Indian Ambassador visits TU Delft campus in February 2024
Her Excellency Mrs. Reenat Sandhu, Ambassador of India to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, visited TU Delft and joined our on-campus India community event in February 2024. The gathering focused on the 2023 TU Delft delegation to India, bringing together staff members, (PhD-) students and scholars engaged in India-TU Delft ventures for a robust dialogue and a sharing of insights into ongoing collaborations between TU Delft and Indian counterparts.
Professor Dr. Jenny Dankelman, TU Delft's Ambassador to India, inaugurated the event and provided information on the delegation. She underscored the significance of the TU Delft-India ties and thanked the Ambassador for her visit. Joseph Joseph, the President of Indian Student Association, offered an overview of the Indian student community's experiences at TU Delft.
H.E. Mrs. Reenat Sandhu emphasized the importance on Indo-Dutch collaborations, especially on societal challenges. Considering India's dynamic environment and the abundance of youthful talent, she pointed to the vast potential for new and deepened partnerships.
Prof. Dick van Gameren, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, shared information on his faculty’s strong relationship with CEPT. In October in India, he met CEPT’s Deans of the Faculty of Architecture and the Faculty of Planning. There have been joint design studios in Ahmedabad with CEPT over the past years and this month a workshop with TU Delft and CEPT students on housing is a first step in further join education activities.
Dr. Raj Thilak Rajan, Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS) showcased various interactions between EEMCS colleagues and Indian researchers in October in India. TU Delft-Indian groups are working together on signal processing, human-centered AI, AI for multi-agent systems, software engineering, embedded systems, Electrical Vehicle (EV) charging, and space systems, including ongoing projects Lunar Zebro and Moonshot.
Dr. Ranjith Kuttantharappel Soman, Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, described his interactions with counterparts at IIT Madras last fall including meetings with academics, as well as companies and the IITM research park, which helped contribute to a recently NWO-funded project Participatory Integrated Digital Twin for Adaptive Urban Resilience to Water Extremities. Meetings with counterparts on Augmented Decision-Making research at IISc and on AI for construction management and digital material passports for circular economy at IIT Bombay also proved fruitful.
Dr. Kunal Masania, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, detailed aerospace faculty members’ productive time in India, including research meetings, giving invited talks in Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai and visiting India’s National Aerospace Laboratories, with whom the faculty has good complementarity for collaborations on hydrogen propulsion aircraft, drones, materials science (corrosion, smart materials & structures) and composites, among others. The visit has also led to follow-up research visits on both sides.
Prof. Martijn Warnier, Full Professor in the Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, explained how his faculty’s focus on societal issues pairs well with India collaborations. He and his colleagues are working with IIT Delhi counterparts on solar irrigation policy and Project NetZero India and with IIT Bombay counterparts for on a Fair Transport System for Pune. Prof. Warnier will follow-up on links made during the October visit with another research and teaching visit on design in complex systems in fall 2024, while his colleague is undertaking a study on air pollution with the Center for the Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP) Bengaluru and an assessment of electric vehicles policies in India with the Indian Institute of Management (IIM).
