Jan Karst Vrijs

Jan Karst Vrijs is a technical 3D CAD draughtsman at Wivé. Did he turn his hobby into a profession? Or did his profession become his hobby? The order of events is not entirely clear. What is clear is that he enjoys the technical drawing program Solidworks so much that he uses it fanatically even in his spare time.

“I started working as a swimming instructor after my education at the sports academy. After a few years, I started wondering what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. There was less budget for swimming lessons, the number of schools was decreasing. To see which way I would like to go, I started doing different home schooling courses. Among others, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. Then I did an adult mechanical engineering training in Zwolle, and when I was 31, I ended up at Wivé through an internship. That is almost ten years ago.”

“Together with my family we like to go canoeing, biking and swimming in the summer. In addition, I play basketball in Apeldoorn. I’ve been doing that every Tuesday since I was 17 with the same guys. We are quite fanatic. However, I don’t play competition anymore, because then you are supposed to be in the sports hall every Saturday and I also want to reserve time for my family.”

It’s a technical drawing program, but I use it to create everything from canoes, airplanes and watches to manga.

“Yes, a lot of hours go into that. Sometimes nothing comes out of it, but sometimes the result is quite nice. It’s a technical drawing program, but you can do a lot more with it. In my spare time I use it to make everything from canoes, airplanes and watches to manga. At work, I use it to make drawings of wear protection materials. Based on these drawings, we make all parts exactly to size. Next, it is my job to check the finished materials. Then usually Robert van Vliet’s assembly team goes to work fitting the wear protection at the customer’s site.”

“You sometimes see some 3D-CAD positions elsewhere come along, and from time to time I get offers. But that’s always purely office work. My job here has a nice combination of client visits and drawing work at my desk. One day you are in a concrete plant, the next in glass recycling, then in the food industry or steel production. Especially the somewhat heavier industry, throughout the country, from Leeuwarden to Maastricht. And then again I get some time quietly behind my own desk, using Solidworks. So no, I’m not complaining.

Editor’s note: The images below were taken by Jan Karst in his spare time.