“Before I came to Enschede for my exchange, I was not really familiar with rollercoaster engineering or this specific minor”, says Mauricio. “Funnily enough, I had met students from the University of Twente before, who were on exchange at my home university, Tec Monterrey.” When he got to filling the elective space in his second-to-last semester of his Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering, he quickly realised he wanted to do the same. “I wanted to do something exciting; something where I would grow personally as well and meet people from other backgrounds and cultures. And an exchange sounded perfect for that.”
Rollercoaster engineering
The University of Twente (UT) ended up second on his list of preferred partner universities. “Initially, I wanted to go to Canada because I have family there, but when I got selected for UT, I was really happy too. It’s a renowned university worldwide, especially for engineering, and when I saw that they offered a minor in rollercoaster engineering, I got enthusiastic immediately. I was actually looking for courses related to the automotive industry, but the fact that rollercoaster engineering is so different from the things I had previously learned made it all the more interesting.”
During the minor Rollercoaster Engineering, students dive not only into the physics behind rollercoasters, but also into the other facets that make up rollercoaster design. “During the first two weeks of the minor, we dove into the creative aspect of designing a rollercoaster – the storytelling and creative concepting that precedes the actual engineering. We had to come up with a storyline for a rollercoaster ourselves, and that was a lot of fun. Most of the students in the minor were engineers, so we usually don’t really get to be creative to this extent.”
Field trips
But of course, there was also plenty of physics involved. “After our creative brainstorming, we had to choose a specific field within rollercoaster engineering and specialise in that. I chose aerodynamics, so I ran simulations of the different parts of the rollercoaster and calculated how much force the air would exert on the rollercoaster if people decided to raise their arms, rather than keeping them down. It was cool to be able to apply my previous knowledge about physics to this context, because it is so practical”, Mauricio explains.
“The best thing about the minor was the excursions, though”, he adds. “We went to Toverland, a theme park in the Netherlands, to attend guest lectures from the staff there and to try out their rides ourselves, of course. That gave us cool behind-the-scenes insights.” The group also visited Vekoma, one of the Netherlands' largest rollercoaster manufacturers, which produces rides for theme parks both in and outside of Europe – including Six Flags. “We visited their factory and got to see how they produce the rails for rollercoaster rides. They even showed us some parts of rollercoasters that haven’t been announced yet, which was cool.”
Studying abroad
Through the minor, Mauricio was able to make a close group of friends. “After visiting the theme park, we bonded and decided to go to another theme park together. It’s been great, making new friends here in Enschede. Especially since back at home, I was used to living with my family, so living on my own for the first time needed some getting used to”, Mauricio says. “Luckily, I live in the ITC hotel with many other international students, so you’re never really alone. Actually, many Mexican students live there, including some from my home university, which is fun.”
Although life in the Netherlands is quite different from Mexico, that’s what makes this exchange so memorable, says Mauricio. “Back at home, I have to commute to university for 20 kilometres, and here I just hop on my bike and get there in 15 minutes. And since the Netherlands is so small, I got to visit many different cities and even travelled to neighbouring countries at the weekends. I even like the food, especially bitterballen”, he laughs. “The only thing I can’t get used to is the weather. But all in all, this whole experience has been great.”
After finishing his other minor, AI in Engineering, Mauricio will go back to Mexico to graduate. “I’m thinking of doing an internship there before I start my master’s, which I might want to do abroad again. I hope it will give me some direction as to what master’s I might want to pursue; it might even be in the automotive or rollercoaster industry, who knows. Coming back to the Netherlands for my master’s is definitely not off the table!”
