Study trip to Japan

Next week a group of 25 young TNO'ers will take off to Tokyo for a week full of visits to companies, universities and other (research) institutes.

How did I end up organizing the trip?

My TNO journey started in March 2018 when I joined the Systems Biology department as a trainee. Starting as a trainee means that you immediately have ~25 enthusiast, ambitious and energetic new friends, resulting in numerous drinks, dinners and other social activities. You also work together with some of these colleagues, giving you the opportunity to learn from one another.

However, there’s more! A lot of young TNO'ers are united by JongTNO, an independent organization aimed at the younger employees of TNO (there is no hard age limit but I would say below the age of 35).  Events are organized regularly, from yoga lessons, to wine tastings, department tours and personal goal-setting workshops. JongTNO activities allow you to get to know people from different locations, with different backgrounds and different work settings, but one thing is always the same, it is FUN! What I really like about JongTNO is that the members organize all the activities. So if you would like to organize a specific workshop or activity, you can!

And that's how this trip to Japan started; a couple enthusiastic JongTNO members had the idea to organize a study trip to the newest TNO-branch office—Tokyo.  Almost a year ago we started arranging the finances, the companies to visit, and, of course, the participants to join. And now, we are good to go! We prepared a very diverse program, from Nissan to Panasonic, the University of Tokyo, and JGC. With a good balance between content, social and cultural activities.

In short, TNO は驚くべきものであり、多くの機会を与えてくれます。

About the author
Name: Laura Koot, MSc.
Background: Technical Medicine
Start date March 2018
Departments:
1st: Microbiology and System biology, Zeist
2nd: Optics, Delft
3rd:  Sustainable Transport & Logistics, The Hague