Bert Van Opstal 4-EDUCATION
1984 – 1989 Masters degree in Industrial engineering, Belgium. 1978 – 1984 Technical high school mechanics/industrial sciences, Geel, Belgium 1972 – 1978 Primary school 1989 – 1990 Truck driver in the Belgian Army, located in Germany. Grade: soldier.
1984 – 1989 Master of science in Industrial engineering, Belgium.
5 years, higher education university degree, MSc-Ing Master of science in idustrial engineering - automation. The first term general engineering education (2 to 3 years). The second term (2 years) engineering electro-mechanics with the graduation year specialization in automation and computer technologies. In the final year with a hands-on internship to prepare my graduation thesis at the engineering office of Umicore in Olen, Belgium.
My graduation thesis described 2 subjects:
- the automatic generation of drawing elements in IBM's CADAM CAD software using macros in Fortran programming language.
- composition of a shape coding system to categorize and identify technical drawings and components
University: Katholieke Industriele Hogeschool Kempen KIHK (Catholic Industrial University Kempen), Geel, Belgium now a division of the reputable university Katholieke Universiteit Leuven KUL, Belgium (Catholic University Leuven).
Univeristy website: KU Leuven
Accreditation and international recognition: In my graduation period international recognition for this degree was not available. The master degree is now accredited by the NVAO (Nederlands-Vlaamse Accreditatie Organistaie) according to the criteria set by the ECA. NVAO is a member of the European Network for Accreditation of Engineering Education (ENAEE) and by this organisation of the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE) and International Engineering Alliance (IEA).
Find more information on our Certification and accreditation page. Clarification of the Flemish / Belgian engineer degrees: VIK - Flemish Chamber of Engineers. I am a former member of VIK.
VIK is a member of CIBIC - Comité des Ingénieurs Belges - Belgisch Ingenieurscomité - Representative body for all academic engineers in Belgium. CIBIC is the Belgian National Committee representing the Belgian academic engineers at FEANI.
FEANI - European Federation of National Engineering Associations - FEANI is a federation of professional engineers that unites national engineering associations from 32 European countries. Thus, FEANI represents the interests of over 3,5 million professional engineers in Europe. FEANI is striving for a single voice for the engineering profession in Europe and wants to affirm and develop the professional identity of engineers. Through its activities and services, especially with the attribution of the EUR ING professional title, FEANI aims to facilitate the mutual recognition of engineering qualifications in Europe and to strengthen the position, role and responsibility of engineers in society. The General Secretariat of FEANI, managing the activities of the federation, is located in Brussels since late 1997.
FEANI is a member of the IEA - International Engineering Alliance.
1978 – 1984 Technical high school mechanics/industrial sciences, Geel, Belgium
My high-school education was focused strongly on technical skills. The first term of three years focusing on both hands-on practice in masonry, wood working and metal working, combined with general education. The second term of three years, electro-mechnics / industrial sciences, beside of improving hands-on practices, focusing more on a theoretical background with mathematics and industrial courses in metal working, mechanics and electricity.
Institution: Technisch Instituut Sint-Jozef (Catholic Technical Institution), Geel, Belgium: Institution website: Technische scholen St-Jozef
1972 – 1978 Primary school
I attended primary school, in Belgium a 6 years basic education plan, in my parents hometown, Olen in Belgium.
School: Parochieschool (Catholic Parish school), St-Jozef Olen, Belgium - currently renamed to "Toermalijn". School website: Toermalijn
Army service1989 – 1990 Truck driver in the Belgian Army, located in Germany. Grade: soldier.
Started my military service as a soldier schooling for truck driver in the Blairon Camp in Turnhout, Belgium and handling arms like semi-automatic guns, hand grenades and rocket launchers. Achieved the truck driving license which also is valid for civil service.
Was then assigned to service with the 13the artillery division of the Belgian Army, part of the NATO nuclear missile depot located in the Stockerbusch in Buren, Germany. Daily tasks as personnel driver for belgian, dutch and american military with 4x4 Landrovers and mini busses, truck driver for all kind of loads and mission driver for nuclear warheads, driving 4x4 trucks up to 10 tons.
| Certificates1998 + 2003 + 2013 VCA / SCC – VOL = Safety Checklist for Contractors – Operational supervisors
‘SCC’ is the abbreviation for Safety Health and the Environment (SHE) Checklist Contractors and is intended to make it possible for your company to operate with greater safety awareness and reduce the number of accidents. SCC certification is intended for contracting companies that carry out work with or subject to increased risk in a high-risk environment. It often concerns construction or maintenance work carried out at building sites, in factories and workplaces, and on installations.
Professional trainings2012 Oxygen applications – design & construction
2008 2000 ERP system: SAP 1996
2005 5 Gate Lean Six Sigma Project management
1997 Windows & Engineering document management software
1996 Business communication & Sales 1990
1993 PLC applications and fieldbus technology 1992
2012 Oxygen applications – design & construction
Technical design & application course by Air Liquide in Antwerp, Belgium:
1 day course learning the design and technical constraints and specifics to take into account when designing or building applications using oxygen as liquid or gas. - characteristics of oxygen
- material constraints in oxygen applications
- oxygen design specifications in general
- specific oxygen design specifications by Air Liquide
- safety measures in oxygen applications
Software application course by Stork in Balen, Belgium:
SAP - DMS Document Management Service 1 day course explaining in general document control and filing and how to implement and utilise it with SAP's DMS Document Management Service.
The original name for SAP was German: Systeme, Anwendungen, Produkte, German for "Systems Applications and Products." The original SAP idea was to provide customers with the ability to interact with a common corporate database for a comprehensive range of applications. SAP is an ERP system which stands for Enterprise Resource Planning. SAP applications, built around their latest R/3 system, provide the capability to manage financial, asset, and cost accounting, production operations and materials, personnel, plants, and archived documents. - Document info records, document organisation
- Object linking to other objects
- Use of files
- File storage in secure area
- CAD Integration
- Document Distribution
2005 5 Gate Lean Six Sigma Project management
Project Management course by Jacobs Engineering in Antwerp, Belgium: 10 day course to learn how to implement lean six sigma methodology on the 5 gate model of project management.
The DMAIC Six Sigma methodology i.e. Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control provides a structured approach to solving business issues. The tools used in Six Sigma are primarily to identify the root causes for process defects so that the company can provide to the customers consistent quality products on time and at low cost. The project management tools and techniques emphasis the project attributes such as development, control, completion etc. - the 5 gate project model
- the six sigma methodology
- diagnose the current state of both customer performance and project processes
- implement lean practices: identify waste in order to design faster and responsive processes
- use of problem solving tools and techniques to tackle root causes
| 2000 ERP system: SAP R/3: PS
Software application and project management course by Philip Morris International in Bergen op Zoom, the Netherlands:
SAP - PS Pocject System 3 day course to migrate from SAP R/2 to SAP R/3 and explaining the project management module in SAP R/3 and it's relations with the other modules.
The original name for SAP was German: Systeme, Anwendungen, Produkte, German for "Systems Applications and Products." The original SAP idea was to provide customers with the ability to interact with a common corporate database for a comprehensive range of applications. SAP is an ERP system which stands for Enterprise Resource Planning. SAP applications, built around their latest R/3 system, provide the capability to manage financial, asset, and cost accounting, production operations and materials, personnel, plants, and archived documents. - Migration from R/2 to R/3
- Structures, using a work breakdown structure (WBS)
- Processes, using individual activities (work packages)
- Procedures for establishing budgets and reporting costs
- Characteristics of Revenues & Payments
- Procurement
- ABAP applications (Advanced Bsuiness Application Programming)
1997 Windows NT – Documentum
Software application course by Philip Morris International in Bergen op Zoom, the Netherlands:
2 day course on how to use the Windows NT operating system. Second part implementation and use of the Documentum document file & control package. - Windows NT
- Enterprise Content Management fundamentals
- Document object and security model
- Creating and manipulating objects
- Workflows and life-cycles
1996 Communication techniques for internal business communications
Management course by Zenit in at Newton Control, Bergen op Zoom, the Netherlands:
1 day course to learn better and more efficient business communication techniques.
Software application course by Philip Morris International in Bergen op Zoom, the Netherlands:
SAP R/2 3 day course for SAP R/2.
The original name for SAP was German: Systeme, Anwendungen, Produkte, German for "Systems Applications and Products." The original SAP idea was to provide customers with the ability to interact with a common corporate database for a comprehensive range of applications. SAP is an ERP system which stands for Enterprise Resource Planning. SAP applications, built around their latest R/3 system, provide the capability to manage financial, asset, and cost accounting, production operations and materials, personnel, plants, and archived documents. - Investment Management (IM)
- Material Management (MM)
- Workflow (WF)
1993 BOSCH CL500 System course - Profibus applications - Fiber optic backbone fieldbus
Technical application course by Bosch Rexroth in Frankfurt, Germany:
2 day training on the Bosch CL500 PLC system and Profibus fieldbus.
1992 MODICON TOPGUN Application/Service Course I + II
Technical application course by AEG Modicon in Halfweg, the Netherlands.
Currently part of Schneider Electric. 2 x 3 day training on Modicon automation products. - Modicon 984 PLC
- AEG Modicon Compact series PLC
- Modbus & Modbus Plus communications
- Modsoft programming: ladder logic and function diagrams
- MAP 3.0 communications
- Unicell HMI software
- IO systems
1990 Sales and communication practices
Management course by VDAB in Leuven, Belgium. 5 day training on sales and communication practices.
|