When I walked out of the testroom after my last exam before the summer holidays, my phone rang. I was told that I became the new data acquisist of the solar team 2015. Yes!

I am Koen Oosterwijk, 24 years old and I am raised in Raalte. Since I was a child I’ve had a passion for technology and cars. Therefore, I was often found in the car company where my father worked. Later my passion grew for computers, networks and electronics. The choice for the study Applied Science at Saxion Enschede was not a surprise for my family and friends. The knowledge and experiences that I have gained, I now apply in my functions electronics and data acquisition. I will be busy with programming the telemetry in the car and making the software to drive the car and read out the data. Reading out this data will happen during the race in Australia from the following vehicles.

I have been following Solar Team Twente since 2005. The idea of ​​building your own car is for many guys some kind of childhood dream. This happens “just” in Twente. During the editions that followed after 2005, I found out how professional Solar Team Twente was established. They are not just a bunch of students with a hobby. The students and business partners use the latest techniques and materials to create the best solar car in the world. I consider it as an honour that I am one of them.

The best solarteam moment I experienced so far happened during the iLumen European Solar Challenge. The race took place on a circuit, for which The RED Engine was not designed. As a result we had some minor technical faults. This ensured that the entire team made ​​long days with little sleep to keep the car moving. The highlight was our last pit stop. The car was dropped and it looked like we had to give up the race. The car was driven in the pit lane and everyone was on his / her post. We’ve showed that we went through fire for each other. Within half an hour we fixed the problems and we continued the race at full speed. We have become truly one team that day.

Koen Oosterwijk - Solar Team Twente

Photos: Jerome Wassenaar