Message from the Chairman

Japan has always fascinated me. When I think of Japan I have the typical picture of oriental culture in front of me. I think of ancient temples, anime movies and eating noodles with chopsticks. At the same time images of stunning nature come to my mind. Japan is after all the home of the Cherry Blossom, Mount Fuji and the famous Japanese gardens. Of course, being the electrical engineering student that I am, I most often think of Japan as a pioneering industrial nation; a world leader in engineering. The striking thing is that it is all there, in a unique mix.

With the above in mind, deciding on the destination of our study tour was not very difficult. The main objective of a study tour is to give students an eye-witness impression of the engineering business and education in a foreign country. Such an experience can be very valuable, as it will help students develop the proficiencies they need in order to be competent engineers in today’s industry. In my opinion, there is no better place in the world than Japan to get that experience.

Our journey will carry the slogan and title “Study tour Acquainting Thor with ORiental Innovation”, under the acronym “SATORI.” The definition of the acronym in Japanese Buddhist terms is ‘enlightenment’, which occurs when one achieves a deeper understanding of his own existence. We found this to be an inspiring name for our project. The main focus during the tour will be on sustainability and innovation; two topics that currently play a very large role throughout the engineering branch and are also extensively promoted at Eindhoven University of Technology.

At Thor we take great pride in organizing study tours. Destinations of successful tours in recent years have included China, Scandinavia, Italy and South Africa. We now have a very capable new study tour committee in place and we are busy organizing Thor’s next big journey.

Through this website we will keep you informed of our progress. The general information pages will introduce the committee and our main goals to you. Besides that, there will be regular news updates before and during the study tour. Should you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Yours truly,

Rick van Kemenade,
Chairman