roderickc's blog

Day 21 - July 6th

roderickc — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 19:53:00 +0000

By Martin Westra,

After having a good nights sleep and a breakfast at the Subway some people go their own way. Some of them take the train to New York and others go to Owasco to rent a giant transportation unit to go further by themselves, further into the wide world. There also is a group which goes back home.

That is the group I also belong to. I’m not going home because I’m homesick, not at all. So I think I will return once, because it is certainly is worth it.

Today is a day full of looking back at all the nice activities like rafting, mountain biking and tree climbing.

With a group of seven we go back to Holland. We were delivered to the airport by two limo’s because that was cheaper than the direct bus. Ah well, if we really need to travel by limo’s I won’t refuse. After an exciting drive with some sort of Champ Car driver we arrive at the airport and we can check in our luggage. Every one’s luggage is too heavy. Weird. After some swearing and shouting and paying we head towards the airplane. While waiting a few hours we check out and exchange all the pictures we made to have some more memory providing material of our unforgettable journey in Canada.

When we are finally allowed to enter the airplane we only have to fly eight hours and when we get out of the plane the time is fourteen hours later than when we got in.

Ah well, and then the normal life starts again with the Dutch trains and with the people with a Twentsch dialect.

Day 20 - July 5th

roderickc — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 10:53:27 +0000

Door Ellen en Bart

Veel te vroeg begon alweer de laatste dag van de bedrijfsbezoeken. Deze dag stonden Magna-promatec en hydrogen village op het programma.

Magna bezochten we het eerst. Vooraf hadden we gehoord dat bij dit bedrijf we helemaal geen aantekeningen mochten maken en dat alles geheim moest blijven. We waren daarom erg benieuwd wat we allemaal te zien zouden krijgen. Daar aangekomen kregen we eerst een algemeen praatje wat het bedrijf allemaal maakt (het carosertie van bv. Crystler, BMW, Toyota en Mercedes) en werd ook verteld met wat voor processen. Vervolgens kregen we een excursie door de fabriek. Hierbij hebben we gezien hoe ze met een gigantisch apparaat van een rond stuk buis een vierkante gemaakt wordt (dit wordt gedaan door de buis uit te drukken door waterkracht), hoe alles gecontroleerd wordt met x-ray, hoe randjes geslepen worden enz. Ook hadden ze een werkplaats waar ze nieuw mensen opleiden. In de hal stond een futuristisch uitziende auto. Het bleek dat het een showmodel was van een ontwerp uit 1987.

Daarna was het alweer tijd om naar het volgende bedrijf te gaan. Dit werd een hele puzzeltocht. We verwachten bij hydrogen village een heel dorp dat op waterstof werkt. Dit was echter niet het geval het is een klein deel van een universiteit.
Hier kregen we eerst een lunch en vervolgens een praatje waarom het handig is om waterstof te gebruiken en verschillende toepassingen werden besproken. Helaas werd er niet ingegaan hoe waterstof precies gemaakt wordt en hoe een waterstofmotor werkt. Vervolgens kregen we een rondleiding langs een instalatie die de waterstof maakt en daarna naar een locatie waar al waterstof autotjes rondrijden. Dat was interessant om te zien, maar het leukst was wel dat we zelf rond mochten crossen.

Nu zaten dan echt de bedijvenbezoeken erop. En werd het tijd om de hele studiereis af te gaan sluiten. We zijn als afsluiting gaan eten op de top van de CN tower. Dit was echt fantastisch. Een prachtig uitzicht over Toronto met zonsondergang en ondertussen heerlijk eten. Na het eten was er de mogelijkheid om in de CN tower rond te lopen en door een glazenvloer naar beneden te kijken.

De allerlaatste gezamelijke activiteit was een borrel in de bar onder het hotel. Hier is nog een tijdje nageborreld en is ook de commisie bedankt voor hun goede werk.Ook was er voor ieder commissielid nog een cadeautje. Ze kregen allemaal een boek.

Day 19 - July 4th

roderickc — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 10:52:44 +0000

By Lars Zondervan,

At the time we woke up there was a pleasant surprise when we discovered we've gotten an email from the father of the kid who caught the ball at the baseball game last Friday. Some of you will remember that after the kid caught the ball a picture has been taken with the kid holding the ball in one hand and a scintilla sticker in the other. His dad has found the scintilla website and through the intermediate forwarding from the scintilla board his email to board@scintilla.utwente.nl has reached us. Delighted to hear from the good man again we send him an email with the picture.

Getting back to the report of the day we find ourselves having a couple coups of coffee to get the sleeps out of our eyelids and getting ready to visit the first company of today: IMAX. After somewhat of a traffic jam we arrive fashionably late at IMAX and are welcomed by coffee (for those who haven't met their caffeine quota at the hotel). A short presentation was given about why IMAX is better than any other cinema experience out there today. They sell experience, as they put it nicely, and the two most important IMAX theaters are both in the Netherlands, or so they say. All kinds of interesting stuff like 3D movies, digital IMAX and the conversion from regular Holywood production to IMAX quality film is explained. More about these techniques can be found in the report from the visit to the IMAX company.

After all the presentations and a nice 3D IMAX movie we had lunch in their cafeteria with Pizza and coke. This was also the moment everybody was able to ask their questions and talk with the guides and technicians from IMAX about their products. The next company we visited is just a couple of buildings away. The afternoon we would spend at Xerox Research Center Canada (XRCC).

The Xerox research Center Canada is a research facility where the chemical research for new types of ink and toners takes place. When we got there we had to undergo some security measurements and after these we got a quick peek at what looked like a Xerox wall of fame. Also some history about the writing on paper and the skill to reproduce written work was discussed. Also the some history of ink manufacturing was displayed. Some of the first copy machines were displayed along with some book publishing machines.
We learned that the building we were being showed was actually quite new and consisted mainly of long corridors and research labs who were separated from the outside world from large glass walls.

First we got an overview of XRCC and after that some more information about the chemical engineering that was being performed at XRCC. After that we got a tour to the pilot plant were new processes to manufacture new kinds of inks and toners where being researched and optimized before going into large production. All these activities were extremely educational but these won’t be discussed here. For more information about the activities at XRCC, read the report from the visit to the XRCC.

After the visit to XRCC we had dinner. And after dinner the only thing I remember singing and a lot of laughter. But strangely these memories are somewhat clouded...

Day 18 - July 3th

roderickc — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 10:52:01 +0000

By Hylco de Boer

After the raft adventure of the previous day, we were glad we could sleep a little longer, but still almost everyone was tired. Fortunate the activities of today would not be that fatiguing. After a breakfast of fresh baked croissants we started driving from Mont Tremblant, Quebec to Toronto, Ontario. Traditionally the wake-up CD had to be played first. One the companions - that joint us this week - did not seem to appreciate it but maybe after a week he will.

At 11.30 we passed the border between Quebec and Ontario so no more difficulties reading French and no bumpy roads anymore. After driving some more it was time to look for a Tim Hortens, subway e.o. for lunch. When everyone had finished their lunch it was time for the next driving part. Two hours later we arrived at the harbor of the "1000 Islands boat tour" at Kingston. We had some time to eat or drink some more before or cruise along the Canadian Coast of the Saint Lawrence River. Around we 15.30 the boat took off showing us magnificent views of the islands. During the cruise we could relax and walk around on the practically empty boat (except for us). While most of us were busy making photograph and appreciating the view, a few had a hard time to stay awake.

Two hours later the boat arrived at the harbor again, so time for dinner. The restaurant at the harbor offered us a buffet, so good news for a few: they could eat as much as the wanted. At 19.00, satisfied of the delicious dinner, we departed to Toronto. After our departure we could not decide what music had to be played, most of us heard enough of the music we had been playing for two weeks now. Fortunate one of the companions who did some work on his laptop in the back of the car had also a large music collections on his hard disk. So we used every adapter and every cable we could find in the car to combine it to a length of 5 Meter to connect the fm transmitter in the front of the car to laptop in the back of the car. approximately 3 hours later we arrived at Toronto, the Bond Place Hotel. Next day we had to wake up very early so time for few drinks and to go sleeping.

Day 17 - July 2nd

roderickc — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 10:51:24 +0000

By Danny Haak

After a day of driving and relaxing the real action had to start: we were going to raft! The place were this started was unfortunately in the middle of nowhere, so we had to drive an hour and a half through the beautifull landscape of Québec. There were some roads, but most of them were mountainroads: small, a lot of turns and almost gravel-like pavement, so a real challenge for the drivers. Nonetheless, it was a very nice trip.

We first had to get ourselfs a wetsuit, a helmet, a livesuite and a peddle, necessary items to have a fun boattrip. A traditional American schoolbus (which bumped a lot; just like in Southpark, a lot of fun it is!) brought us to the starting point of the rafting, some more in the middle of nowhere, but again a beautifull location.

First the instructors explained the safety rules (mad people, but very secure on safety), and then it started! First some lazy moving over the water, but soon it became better: we exercised some basic skills, like swimming in the fast moving water and flipping the boat (also necessary for some fun) and then it really started!

We went over small and larger falls, immense amounts of water passed by and there was no escape: if you survived a fall, the boat definitely went back to try it again, untill everybody fell into the water, was sought under water and had to swim tens of meters back to the boat or the side of the river. This process was repeated again and again: sometimes very scary, but a lot of fun in general!

The falls had crazy names, for example one was called the washing machine (because it rotated so fast) and one the dryer (because you get very wet, mad people, like I said before). After some lunch, we did the same track again. Cool!

The day ended with some hot bading (really nice, after this exhausting activity) and eating steak. Yum!

Day 16 - July 1st

roderickc — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 10:50:16 +0000

By Mariëlla Verhage and Bram Julsing

Although there were no excursions planned, the day began again too early. The trip of 240 km started of course with the “opsta-CD” and went to Mont Tremblant. It was really a non-chilling ride, because the roads we drove on were absolutely horrible. Those French guys don’t know how to make proper roads (or they just don’t have enough money). Finally, after hours of being tortured, we reached the idyllic hostel. Unfortunately we were not permitted to bring our just new bought beers into the hostel.

The reason for the too early wake up call was a new part in the program of this day: a visit to the Mont Tremblant racing circuit, where the Champcar racing event took place. For most of us it was a nice surprise that also a Dutch guy joined the race: Robert Doornbos. The guy was very lucky, because thanks to our massive support he won the race! The greatest part was the ceremony in which the ‘Wilhelmus’ was played for the winner and all of us sang out of our lungs with our national anthem. To congratulate our hero we waited for over half an hour at the Minardi-tent, making new songs for Robert.

When the race was finished we had dinner in a local restaurant (with wifi). There was a TV with the press conference of the race, and Tomas and Boris were encouraging Robert Doornbos again and were interviewed by a journalist that had dinner next to them.

The mysterious activity of the night appeared to be a monkey-acrobat-journey in the black forest of Mont Tremblant. It was a really adventuring and challenging tour through the tops of the trees over cables, ropes, skateboards, small stairs, zipping lines and wooden blocks. The most exciting part was to jump on the toccle-unit into the darkest part of the dark forest, while you weren’t able to see the end.

After the exhausting activity most of the group went back to the hostel for a beer and a night of sleep, but 6 lucky guys (Arnout, Johan, Lars, Boris, Tomas and BramJ) went out in the city. They found a very nice club were a big party was going on for the national day of Canada. The beer there was very cheap and the chicks were very hot. Stickers were sticked on nice “locations” and of course beautiful pictures were taken of that particular part of the study tour organized by the board of Scintilla (make the most original photograph in Canada with a Scintilla Sticker).

Day 15 - June 30th

roderickc — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 10:47:03 +0000

By Danny Haak

This day was the first occasion to take some long sleep, we had the ability to rest untill 11 o'clock, which was very welcome to the people that went out the night before. The people that didn't go dancing and partying, had the occasion to visit the wonderful old city of Québec, filled with old buildings and nice restaurants.

After the lunch, we entered our vans and took the highway to a village just outside Québec, on the foot of a mountain. There we started our very sportive activity: mountainbiking! And for some who weren't that adventurous, there was also a possibility to walk around a bit.

The biking started with a 'for Dutchmen' very steep part, which exausted some of us already, but others managed to get up without trouble. That was the hard work, and the real fun came: downhill! Bumping over the stones, sometimes breaking, but most of times fast, and faster. Real fun to do!

When the foot of the hill was reached, the guide challenged us to do a more challenging track. After about three hours on the bike most had enough, but some accepted it. Unfortunately, the track was a bit too hard for some: so a few of did return wounded to the hotel.

The evening was spent individually, most people went for dinner to the city, some had some beer, others visited the beautifull city center. Most went early to bed: all the sports activity had a great influence on that.

Day 14 -June 29th

roderickc — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 10:44:47 +0000

By Floris van den Brink

At 7:15, the day started with a kind wake-up call. According to some people a little early, but the breakfast compensated a lot. After this, everybody went fresh and happy to our first company: the National Optics Institute, or Institut Nationale d'Optique (INO) according to the French Canadians...

INO is an organisation with an expertise in optical systems and photonics. The institute mainly cares about the applications, fundamental research is hardly performed. That is why only a few graduate students from universities are employed. At the entrance, everyone has to pick up a card with its name. The people which were really awake, could pick the right one without thinking. Only Bram had to be reminded to his name, he took my card and wore it proudly for the first couple of minutes. The tour started with a presentation, giving an overview of the company with the usual statistics and a couple of projects that INO has carried out for the industry. This was mostly fairly cool stuff. The next part of the trip consisted of visiting three running projects.

The next stop was at the Laval University, to be precise at the Centre d'optique photonique et laser (COPL). Indeed, another optics institute. The programme started with a good lunch. As always, this is a very important part of a tour. Nice sandwiches, tasty cakes and coffee, the vital parts of the meal, they were all present. The actual programme started with talks about the activities: cheap optics for telecom purposes and some integrated optical functions and techniques. After this, we got a tour through the laboratories. These were housed in a special cleanroom building, which was designed to eliminate practically all vibrations, both from inside and from outside. We have already seen many cleanrooms, but the uniqueness from this tour was a trip along the systems above the cleanrooms. We could see the filters and the ventilation system that make the room class 10000.

After the tours, it was time for dinner. Everyone was free to chose a restaurant or fast food selling point to fill the stomach. For most participants is was smart to chose a good filling meal, because the next part of the day was scheduled to be in disco Dagobert. It was a very cool evening and night in a disco with the most extraordinary local Canadians. It is remarkable that the only person which has danced with women, was Mariella...
The disco was good but very noisy. Some of us could hear the beep in the ears the next whole day, reminding us of a cool evening!

Day 13 - June 28th

roderickc — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 10:43:23 +0000

Door Martin Tijmes

Vanochtend was ons laatste dagdeel in Montreal. De wekker ging rond kwart over 7, waarna we bepakt en al met de busjes richting Bombardier vertrokken.
Maar voordat we goed en wel het centrum uit waren, moesten we wel een stukje file rijden. Het is bijna ongelofelijk hoe druk het in en om Montreal zijn in de spitsuren.

Bij Bombardier aangekomen, was het in eerste instantie een beetje onduidelijk waar we moesten zijn, maar even later warden we opgehaald om een rondleiding te krijgen in de assemblage fabriek.
Het deel van Bombardier waar we een rondleiding kregen was ‘Aerospace’ en specifiek de business jets. Bombardier produceert op het moment de Challenger 300, 605 en 850 in deze serie.
De meeste onderdelen van de vliegtuigen worden door Bombardier zelf geproduceerd, behalve voor de Challenger 300, waarvoor de staart en romp respectievelijk uit Taiwan en Ierland komen. Onderdelen zoals de cockpit en vleugels worden wel allemaal door Bombardier zelf geproduceerd voor de Challenger modellen.
Helaas was de rondleiding maar een uurtje en werden we slechts beperkt geïnformeerd over de technische details. Doordat het programma een stuk korter was dan gepland konden we al op tijd richting IBM.

Na een uitgebreide lunch en koffiepauze onderweg, kregen we bij IBM een presentatie en rondleiding langs de cleanrooms.

Het deel van IBM dat we bezocht hebben was de productiefaciliteit. De totale grootte (opp.) is equivalent aan 25 football velden.

De productiefaciliteit krijgt wafers aangeleverd welke in verschillende packages gezet worden, zodat ze hanteerbaar worden.
Op wereldniveau kan deze faciliteit als een van de betere beschouwd worden, voornamelijk voor high-end producten.

Aan het einde van de middag hadden we nog een lange rit te gaan van Bromont naar Quebec; ong. 250 km. Toen we ’s avonds laat aankwamen hebben de meeste vroeg het bed op gezocht om de volgende dag weer op tijd op te kunnen staan.

Day 12 - June 27th

roderickc — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 10:42:14 +0000

By Mariëlla Verhage

After Singing the usual wake-up-songes(Gutemorgen sonneschein, wakker met een wijsje and so forth) it was time for a good nice breakfast at the lobby of the hotel. We went for a nice walk to the McGill University where we got a presentation about the Center of Intelligent Machines. It is a lab outside the the normal curriculum, and a very interdisciplinary centre full of emerging technologies, it fitted totally in the theme of the studytour. We got cool presentations about an underwater robot with 6 flippers. The robot was controlled by visual control, first with hand marks and the latest versions with fourier tags; circles with dark-light variations.
The robot named Aqua was 18,5kg but had natural weight in water so it could be controlled easily. It could last 3,5 hours on 1 battery and reached a maximum speed of 9 m/s. After having seen the robot and took a look at the idiotslist (all dumb actions done by students) it was time for the RMSlab in which a new kind of pick and place machine was designed but not with a very electrical engineering sort of control; it was done by a mechanical engineering student. Thereafter someone gave a very short but good presentation on haptics; it transfers feeling form the computer to your finger, the old shaking steerweel for the race games at the computer is an example of haptics.
Clark Verbrugge talked about the games part of the Center of Intelligent Machines. There is a lot of research going on in this subject; problems with distribution of databases, development process and graphics are arising. CIM also gives courses in games.
Hans Vangheluwe surprised us with his words of Dutch which were nice. He had designed a program in which models could be transformed into other models and into code.
Than it was time for a lunch in the foodcourt, the underground of Montréal, with student which was very nice. after the lunch we got demos about magnetic labetation (controlling a ball on ait in mm), heating sheets for thermal deformation and a program to design architecture for manufacturing with robots. The last presentation was about artificial perception. it is hard to implement that in robots because humans predict things based on earlier experiences. The system that was developed worked with 3D models of the world outside and on a LIDAR datapulses (a kind of echo). It was implemented in a helicopter and worked nice. the only problem was updating the models, therefor the system was redesigned on such a way that the system adapts the model on the LIDAR data. We got a demonstration of the LIDARstuff in which they had whole Montr\'eal in dots, very cool!
The afternoon was free time so most of the group went chilling in one of the parks in Montr\'eal. The dinner was also free and at 9 o'clock we got a tour with the amphibus. As the name marks clear, we first got a part of the tour through old Montréal (very nice) and after that we drove into the water. The tour guide had a lot to say about all the old buildings and history. At 10 o'clock the big, very big fireworks begun on music which was amzing; it lasted for over half an hour!
When we drove back over the safe streets and stepped out of the bus the whole group went singing from our Codex back to the hotel, having a lot of fun and going to have a nice piece of rest that night.