Welcome to CHILL, where we facilitate talent development for a sustainable world in chemistry, materials and biotech. How we do that? By making education and business work together effortlessly.
Innovative projects and puzzling over the world of tomorrow
It's a world all its own at CHILL on the Brightlands Chemelot Campus. Students, researchers and companies work together on challenging issues and solutions for the future. Safety and confidentiality are extremely important. In these laboratories they work on innovative projects that are so special that sometimes only one person knows the name of a project! In this new series of interviews: young talent at CHILL. For this first interview, we speak with Noa De Bruijn, junior researcher.
Noa De Bruijn has been working for CHILL for two years, first as an intern and now as a junior researcher. She is a researcher for TNC Bio and is pursuing a part-time management master's degree. Before joining CHILL, she was studying Applied Science, Biotechnological Sciences at Zuyd. What she learned there comes in handy here, she says: "Because we work on innovative solutions at CHILL, it is often uncharted territory. As a college graduate, I have learned to be flexible and can combine the 'pieces of the puzzle' to come up with a new solution.'
"I can combine the 'puzzle pieces' to come up with a new solution.
As a junior researcher, she supervises about ten students per quarter, divided into two to three projects. This is quite a responsibility: 'Sometimes I have a lot on my plate.' She sometimes finds it inconvenient that she is barely older than the students she supervises. But, then there is always her team: 'Research is unpredictable and it is difficult when you don't have all the knowledge yet, but my colleagues help me if I don't find a solution for a problem.' CHILL's structure of working in equal, 'flat' teams (communities of development) helps her to further develop her talents, but besides that, of course, she just has to work hard.
Personalia
- Who: Noa De Bruijn
- Age: 22 years old
- Birthplace: Sittard-Geleen
- Position: junior researcher
- CHILLer since: 2022
Working on secret projects
'As a student or researcher at CHILL, you work on an assignment from industry,' says Noa. These are often special projects. As a student, for example, she herself once worked on a project in which she transformed shrimp shells into plastic. Unfortunately, she is not allowed to discuss the projects she now supervises. That is the case with many of the projects the students work on. They are so innovative and often have not yet been patented, so the risk of misuse or plagiarism is very high. Of some projects only the project leader knows the details, for the rest of the students it is just "project X.
"Here we work on innovative projects that are so special that sometimes only one person knows the name of a project!
One project Noa does get to talk about is the research she is doing for TNC Bio, a biotechnology company also based at Brightlands. Together with her colleagues, she is working on a new type of culture medium. She explains: to grow cells in the lab, unborn calf serum is now often used. That's a fluid made from blood obtained by performing a heart puncture on an unborn calf. 'That cow is already dead, but it's not animal-friendly and, moreover, it's also undefined, that is, we don't know exactly what's in it and there's a risk of bacteria and viruses.' She is researching a variant that works just as well but is much more sustainable. A challenge, because calf serum is a "one size fits all," according to Noa: "Even on the new serum, every type of cell has to grow, only each type of cell uses different substances from the calf serum...
Getting to know the challenges of tomorrow
Students get a unique preview of their careers at CHILL. They work with companies and startups in their area of expertise. This also gives them a better idea of the challenges that will come into play later in their careers. While Noa succeeded in transforming shrimp peels into bioplastic, the idea proved difficult to bring to market. Research can be unpredictable, Noa explains: "You can make lots of plans, but the reality is always different. You hit the wall fifty times before it succeeds. I have since learned that this is not a failure, but rather an opportunity!'
'I don't stress or panic about whether I will be out of a job in two years. There is plenty of work in this area'
What Noa values most is the network she built within Brightlands. She regularly participates in events such as the Thousand Ideas Festival and symposiums such as the CHILL symposium. It gives her a chance to meet professionals and showcase her talents. Eventually she would like to start her own business, but in what direction, she doesn't know yet: 'I don't stress or panic about whether I will be out of a job in two years. There is plenty of work in this area. I now know so many people and know that if I wanted to start my own business, I will be given the right tools here to make it succeed.'