How do you find a good internship or a cool first job? Muriël Meijer, intern at the medtech startup Implican on Healthy Ageing Campus Groningen, has a clear message: 'Dare to ask!' Speaking from experience, because she and Eliane Masih, both master's students in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Twente, approached Implican themselves from Enschede. Eliane got in touch with Implican through her internship coordinator: 'I immediately clicked in my first conversation with Ivo.' After this positive experience, Muriël decided to approach CEO Ivo Kooijman as well, which quickly led to her own internship. Ivo strongly advocates for taking initiative: 'Approach companies that interest you. In a conversation, it often quickly becomes clear if you have something to offer each other.'
No more staples
Implican is developing an innovative device to replace the current surgical stapler used in intestinal surgeries. Eliane: 'I immediately thought: "This is really something we need." Those staples, we just want to get rid of them completely, because they often cause leaks and complications. At Implican, I also get real responsibilities that further the innovation, such as risk assessment and documenting it in a medical device file.'
Working at a startup on Campus Groningen is going well then? Muriel: 'From the start, there was trust in our knowledge and expertise at Implican. There's an open working atmosphere. And if something doesn't go well, it's seen as part of your learning process, very nice.' Eliane agrees: 'Honesty, openness, and the space to ask questions are things I also want at my future workplaces.'
Collaboration between regions and institutions
Thanks to an office space in the R&D hotel, 100 meters from the UMCG, Eliane and Muriël are quickly on-site at the hospital. 'This is super handy when a surgeon has an hour for a usability interview to give feedback on our instrument. But also, when we're testing with fresh pig intestines, we just roll our measuring equipment to the UMCG skills lab,' explains Eliane.
Muriël: 'Right now, we also work one day a week in Zwolle. Working in multiple places makes it varied and easy to collaborate with different institutions such as Windesheim, Hanze University of Applied Sciences, UMCG, and the University of Twente.' Ivo is also very positive about this: 'This works well indeed, at Implican we hope to guide even more interns and graduation candidates from these institutions in the coming years.'
A strong network
Although both ladies come from Enschede, they have become quite familiar with the companies and opportunities at Campus Groningen. 'We did the Campus Trail together in September, so we got a good idea of the companies located here. There are plenty of job opportunities in our field of study here in Groningen,' says Muriël. Ivo can only confirm this: 'I come from outside Groningen myself and experience a strong network here on Campus and in Groningen. Events, training, and just a lot of help. Moreover, you can live comfortably in a vibrant city, close to nature. Why would you want to go to the Randstad then?'
