About
Intro
My name is Frederik Rietdijk and I'm a PhD student in acoustics. Some of my interests are hiking, climbing and writing software. I'm especially interested in how technology affects us all and how we can utilise it to become more effective.
As said I'm a PhD student. While I'm enrolled at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden, I work in fact in Duebendorf, Switzerland, at the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, more commonly known as Empa.
History
Born in Rotterdam, and raised in Goudswaard. In Goudswaard I went to primary school, De Gouwaert. After primary education I went to high school in Oud-Beijerland, RSG de Hoefsmid, where I finished havo. In 2005 I began studies in Engineering Physics at the Technische Hogeschool Rijswijk, nowadays The Hague University, location Delft. In 2006 I moved to The Hague.
Several of the older houses in Goudswaard.
During my study I took part in several committees, the most important being as Chairman of the Study Association Angstrom. To make a living I was working part-time at Mediamarkt The Hague until my first studies related internship, which was at DGMR, a consultancy company. After the internship I worked there both part-time during the summer, as well as part-time next to my studies.
City center of The Hague.
In February 2010 I finished my final semester, indicating it was time to start writing my thesis. I decided to write my thesis abroad and this decision took me to Sweden. For four months I was working on my thesis at SP Technical Research Institute. During this period I lived in a big student dorm called Balder, in the small city of Borås nearby Gothenburg. It was also during this period that I realized I wanted to remain in Sweden, and continue studies in Gothenburg as well.
Center of the small city Borås.
In June 2010 I finished my Engineering Physics study, giving me the international title of Bachelor of Engineering (B Eng), or the Dutch Ingenieur (Ing.). Unfortunately the application deadline for the study had passed and I wasn't able to remain in Sweden. I moved back to Sweden and began working full-time at DGMR, with the intention of returning to Sweden the next year. Back in The Hague I lived in the tallest tower of the city, called 'Het Strijkijzer'.
The tower I was living in for a year.
During spring 2011 it was clear I was definitely returning to Sweden and in July I moved to Gothenburg, where I lived in a huge student area called Olofshöjd. In August 2011 I began with the master program Sound & Vibration at Chalmers University of Technology.
For the summer of 2012 I got the great opportunity to work at Det Norske Veritas in Oslo, Norway. At first I was a bit skeptical towards moving away from Gothenburg, but soon I realized I liked it there a lot. After the summer I moved back to Gothenburg and continued my studies.
During spring 2013 I wrote my master thesis. Ever since I moved to Sweden I planned I would go to another country again for the thesis. Just a month before I would begin with the thesis work I decided I would write my thesis while backpacking through India. This was one amazing trip.
In August 2013 I moved to Switzerland and began working at Empa in Dübendorf, Switzerland.