Recipient 2006 NFLSF scholarship

I've been asked to contribute a few words to 't Krantje and of course I am more than willing to. My name is Robin Nieland and I am a fifth-year student Civil Engineering at the University of Twente in Enschede. Ok, I know this doesn't sound special. I'll explain in more detail what I am doing here.
In February this year I've applied for a scholarship that was offered by the Netherlands-Florida Scholarship Foundation. I was very glad to hear that my application was approved and I could have financial support for my trip to Florida. In order for me to graduate as a Bachelor of Science (BSc) I need to fulfill an internship or research project of about 3 months. It is quite common for students of the University of Twente to do this research abroad. For example I have friends who are in China, South-Africa, San Diego, Chili or Indonesia doing the same thing as me. My field of interest is in traffic and transportation so that's probably going to the subject for my thesis.
After some time I got in contact with Professor P. Scarlatos of the Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida. He was very enthusiastic about the idea. After all the paperwork was done I was finally able to go to the United States of America on a valid J-1 Visa! I have been here in Boca Raton since August 27 and will stay at least until December. As of now I don't really know the exact details about my assignment so I will elaborate more on that in my next article.
Best regards,
Robin Nieland