Tot siens, maar ons kom terug volgende jaar

Cape Town, Friday 21st October 2011 - The HydroCruisers did their final presentation of the SWOT analysis of the HydroPulse project of CPUT. They can look back on a succesfull week. The official part of our journey has come to an end and the time left will be spent on sightseeing.
We thank all members of the HydroPulse team and the staff of Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and supporting offices for their cooperation and hospitallity. We also thank these people for making our stay during this week into an instructive and wonderfull experience.

Sunset with Tablemountain: we can't think of a better fitting farewell.
Thanks, folks of CPUT!

Final presentation

Cape Town, Friday 21st October 2011 - At the end of the day The HydroCruisers present the results of the SWOT analysis based on observations they made during the three intensive days theay with the students of the HydroPulse team, their lecturers and managers. A discussion followed inwhich it was to decided to prolongue the cooperation and grasp oppertunities of which there are enough.

 Herald presents the findings of The HydroCruisers team.

Overview of the setup of the final presentation late in the afternoon on the last day.

On our way to the boardroom of the Mechanical Engineering department we stumble often on closed doors due to high security measurements. As we don't own a ID-card ourselves, Tjeerd tries to bribe de systeem with a honderd Rand banknote. Onfortunately, his attemps failes.

Township Delft

Cape Town, Friday 21st October 2011 - On their way back home The HydroCruisers pass through one of the townships of Cape Town. Accidentally the township is called Delft, the same name of the city from which the team members come from. This short tour was a shock for most of us.

Sight on the township Delft of Cape Town.

Belhar Community Centre - Shushu Shine Project

Cape Town, Belhar, Friday 21st October 2011 - The HydroCruisers visit the Belhar Community Centre. The centre's mission is to take care of disadvantaged kids and prepare them for their future participation in society. As funds are low, facilities are developed by cooperation with universities, one of them being the CPUT. In june 2011 students of CPUT and De Haagse Hogeschool worked together in the Shushu Shine project and developed and installed a solar boiler on the roof of the fish farm. The fishfarm is also developed in cooperation of CPUT.

Aacquaintance at the Belhar Community Centre. Vision and mission are explained. On the rear you can see the shed with the fishfarm. On top of the roof the solar boiler can be seen.

Close up of the solar boiler which was developed, produced and installed by students of the Cape Peninsula University of Technolgy and of The Haage Hogeschool Delft (The Netherlands) in the Shushu Shine project.

Inside the fishfarm.

 One of the children for whom it is all about.

Our great little project manager

Cape Town, Wednesday 19th October 2011 - At breakfest the mood for the day is set. Although we are on a serious trip, some things have to be said. Herald thinks this important.

 

Helpers away, our project manager is thinking on new policies ..., yes again. It's his habit.

 Our project manager is only human. So, sometimes we catch him having other than professional thoughts.

Mens sana in corpore sana (*)

Cape Town, Thursday 20th October 2011 - Of course the body should be maintained as well. Some go swimming, others play badminton.

Besides the project work, it is important to relax and to connect with the local people.
Officially this is badminton, but for players who are used to play on the northern hemishpere special king size bats have been developed.

(*) A healthy mind in a healthy body.

The sleeves rolled up!

Cape Town, Thursday 20th October 2011 - At last, the presentations are over. The teams can get to work.

Tjeerd is helping the South-African team by soldering high tech direct subtrate connected components to a 3 phase motor controller designed by the HydroPulse team.


 This is a state of the art machine which can laser cut blank circuit boards to create a physicyal pcb from a computer design withing a minute.

Visiting the CPUT International Office

Cape Town, Thursday 20th October 2011 - On our way to security to get our ID-cards we passed the CPUT International Office. Just before the Dutch flag is hoisted The HydroCruisers make a groupphoto. And of course, under the direction of our fun engineer the result is not ordinary.

It's not hard to guess who our fun engineer is.

Dinner served at lodgings

Cape Town, Monday 17th October - Here you see the food from Sweet Chilli Pepper being deliverd in our own lodgings. Wow, very good service indeed!

Sorting out the deliveries. As hungry Dutchmen we attack the delicacies.

Video conference between Cape Town and Delft

Cape Town, Thursday 20th October 2011 - Now it is the turn of The HydroCruisers to give a presentation on their car. Problem was that the car is standing in Delft and not in Cape Town. Ah, but modern technology enables live communication between both places about 10,000 km apart. The members of the HydroPulse team made an interactive virtual tour along the vehicle in Delft.

 The participants of the video conference. On the wall the live images from Delft.

Video conferencing on engineering topics is fun!

The audience watching the video conference happening.

Visiting the workshop of the Hydropulse team

Cape Town, Wednesday 19 October 2011 - Here The HydroCruisers meet te members of the HydroPulse team in their very own domain. In this lab the ecocar of the South African team is assembled. The plug is prepared for further  processing.

Mechanical engineers of both teams gathered around the plug of the HydroPulse team.

Please, Maurits, do admit that you did not build this plug on your own!

Discussing the iternerary or some other important document.

The electrial engineers of The HydroCruisers team inspect inspect the fuel cell of the Hydropulse team.

Mechanical engineers have a talk amoungst eachother.

The plug of the HydroPulse team in status nascendi.

Welcome Dinner at Kaprino's

Cape Town, Tueday 18th October 2011 - A welcome dinner was served at Kaprino's, a seafood restaurant in the centre of Cape Town.You could eat as much as you like. Trouble was getting it yourself. Kaprino's is a master in making deserts.

The HydroCruisers at Kaprino's.

 

The projectmanagers.

CPUT Campus tour

Cape Town, Tuesday 18th October 2011 - After lunch the party was guided by Badroen and Fareed along the workshops of Mechanical Engineering.

Here The HydroCruisers are looking at one of the pricewinning minibugs students of Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering have built.

 

Wheelchair, another example of the projects which students of Mechanical Engineering carry out.

 

Standing at the hoovercraft project.

Second shifts arrives

Cape Town, Tuesday 18th October 2011 - Just before lunchtime the second shift of The HydroCruisers, i.e. Tjeerd, Pim, Arjan and Jasper, arrives in Cape Town. Nawaal and Badroen collected them at the airport. On the picture you see the team enjoying their first South African lunch. Actually they are longing for a bed to rest, but sorry to say, a campus tour is the next issue on the programme. Yeah, sometimes an excursion is harder than an attempt during the Shell Eco-marathon.

Notice the project management sitting in the background and wandering what they are doing there. Typical attitude of our management ... thinking about policies ...

Preparation projectwork

Cape Town, Tuesday 18th Octobre 2011 - Peter just spoke to Vicky. We made our preparations for the coming days. Main issue is the projectwork to be done by the CPUT and HHS students in the coming days.

First students arrive

Today Monday 18th the first four students Herald, Lester, Christian and Chris arrived at CPUT. They had an about 24 hour journey. Badroen fetched them at the Cape Town airport. While driving to the campus he told some thrilling stories of the adventures of earlier students visits. Dinner was served at our lodgings. We had a nice chat, but went to bed early.

Above picture of the CPUT Campus at Bellville was taken on a lazy sunday. It is not representative for the crowded days during the week.

First impressions

Sunday Octobre 16tn Ben fetched me at lunch time. We went to a mall for the first necessary shopping. For instance an electric plug to connect my electronics. Then we had lunch. Afterwards I was dropped by Cyril at Victoria and Alfred Waterfront. A very nice place to be. I'm sure to be back in the coming days.

 

Purpose of our journey

The purpose of our trip is knowledge among students of The Hague University (HHS) and those of the Cape Peninsula University of Technolgoy (CPUT). The students are participating in the Shell Eco-marathon. Both the teams build their own vehicle. In the coming period they will share their experiences. The way they do this is to conduct a project reviews on both their projects. The results will be two evaluation reports on the status of the cars and the process of cooperation within the teams.
Even important will be a "knowlegde exchange" on the cultural level. So the second week of our stay will be used for traveling around.

Time to pack for South Africa

It is about time to pack my suitcase. Next Saturday I will be the first one to fly to Cape Town and meet my colleague of CPUT. That will be the beginning of a fourteen-day adventure with ten team members of The Hydro Cruisers The Hague University of Delft.