Building tomorrow's warehouse

What made you choose Logistics Engineering, and why BUas?

Quynh: 'During the COVID pandemic my family struggled to import salmon from Chile and Norway because of the lockdowns, it was very difficult to book trucks and arrange deliveries. I thought, how can I help my family's business? That's when I decided to study Logistics. BUas offered a very specific programme covering the entire logistics field, which I could not find elsewhere. Breda was also close to Rotterdam, Tilburg and Eindhoven. My first year was tough, I was homesick and struggled to find housing, but the Logistics team supported me and I loved the projects. This programme has changed my view of logistics, and I love BUas right now.'

What is your project in the BUas AI Makerspace about?

Quynh: 'My project looks at what the smart warehouse of the future should look like, and it combines two things. On one side, I interview stakeholders from outside BUas to hear their vision on how such a warehouse should be designed. On the other side, I'm working in the BUas AI Makerspace to get a robot arm up and running that can pick and place objects, as a practical demonstration of that vision. 

Have you faced any challenges?

Quynh: 'Using and programming the robot arm are things I wouldn't have access to within Logistics alone. Working with the robots has been different from what I expected. Right now I'm struggling to connect the robot to its programming software, its "brain". It's taken about a month, and sometimes it connects, sometimes it doesn't. There's also a knowledge gap between myself and the BUas AI Makerspace employees, they don't know that much about logistics, and my expertise about AI is quite basic, so it's a continuous exchange between us, which also makes it interesting.’

What do you enjoy most about it?

Quynh: 'Meeting people. Going outside and doing interviews keeps me going. Normally it's difficult for me to meet new people, but having a project gives me a reason to reach out to experts in the industry, and that's genuinely interesting.'

What skills are you developing for your future career?

Quynh: 'I'm doing a bit of coding in Python, something I wanted to learn since my first year but never had time for. I'm not a skilled programmer yet, but I use AI tools to help me, and I think that combination will help me optimise logistics processes in the future.'

What does the BUas AI Makerspace add to your project, and what do you bring them?

Quynh: 'Using and programming the robot arm are things I wouldn't have access to within Logistics alone. In return, I bring them knowledge from my interviews and research with industry experts, that exchange is the main value I add.'