My name is Juliette Rustveld, I am 21 years old and I am originally from Aruba, Noord Cura Cabai to be exact. When I was in 5 havo I decided to study in the Netherlands. Because I like exact subjects, I wanted to do Chemistry and that is not possible on Aruba. The Netherlands is a financially attractive alternative, because Aruba is part of the Netherlands, which means that, for instance, I receive student finance. The choice ultimately fell on the bachelor’s in Chemistry at Saxion University of Applied Sciences in Enschede. Within my studies I focus primarily on sustainability and the green economy. When I was in high school in Aruba, Wubbo Ockels came over to talk about sustainability. That impressed me so much that from that moment on I knew for sure: I want to be part of this movement too!
That is why I decided to go on an excursion to the Centre of Expertise Water Technology in Leeuwarden, organized by study association Archimedes of Saxion. I had never actually heard of CEW and WaterCampus, it’s the chemical technologists who are more concerned with water technology, but water is an important and underexposed topic when it comes to sustainability, so it seemed interesting. During the excursion we received a presentation from CEW project manager Maarten Trilsbeek. After the presentation, I got into conversation with him about the internship opportunities at CEW and so I am now sitting here.
My research is about monitoring various types of new IWT systems (IWT = Individual Waste Water Treatment) for the Oosterwold district in Almere, The Netherlands. The aim is to further improve the quality of the effluent. For this, samples are taken sent to WLN for analysis. Among other things, my job is to interpret the rough results of the analyzes and to report to the client, province of Flevoland. I have never worked in such a project form before, so it is very instructive for me. Until now I only did laboratory work.
For my internship I live temporarily in Leeuwarden. I think it’s a beautiful city and it was also very easy to find a room there. I found this in Markt058, a nice place to live, specially made for students. Unlike other rooms, you can receive housing allowance here as a student from the age of 18, which is a bonus. In addition, you quickly establish contact with other students, for example in the common room with table tennis table. I don’t know anyone else in Leeuwarden, so I’m happy with that.
After my internship I first want to finish my studies. Then maybe I will do the MA Sustainable Energy Technology at the UT. But who knows, it may be very different and I first find work. Whether I would recommend CEW as an internship? I am already doing that with fellow students who are also interested in water technology, the atmosphere is really nice here!
