Doing an internship within a large high-tech company and taking your own projects to a higher level at the same time: at TMC it’s possible. Roel Kusters, Software Developer at TMC, discovered TMC during his minor at our partner Fontys Pulsed. He decided to do an internship at our Entrepreneurial Lab, after which he couldn't wait to get started at TMC. But what made his internship so great? And why do TMC and Fontys Pulsed fit together so well?

The match with Fontys Pulsed

Roel discovered TMC during a presentation about the Entrepreneurial Lab. "When I heard the idea behind the lab, I immediately knew that TMC was a good match for me," Roel says. "I think it's really cool that you get the opportunity to further develop your own ideas alongside your work." At that time he was following the minor Embrace TEC from Fontys Pulsed. A minor on entrepreneurship, creativity and making social impact.

Fontys Pulsed consists of education professionals who focus on the personal development of students. Within short and long-term programs, these students discover what really energizes them. So that in their future jobs, they do what makes them happy. During the minor and master’s programme, TMC gives guest lectures to students, in which they are not only introduced to TMC but also to the Employeneurship model: the method in which you act like an entrepreneur, but receive all the benefits of an employee. Thanks to this collaboration, more Fontys students end up at TMC for an internship or job.

Shared ambition

Fontys Pulsed and TMC have a common ambition: stimulating personal development and making the world a better place. That’s what makes them such a good match. "I’m very happy with the cooperation," says Jochem Goedhals, founder of Fontys Pulsed. "We strengthen each other and can learn a lot from each other. It is nice to spar with TMC because they have both feet in the working field. At Fontys, we train students with the knowledge and entrepreneurial attitude that are needed at TMC.”

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Freedom & creativity within 3Beam

During the minor Embrace TEC, Roel researched new rendering methods for fractals, in which he visualized mathematical shapes. Six months later, he started his graduation internship within the TMC Entrepreneurial Lab. To be precise within TMC's 3Beam project: a group of technicians who seek more creativity and challenge alongside their work. In this project, they design interactive light shows. "The 3Beam team found my project so interesting that they encouraged me to develop it further," says Roel. During this graduation internship, he devised a new method to visualize fractals even faster. "I hope to use this for interactive art installations in which the public has an influence on the art.

Robert Bresser, Business Manager within Software, supervised Roel during his graduation internship at TMC. "I know Roel as a proactive person, who is driven and eager to learn. That made it so much fun to supervise him during his internship."

From intern to a full-time job

After the graduation internship, Roel couldn't wait to get started as an employeneur, in other words, as an employee within TMC. "The lab, the dynamics and the familiar environment were reasons for him to continue working at TMC," says Robert. "In the lab I can do my own thing and you are always inventing something new," says Roel. "TMC also has a large network. If you have an idea, enough engineers are interested to participate."

"I am still connected to the 3Beam project. In the meantime it has become a foundation and as co-director I make decisions," says Roel. At the moment, he is still in the middle of his first project with a client, but he is looking forward to working on different projects in the future. "The variety in projects gives me enough challenge. In the future, I would like to develop myself in the direction of Software Research & Development. I have the feeling that at TMC I am in the right place for this," says Roel.

Would you also like to do an internship at TMC? Please contact Lotte Geertsen, director of the Entrepreunerial Lab.