From self-cleaning robots to trees made of chocolate, there was a lot to see at Summa College’s Crafted festival. Hundreds of MBO students showed their creative craftsmanship to visitors through exhibitions, events and projects.
Summa College
This year’s festival took place at three different locations: at Microstad and Summa Plaza in Eindhoven and at the TechniekHuys in Veldhoven. Everywhere proud students eagerly showed others the skills they are mastering.
Interesting
Take Kelly from the Beauty and Lifestyle course, who explained to others how best to curl their hair. ”It is very interesting to teach others this, most of them really liked it,” she says.
Xip is taking Software Development and has built his own robot, which automatically cleans up rubbish via AI. ”I worked really hard on it, so I think it’s fantastic to show this now,” he says.
Waffle bakers Emma and Max are not twiddling their thumbs either. ”It is busy though. There is a constant queue for our waffles,” says Max. Both do the Bread and Pastry course and at the festival, they hand out home-baked waffles.
Prejudice
Despite the appreciation they get at the festival, the students are not at all happy with the stigma that MBO students are supposedly less smart than HBO or University students. ”It is not true, I had the highest marks in physics and mathematics. We work with our hands because we like it, not because we can’t do anything else,” Kelly says in frustration.
”My parents didn’t even want me to do hairdressing because it wasn’t a ‘smart’ job. They actually preferred to see me in ICT or nursing. Only now I am doing what I like.”
”We are celebrating the mbo today,” says Hester Scharrenborg of the Crafted organisation. ”You see that mbo trained poeple are actually desperately needed in society at the moment. I think we should no longer speak of higher or lower education, but that it is mainly about doing what you like and making your talent visible.”
Emma concurs: ”People need us, if we are not there there is no bread. I think if you start asking someone from a university to bake bread, it won’t work out. I think it’s nonsense when people say that. It may be that we understand certain things less quickly, but this does not automatically mean we are less,” she says.
Win
There was also a Crafted Award for the best creations. A jury went round all the stalls to choose the best creations in four categories. One of those winners is Kahrawan Suleiman, who fled from Iraq to the Netherlands at the age of 9. She has incorporated this impressive journey into her self-designed clothes, for which the Summa Fashion student wonn award.
The jury was also impressed by Niels Arts, who won in the sustainability category. He designed a piece of sustainable coffee furniture, made from such materials as coffee grounds and potatoes. In innovation, Maud Weijen of Summa Engineering won. She designed a luxury barbecue that can be folded and carried like a suitcase. With a shoulder patch, made from leftover clothing cutting, Fre van den Corput won the Crafted Award for social impact.
Source: Studio040.nl
Translated by: Anitha Sevugan
