About E.T.S.V. Scintilla

Organisation

E.T.S.V. Scintilla is the study association for electrical engineering. The association was founded more than 50 years ago, on September 9, 1965. Nowadays the association has about 750 members of which 500 study electrical engineering.

Relaxation and helping electrical engineering students with their study is the main task of Scintilla. This task can be roughly divided in 4 smaller tasks:

expanding the practical and theoretical electrotechnical knowledge of the members,
attending to the concerns of EE students studying at the University of Twente,
favoring the pace of matter of education in electrical engineering,
strengthening the mutual ties between the members

which are being realized in the following ways:

organizing meetings,
assisting with and organizing excursions,
to debate with the consultation bodies of the University of Twente in general and the faculty electrical engineering in particular,
publishing technical periodicals and promote its circulation,
maintaining relationships with other student associations,
maintaining other relationships of importance.

To accomplish the different tasks mentioned above, various committees are each actively contributing to one of these tasks. To keep the committees running, about 100 members are willing to spend most of their spare time for this purpose. To encourage teamwork in the relationships, the committees do not only work together with other committees of Scintilla but also with other student associations and the faculty. Click here for a complete overview of all the committees.

So the goal of Scintilla is to make her members aware of the different companies in electrical engineering and to prepare them for the working stadium. Obviously, this task is as important for Scintilla as it is for the businesses. Not only for obtaining new personnel, but also for internships.

To make sure the task of Scintilla will be fulfilled, each year a new policy is mapped out. Concluding: E.T.S.V. Scintilla is a study association governed by EE students for EE students.

History

On September 9, 1965, the student association for electrical engineering at the University of Twente was founded. During the founding meeting, the name "Scintilla" was chosen by the majority of the voters. Student association Scintilla was the first study association affiliated with the University of Twente to be founded. The first joint activities organized by Scintilla were "meetings" where speakers gave lectures and members could meet. In 2020, Scintilla has celebrated its 55th anniversary (11th lustrum).

"Scintilla" literally means "flash" or "spark." It comes from the Latin word for "spark" and which is derived from flashes of light that cause small particles or radio-active material to fluoresce.

The first joint activities organized by Scintilla were "meetings" where speakers gave lectures and members could meet each other. A few years later, on December 12, 1969, Scintilla was officially recognized by her royal highness, queen Juliana (now King-Grandmother).

From its founding, Scintilla has organized both recreational as well as serious activities. From the start there were planned excursions and during the first couple of years they even organized a study-related trip to Scandinavia.

Recreational activities included "droppings," where students were required to find a target using radio-signals. Following its founding, Scintilla soon came with its monthly magazine, the "Scintilla-bulletin." Working together with the electrical engineering college, it came to include faculty news and the latest developments within.

The first issue of "De Vonk" appeared on May 1, 1982, shortly after publication of the "Scintilla-bulletin" came to an end. Two experimental issues were published in the first year, after which it was decided to continue publication. The first "Vonk" has been framed and can be found in the Scintilla room.

In the 70's Scintilla established the "Committee for Components Sale, Scintilla" (Dutch: CCVS) to the thrill of the REAL EE-students within the association. In 1983 an agreement followed with colleague association "Inter-Actief" to form the (Dutch) CCVSI, which greatly increased the available number of components. Starting in 1990, the store once again belonged solely to Scintilla. One change led to another and to this day, the store is known as the "STORES" (Scintilla's Trading Organization for Reduced Priced Electronics and Study-needs). The STORES is open every weekday during the lunch break and offers numerous components, computer supplies, office supplies and books to members of Scintilla.

Since its founding, Scintilla has been in close contact with colleague (electrical engineering) student associations. In 1989, a Scintillian delegation attended a "Cantus" organized by the Catholic Flemish Student Alliance in Leuven, Belgium. The valiant contingent from Twente there witnessed and participated in a great beer and song-celebration such as had no equal in the Netherlands. Despite the severe headaches the following morning, the delegation unanimously agreed to start a similar tradition back in Twente.

Soon thereafter an hard-core group of enthusiasts successfully organized such a "Cantus" during the second After-Introduction Camp Electrical Engineering (Dutch: NIKE). Thus began the tradition which owns its roots to our colleagues of the South. Scintilla's success in Twente did not go unnoticed and soon other student associations followed suit in organizing similar spectacles of "gezelligheid" for their own members.