Introduction
Since I have started my studies about a year ago I have learned so much about cars. I have also had several questions from you guys about what it is like. Therefor I decided to write a small report about it.
The school and it's surroundings
I study at the Hogeschool Rotterdam also known as Rotterdam University in English. They have a large Technical department located in the Northwest of Rotterdam, at one of the many departments. It is also very nicely situated near the river and a park, not too far from the city center. It basically is a bunch of classrooms in a very old building (estimated 1920's or 30's) with a new part attached to it, large cafetaria,pub (alcohol on school) and plenty of computers to work on.
The Engineering Cluster features Automotive Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electronics Engineering and Industrial Product Design. It has a large place with all kinds of machines to do practical things like welding and metal working, but also testing equipment for metals, for example the Rockwell hardness test.
Automotive Engineering: Introduction
As you can guess Automotive Engineering (I will name it AE from here on) learns you everything about cars. It focuses on the technical design of the components. It is a combination of all the other Engineering studies of the Cluster, we get a lot of all subjects. That is basically what makes it so much harder then other studies.
The study comprises about 15 classes of 20 people and about 15 specifical AE teachers. The first year starts with 6 classes and all the other years are about 2 or three classes.
Originally Posted by school
What I learned
I learned so much it is impossible to write it down in a few lines.However i'll do my best.
I have had classes covering the following subjects.
- Basic practical working on a car
- Basic metal working skills, welding, cutting and working on a Lathe. Also some sheet metal work.
- Introduction to formal meetings, including everything involved.
- Learning how to present in front of a crowd
- Basic diagnosis and repair of a car's electrical system
- 3D-CAD drawing in Autodesk Inventor.
- Basics of Matlab / Simulink
- (Thermo) dynamics of the engine
- Basics of strength calculations
- Mathematics
- Designing and calculating the drivetrain
- Basics of the vehicle design phases
- Safety systems, calculating the neccesary equipment and analyzing crashes using videos and images of crash tests.
- Advanced strength calculations
- Analog&Digital Technology. Advanced Electrics, designing computer chips and learning (to calculate) the kinds of electric systems you find in a car.
- Designing and calculating the suspension
- Programming, using the C++ language
- Engine Management Systems. Analyzing ECU's and learning the basics of their design.
And most important, learning how the coffee machine works !
Projects
The projects form an integral part of the study. You learn valuable practical skills and develop a network of contacts. In practice you spend about 40% of your time on them.
#1: Start 'n Go
The first projct was basically to get used to everything. As it was new to almost all of us it was quite welcome in the end. We had to develop a kind of checklist for the Dutch APK Annual Vehicle Check. Together with that we had to make a checklist for valueing cars. The purpose of them was to save costs for the dealership. We worked in groups of 4 people.
My part in it was to interview dealerships and think of ways to save time on the APK. The first attachment is a PDF-copy of the presentation we did.
#2: Techniek Voelen
The goal of this project was to learn more about how companies are run. We had to write a company plan for a car recycling plant (junkyard). We were in a group of five this time.
My tasks were to manage the financials, quite the challenge as there were all kinds of wild plans that had to be finished of by me. I also tried to do some interviews again, which miserably failed. The f**kers simply didn't want to talk to me and give me sensible answers.
Anyway others were more lucky so it was no problem. Attached is my Financial report including all the balances and stuff. Quite a challenge to do, because I had no experience in this field AT ALL. Not even from economics in high school. Exactly why I chose this field.
#3: A Kitcar was born
Basically we had to design a new part or something for the Kitcar we were building. We were divided into couples for this. I chose another field I had no experience at all in, for the challenge and the learning experience. As it turned out the other guy was lazy as f**k and I had to do almost everything.
We got the measurements from the Tiger R6 and based on that I drawed the frame of it in 3D-CAD. Based on that we did a quick analysis of options and drawed a simple double wishbone on a napkin, having a beer in the in-school-pubBased on that I drawed the entire thing and did some calculations (big time pressure). The other guy wrote a crappy report, screenshots and the report are attached too.
#4: African Kangoo
For this project I'd like to refer to the thread I made about it earlier.
Looking back
In this year I feel I have learned a huge amount of stuff. Even though it makes high school look like a piece of cake, it's level is do-able if you are really motivated and paying attention !
I got 42 / 60 points I could get maximum. This means I have just passed this year as the minimum is 42 !
This year I have made some great friends, learned many good jokes and have matured A LOT ! My passion for cars has also increased a lot and I found out what I want to do in the future for a living. Suspension design is really one of my favorite things and I'd really like to keep going in that field.
Costs
This year cost me a lot of money, however not only that. I have been "over-stressed" a lot according to the doctor... But it was worth it.
2200 ----- School money
600 ----- Coffee (0.50 a cup)
200 ----- Beers after school on Friday, celebrating weekend.
800 ----- Paperwork,print-outs (about 2000 pages !),folders, CD's,
noteblocks, pencils that kinda stuff.
90 ----- Petrol for my car, when I needed to carry big stuff.
2500 ----- Books (about 55% second-hand).
Too much ----- Cigarettes to help against the stress associated.
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6390 in total excluding living costs,insurances and other spenditures.
And I'm sure some other stuff I spend during the year could be add up, I just can't think of them right now.
Conclusion
I finally found a place where I really feel at home. I love this stuff and the atmosphere on school ! I hope I can stand the stress associated and finish the next three years.
For more info have a look at our departments website (too long not updated unfortunately):
http://www.hogeschool-rotterdam.nl/rotterdamautomotive/
Addendum:
If you have any questions or comments, please fire away ! I wrote this to inform you all of my studies and everything associated with it. Perhaps someone else gets inspired to choose this area of work, even if it is just one person, my goal has been reached ! Enjoy the story !
To download some files created in the project, open this link.
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