TU Delft and TNO open Dutch Ocean Technology Centre (DOTC)
On Thursday 6 June, TU Delft and TNO will launch the Dutch Ocean Technology Centre (DOTC). Driven by the energy transition in the maritime and offshore sector, this centre pools manpower, knowledge and infrastructure to increase the efficiency of the approach to mission-driven research in the maritime sector. In this initiative, TU Delft and TNO aim to accelerate the implementation of sustainable shipping.
The Dutch maritime and offshore sector supports about 600,000 jobs and accounts for five per cent of the GDP, but as in other parts of the world the sector is facing major challenges. How can we achieve zero emission shipping, and what role can autonomous boats play in this process? How are we dealing with the consequences of climate change and rising sea levels? As an innovation catalyst, DOTC will be examining these and other urgent questions in a number of programmes focused on materials, construction and sustainability. The first two pilot programmes – Green Performance (zero emission shipping)’ and ‘Smart Structures – have already been launched. With universities, research institutes and industry as partners, DOTC covers the entire development cycle, from fundamental science to applied research and industrial implementation. DOTC is based in the Netherlands but serves the entire world.
Unique test facilities
DOTC brings together leading researchers and provides them with access to unique test facilities. One of these is the Hexapod, TU Delft’s multi-axis fatigue machine. It can be used to realistically simulate the forces that materials and constructions have to absorb, but then much quicker: the effects of a twenty-year lifespan can by studied in an experiment that takes one month. TNO is also putting labs at the researchers’ disposal, such as the Structural Dynamics lab, which has an extensive set of techniques to measure acceleration, elongation, displacement, force, pressure and temperature.
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