Built Environment & Logistics: a great match!

Read the Dutch version here

“No, not in the same year,” grins Kevin, “I am a bit older than Astrid.”
“You were already in your fourth year when I started.”
“And we did not really have something together until when I had already graduated,” says Kevin. “That was in 2017, at a graduation party of the cohort after me; that’s where we met again. I was invited as a former organiser and Astrid as a student, because there were always events for the entire academy.
“But we had already known each other since my introduction in 2015,” says Astrid.
“Everyone knew me from the introduction committee,” laughs Kevin. “I was always involved as an organiser of something, a graduation party, intro days, a drinks party or an event. I was involved in student recruitment, was a member of the BUas participation council and the Red Bull soapbox racing team. I thought all this was fun to take part in! I was awarded a Speld van Verdienste (Pin of Merit) due to this effort I made for the academy. This award already existed in the VAT days (Verkeersacademie Tilburg, the predecessor of SLM and ABEL, ed.) and only five have been awarded in all those years. Frankly, I am quite proud!”

Kevin Vermeulen studied Ruimtelijke Ordening en Planologie from 2012 to 2016, worked at a consultancy and the municipality of Breda and is currently a study coach and lecturer at the Academy for Built Environment & Logistics (ABEL).

Astrid van Beers studied Logistics Engineering from 2015 to 2019, worked as a Supply Chain Officer at Crealis Nederland and is currently an Operations & Quality Management employee at Bakkerij Holland in Roosendaal.

“That focus on quality makes my job extra nice,” says Astrid, “because it concerns 180,000 loaves that are produced with us every day. Quality is important and then I mean not only quality of end products; it is also about the path towards it. Our department deals with sustainable product development, certification requirements, legislation and hygiene measures. I attended a special training course for quality managers and I would like to develop further in improving the safety culture within our organisation. As a Business Operations  employee, I am responsible for production planning, purchasing raw materials, staff deployment, the process from start to finish. I’m planning and monitoring all day. It’s really a different environment from the one Kevin now works in on campus.”

“But it does suit you,” Kevin stresses, “you like to work a bit more in the background, a quiet force who has an overview, and you are a go-getter, which is necessary in such a job. But you do indeed seek interaction less like me.”
“I am indeed comfortable with it; I do not see myself standing in front of a class like Kevin.”
“It might just happen; look at me,” says Kevin, “perhaps a guest lecture some time?”

So Kevin started teaching. But not right away. After his studies, he first started working for a consultancy, then he gained a lot of knowledge about the new environmental law and the energy transition at the municipality of Breda.

“Those are topics I can now talk about from experience. Apart from that, I teach the more software-related modules. Before the coronavirus pandemic, I had already been approached whether I could teach some AutoCAD classes, but it did not materialise; students were suddenly taught online. By the way, I was also still doing my post-hbo Business Process Management course. After the coronavirus period, there were vacancies at BUas for the position of study coach, which - after that weird coronavirus period - were also badly needed. And because I myself had also found certain things difficult during my studies, I thought, maybe I can help. I now help students mainly with practical matters, how to set up a research project, what are relevant questions when looking for a good work placement. Also, I always keep asking about what students really enjoy doing.”

“That is really Kevin,” says Astrid, “wanting to help people, paying attention, staying critical and not standing still. He helps me too. I want to develop further in the field of data, so how to make more and better use of data to monitor processes. For example, using Power BI. Kevin is working on that a lot, and I can learn from that again. But it is not like we always talk about work, of course. But often we do, you are kind of in the same world anyway.”

“And then you sometimes meet someone,” Kevin laughs, “at a staff party at Astrid’s company, I met a former student I once supervised. He was now working on a master’s degree and at weekends he worked as an order picker at Bakkerij Holland to fund his studies.”
“And just now - before this interview - we ran into a former colleague of Kevin’s here on campus,’ says Astrid, ‘who works at LCB, he also shoots videos and filmed our wedding in May!’   

Kevin also has some past experiences at LCB. It stands for Logistics Community Brabant and is housed on the BUas campus.
“I worked there with colleague Justin van de Pas - no, not the videographer - on Event Logistics and Crowd Management, again together with the municipality of Breda,” Kevin says. “At the municipality, I had already been working on the Smart Cities theme, somewhat at the intersection of Built Environment and Logistics.”

“It’s all so close together,” says Astrid, and that’s exactly why I chose a logistics programme. You can go in many directions; it touches many things. At events, in healthcare, production and transport, logistics is everywhere. There is so much behind the logistics world. How do those 180,000 loaves of bread get to consumers fresh and safe every day? And on time? No one wonders how that bread gets to that supermarket early in the morning. Logistics is almost taken for granted. If it’s done properly, you will hardly notice it. I have never regretted my study choice. This is really what suits me.”

“Very honestly”, says Kevin, “I gave more consideration to the study environment when I had to make a choice. I very consciously opted for the small scale of BUas, then NHTV.”
“It really was the case that everyone knew each other,” says Astrid, “you didn't only know the students from your own study programme, but also those from programmes.”

“When we were students, the academy was still in the G Building, next to the municipal office in Breda, which felt like a living room. And it still feels like that, here on the new campus. In that respect, little has changed, the doors are still open, that’s how we have always worked. And collaboration with other academies also becomes easier when you’re all together,” Kevin thinks. “I am in the final phase of my master’s programme and am now more involved in research within BUas. You see that more and more crossovers are being made, just think for a moment of research areas like Places & Flows. Everyone has their own input, which flows back into education or the industry. That’s the beauty of it!”

And it all comes together at the BELO drinks parties on Thursdays at the end of the afternoon on the BUas campus. Alumni are welcome too! Come back once to where it all started. Perhaps you would like to give a guest lecture or exchange experiences? Perhaps you have a nice international placement opportunity for Kevin’s students? Send an email to Ilse Hens ([email protected]) or Loek Hellebrekers ([email protected]), who are our alumni coordinators and they will be happy to contact you!