TRBlom

I was born in 1985 in the Dutch town of Wageningen, where I lived for the first 17 years of my life. After that I moved to the towns Haarlem, where I studied aeronautical engineering at INHOLLAND University (2002) and Breda, where I studied logistics engineering at NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences (2004). This latter course, which will lead to a bachelor's degree, included an exchange to Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences in Jyväskylä (Finland) in 2007. After a temporary return to Wageningen in January 2008, doing my thesis internship at a producer of window and door frames in the town of Heteren, I moved to Berlin, Germany in April 2009, enjoying the experience to the max, while making a bit of money, working in a call centre.

Languages I speak

Able to communicate in an every-day conversation

Dutch (Hollandic) - mother tongue

English (British) - fluent

German - fluent

Elementary level

Spanish

French

Swedish

Finnish

MusicI play piano and sometimes also compose. I enjoy listening to music very much. My favourite acts include:

• Classical: Ludwig van Beethoven and Antonín Dvořák.
• Pop: Queen, Maná, Elton John, Sau, Eric Clapton and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

AviationThe aforementioned studies of aeronautical engineering already hint towards an interest in aviation. Although I realise I will never be a pilot, I have enjoyed playing Flight Simulator ever since I was some eight years old. My favourite airliners are the Airbus A340, the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 and the Embraer 175.

ScienceI have a large interest in sciences in general and astronomy in particular.

Public speakingI joined Toastmasters in 2009, an international organisation for public speaking. My goals are to improve my German, improve my presentation skills and enjoy listening to other speakers, as well as gaining inspiration from them. I am a member of both a German-speaking and English-speaking club. By the time of writing I completed six projects and managed to reach the division level for both table topics and international speech German as well as English. I will be serving as president on the new board, assuming office in July 2010.

BadmintonI played badminton at a club in Wageningen, participating in the second class of the men's competition for the first year. Having played it between 1996 and 2002, I rejoined the club in 2008. Besides playing the sport, I was an active member of the club, being secretary to its board, chairing the publicity commission and activities commission and being editor in chief of the club's magazine.

The kind of articles I read about

I am a pretty chaotic reader, following link after link after link, ending up in the most unusual articles. However, topics I read about a lot include:

• History (especially European history)
• Politics (like recently a lot about the American presidential elections in the United States)
• Languages (especially Germanic and Slavic languages are very exiting)

Articles I contributed to

I have modified a countless number of articles, mainly in English and Dutch. English articles to which I contributed significantly include:

• International Astronomical Youth Camp - a summer camp I participated in
• Sau - A Catalan rock band