Some time ago, completely out of the blue, the WOT received an email from the Hogeschool Arnhem Nijmegen (HAN). This university of applied science was looking for an organization to host a workshop during their International Week. After some chatter, we arrived at a marble pump course.
Fast forward to February 5th: after careful preparation, it was time to hit the road to Nijmegen. We rented a car, loaded up our materials, and, with classic road trip tunes like Highway to Hell, we arrived in no time. Once there, we were guided to a classroom where we prepared everything for the 16 expected course takers.
We kicked off with a short presentation about the WOT and the mechanics of the marble pump. Then it was time to get building. Working in groups of 2, 3, and 4, the course takers eagerly got to work.
The start was, as expected, full of confusion. There were 4 tubes, each slightly larger than the previous, and their diameters were in inches :0. Luckily, everyone got a feel of the measurements soon enough and could get going. Sure, there were some mishaps and miscalculations, but that was all part of the learning experience. And after almost two hours of ‘gezellig’ teamwork, each group had their own functioning marble pump!
With the workshop successfully completed, we cleaned up the classroom and ended the day in the best possible way: dinner with the HAN International Week organizers. It was a fantastic experience, and we hope to be back for more hands-on courses in the future!
