From paper to 3D drawings: meet Skills Hero Joris Stassen
Joris takes us on a journey through his Skills Heroes adventure. He talks about the origins of his passion for CAD drawing, how the carnival association is making good use of it, and how he's preparing for the qualifying competition. Of course, he doesn't reveal all his cards right away.
Our Summa Heroes are all gearing up for their own qualifying competition. If they make it through this round, they'll advance to the nerve-wracking Skills The Finals on March 21 and 22, 2024. So it's an exciting time, especially for Joris Stassen. He first heard about Skills Heroes at school and thought it would be fun to participate. Today, he gets to show what he's got during the qualifying competition. His skill is CAD drawing (technical drawing).
Joris speaks
Hi, I'm Joris Stassen, 18 years old, and I live in Ospel. I'm studying Engineering Technician at Summa College. This is a level 4 vocational education program. I'm currently in my third year, majoring in Mechatronics.
Passion for technology
Ever since I can remember, technology has appealed to me. My father is an engineer, and we enjoy doing DIY projects at home; that's where it all began for me. From the moment I started drawing, I knew it was for me. I've also always enjoyed sketching and drawing practical things. In junior high school, I chose a technology track. There, I had the opportunity to create projects using SketchUp. Since I started secondary vocational education (MBO), I've taken CAD drawing classes with SolidWorks. While I used to draw a lot on paper, I now enjoy using CAD drawing to create 3D and 2D parts.
Fun in drawing
Because I enjoy drawing with CAD, I also enjoy continuing my schoolwork at home or showing it to my dad. This gives me lots of helpful tips for designing or modifying something new. I also take lessons at school on how SolidWorks functions work. I especially enjoy drawing out my own projects on paper first and starting from there.
What I find challenging, and therefore also enjoyable, is drawing a part in such a way that I can easily modify it. This allows you to quickly implement size changes without losing the proportions.
Participate with Skills Heroes
I saw posters advertising a skills competition in the hallways at school. When Tjeerd Collette (my supervisor and teacher at Summa Engineering) told me about the competition, I wasn't at school myself. I heard about it from a classmate, and we thought it would be fun to participate in the qualifying round at school. When I heard the following week that I'd made it, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I thought it would be fun to get as far as possible, meet new people, and gain more experience.
Trust in what you can do
I'm preparing for the Skills Heroes qualifying round by continuing what I'm currently doing: thinking practically and designing from there. Fortunately, my internship company is giving me plenty of opportunities to practice this. I also have regular meetings with my supervising instructor, who is teaching me more about CAD drawing.
Gain more experience
Within CAD drawing, I'd particularly like to broaden my technical understanding. By gaining more experience, I want to improve my assembly and production skills, enabling me to design increasingly challenging components.
Building a carnival float
Besides my own projects and those from school or internships, I'm also in a carnival group where I build carnival floats. Here too, I use CAD drawing. I don't actually design the entire float in CAD, but I do design the components for mechanical movements. This allows me to determine the force it can withstand and the various movements I can create and drive. From there, I create components that I can laser-cut during my part-time job on the weekends.
For now I'm mainly looking forward to the qualifying competition and I hope I'll also make it to the final!
The results are in and Joris has made it! We congratulate Joris on achieving a great result. Keep us updated. Instagram channel to follow the journey of our Skills Heroes.