Departure

In the early hours of Wednesday August 28^th the group came together to start with the excursion. The atmosphere was good from the start and we were ready for the trip. The drive to Bochum went successful without much delay and the bus arrived at Brunel on time.

Brunel

At Brunel the group was welcomed by a Dutch delegation of Brunel with cake and coffee. First we got a presentation about the activities on the testing facilities in Bochum, where we heard that there were about 80 test rigs on the facility, which was also the answer to the competition everybody participated in. Brunel has a lot of automotive customers for which they do endurance test on a lot of components in the cars. Some of these customers are DAF, BMW and Volkswagen.

Then we got a tour around the facility where we got to see the road simulation test rig for a bicycle stand on the car and the coupling of a truck. This simulated forces from two to three different directions. Furthermore we saw the vibration, temperature, pressure, corrosion, chippings and waterproofing testing facilities. These facilities test thousands of automotive components every year and every component goes through a process of sometimes two years to be analyzed and fed back to the customers.

At the end we had a presentation about the secondment department of Brunel. This included the different ways to apply for a job: directly applying, through an employment agency and secondment. Brunel helps their employees approaching companies like DAF, NEDCAR and Vredestein in the Netherlands.

The Afternoon

After this busy morning the group got a delicious lunch, where everybody could discuss what they had seen at the tour and presentations. Along with a nice goodie bag the group departed with destination Frankfurt after making a group picture.

The Night

After the long trip to Frankfurt am Main we checked in at the hostel and went discovering the city in groups. After a quick city trip in Frankfurt it was time to have dinner: pasta at the hostel. With our stomachs filled, we're ready to enjoy the Frankfurt nightlife tonight. Tommorrow we will start travelling at 11 o'clock to Brose in Wurzburg.

Auf wiedersehen!