Alumnus testimonial
Product engineer for manure drying tunnels
My name is Michiel Wennekers. I started with the bachelor of Biosystems Engineering in Wageningen after a year of studying Mechanical Engineering in Eindhoven. I finished the study Biosystems Engineering. I didn’t regret a moment of switching to Biosystems Engineering. A pure technical study at a technical University doesn’t have the practical side like the study Biosystems Engineering has.
With your technical knowledge and agricultural background you are in an advance
After graduation I started working by Stienen BE as product engineer. Stienen is a company that makes business electronics for the agricultural sector, for example climate computers. They are now expending by also offering inlet valves, wind compensation and heat exchangers next to the electronics. As product engineer I had a wide task from setting up specifications and computational models to doing measurements and leading first projects.
End 2014 I started to work at the company VDL Agrotech as product engineer of drying tunnels. VDL Agrotech sells manure drying tunnels since 2012 and since the start of 2015 they are also the product owner. My tasks are to integrate the drying tunnel into the company, by developing to make it a better and cheaper product and the sales support by working out projects of manure drying and other applications, such as digestate.
Biosystems Engineering is the ideal study for my job. With your technical knowledge and agricultural background you are in an advance. Not only during the job application, but especially by the contact with the end-user which is most of the time a farmer. My function is broad: from setting up product specifications and 3D-drawings to sales support and visits to clients. Therefore it’s important to take initiative and to be self-employed. This you do not only learn at the study, but especially by taken part into the student life. For me this was particularly done by commission work at the study association Heeren XVII and at my student association.