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Why 'Engineer The Future'?

The blades of wind turbines must meet a number of requirements: they must weigh little, be robust enough to withstand extreme weather conditions and that the stiffness of the material can be given a direction. That is why the blades are made of so-called fiber composites. Characteristic of this material is the chemical bond between fibers and epoxy resin, the property that also makes recycling these blades very difficult. In addition, the material is not expensive. As a result, wind turbine blades are constructed from this material.

It is estimated that about 14,000 turbine blades will be discarded, which amounts to about 40,000 - 60,000 tons of composite. In The Netherlands this concerns about 1,600 turbine blades. Dumping is prohibited in The Netherlands, unless the processing costs are too high in another way.

Recycling this material is therefore difficult and until this day, unfortunately, not very environmental friendly. That is why KIVI students dedicate themselves to bring research, government and industry together and ask students:

KIVI students

KIVI (Koninklijk Instituut Van Ingenieurs, The Royal Society of Engineers) is the professional association of engineers in the Netherlands with more than 18,000 members. We are committed to supporting engineers in their profession and recognizing the value of their work. We help engineers in making connections with research, education, society and, of course, with each other. We also help to guarantee the quality of education and research, to use the work and knowledge of engineers for the benefit of social issues and to make the impact of technology on society visible. To this end, we work together with the technical business community, knowledge institutions, higher education, the government and foreign partners.

KIVI students’ main goal is to connect all engineering students in The Netherlands. We aim to do the following:

• Connecting of different studies and educational institutions for increasing the network from local to national and strengthening multi-discplinary working.
• Responding to social issues together with (young) political parties.
• Support in setting up start-ups.
• Help students in finding technical internships through our internship platform.

The competition

KIVI students is committed to a better future for everyone and tries to motivate technical students throughout the Netherlands to come together to tackle a pressing issue. With the 2022 Engineer the Future competition we allow students to look for a solution regarding the waste due to wind turbine blades.

Students can join one of the following tracks:

• Design
• Materials
• Repurposing
• Recycling

In groups of maximum 4 the students must create a report in which they describe their proposal. This is then reviewed by a jury consisting of experts from academia and industry.

The event will start on the 1st of February and the deadline for the final report will be the 1st of July. During the competition students will be assisted by lectures that support their project. In the beginning of september 2022 the award ceremony will take place.

Partnership

As our partner, you gain public attention through our various outreach channels and benefit from direct contact with motivated technical students that participate in the competition. Therefore, your investement will allow you to position yourself as a possible employer to a broad audience. We propose a set of packages that indicate privileges depending on the contribution. The exact composition and sums of the packages can be personalized.

* ask for the conditions, see 'Contact'

Contact

Would you like to know more about the competition or how you can contribute and stand out in the largest tech network in the Netherlands?

Send an email to ks@kivi.nl, call +31 (0) 655590186 or send a message via Instagram @KIVIStudents.