Organization

E.T.S.V. Scintilla is the study association for the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Twente. It was founded on 9th September 1965 and currently has over 700 members, of which more than 400 are students in Electrical Engineering. This makes Scintilla one of the oldest and biggest associations at the University of Twente. Its name is derived from the flashes that can be seen, when small particles collide with a fluorescent plate.

As stated in the articles of association, Scintilla has the following goals:
• Expand the practical and theoretical knowledge of its members in the field of Electrical Engineering;
• Look after the interests of students Electrical Engineering at the University of Twente;
• Support the course of business in the education of Electrical Engineering;
• Improve the mutual contacts between its members.

Nowadays, the association is run by more than 100 active members that participate in committees and working groups, including a board of 6 students that are doing this full-time for one year.

Activities

Scintilla’s activities can be divided into 4 main areas: study-related activities, publications, facilities and others.

Study-related activities
Every month, Scintilla organizes an excursion to or a lecture given by a company that is of interest for its students. These excursions and lectures offer students the opportunity to get in contact with companies that could be their future employer. Besides these monthly activities, an annual symposium is organized. On this day, interesting speakers from The Netherlands and abroad focus on a specific area in the field of Electrical Engineering.

Scintilla has a rich history in organizing study tours: tours of approximately 3 weeks with a group of more than 20 students to (non-)European countries. Over the past decades for example, groups of Electrical Engineering students went to the United States, Canada, Spain, Great-Britain (‘SATIS’ in 1999), Japan, Taiwan and Singapore (‘ShinTabi’ in 2000). Since the actual tour itself became part of a bigger research project most of the time, we speak of ´study projects´ nowadays. These study projects are organized roughly every 2 or 3 years.

Publications
About 8 times a year Scintilla sends out its semi-scientific magazine ‘De Vonk’ (Dutch for ‘sparkle’), to keep members informed of research at the Department of Electrical Engineering, developments in education, activities of the association and much more. Moreover, at the end of the year a yearbook is published, to give an overview of the developments of the past year.

Facilities
Scintilla has its own room in the basement of the ‘Hogekamp’ (formerly known as ‘EL/tn’), a building on the campus of the University of Twente. The so-called ‘Scintilla Kamer’ (Dutch for ‘room’) not only provides workspace with computers and a conference room, but also is the most important meeting place for students during breaks, to have a cup of coffee. The study project resides in an room that was recently allocated to Scintilla, on the second floor of the 'Hogekamp'. Scintilla also runs a small pub (‘De Tombe’) where students can have a drink at the end of the week and discuss their experiences with each other and academic staff members. Finally, we have our own store (‘STORES’), which sells electrical components, study books, computers and office supplies.

Others
There are numerous committees that do not fit in one of the previous areas. This includes committees that organize recreational activities, maintain the computer network, organize special introduction days for the freshmen at the start of the year and much more.

For additional information, you can visit the website:
E.T.S.V. Scintilla - http://www.scintilla.utwente.nl