Mens
What education did you do?
Robin: ‘In 2023, I completed the higher vocational programme (HBO) Aeronautical Technology at InHolland in Delft.’
How did you get the idea to enter the competition?
‘A year before I graduated, I heard what the NLF is and does. Even before I started my final assignment, I was motivated to do my utmost so that I would have a chance to win a prize. At some point I received an email from InHolland that they thought my assignment stood out and had therefore nominated it to the NLF jury.’
What was your graduation project about?
‘I developed a rotor blade for small, unmanned drones. Until now, it has been difficult to produce high-quality rotor blades quickly. For simple drones, they are made of plastic. For high-end models, composite rotor blades are made by hand from carbon fibre or fiberglass. This takes time and the materials are difficult to recycle. My challenge was to develop a composite rotor blade from fibre-reinforced thermoplastic material by injection-moulding it. That's a quick production process and you can automate it. I knew what the shape of the rotor blade had to be. I then researched the current production methods, the advantages of injection-moulding and which type of thermoplastic and fibre reinforcement best suited it. Based on that, I designed a mould to make rotor blades myself. Injection-moulding is lightning fast – ten seconds per blade. And if one breaks, you can chop up the material, melt it and reuse it.’
How did the judging process go?
‘During the first round of selection, I presented my work. All participants did a pitch of up to five minutes. A total of seven teams/students then moved on to the next round. Three weeks later was the gala day. There, before the gala, I got another chance to convince the jury members with an improved pitch. Each team that was named winner during the gala got to present one more time in front of all the guests, including special guests like Dutch astronaut André Kuipers.
I had a lot of competition from TU students, so I went in neutral. It was already quite something to be there. During the gala, I saw what was paid attention to in the presentations. Then I got the feeling that I would have a chance of winning the Anthony Fokker Prize, because my project has a lot of potential in terms of sustainability and scalability. But it remained exciting until the end, so I thought it was incredibly special to win.’
What does the award mean for your future?
‘Winning a prize like this looks very good on your CV because it says something about the work you have done. That's what I did it for. I am sure it will benefit me in my career.’
What would you advise other HBO students about the NLF competition?
‘Make sure the report accompanying your graduation assignment is perfect in terms of structure and content. You can only achieve that if you start on time. And: choose an assignment that you really like yourself, then you don’t mind putting a lot of energy into it.’
Comentários