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The importance of Open Science for the maritime industry

Read more The importance of Open Science for the maritime industry

Rapid change of friction causes tactile ultrasound illusion

Read more Rapid change of friction causes tactile ultrasound illusion

Multi-scale modelling of hydrogen embrittlement inspires state-of-the-art simulations for hydrogen storage

Read more Multi-scale modelling of hydrogen embrittlement inspires state-of-the-art simulations for hydrogen storage

John van den Dobbelsteen appointed professor of Medical Process Engineering

Read more John van den Dobbelsteen appointed professor of Medical Process Engineering

NWO-xs grant for new ‘Green’ way to produce Ammonia

Read more NWO-xs grant for new ‘Green’ way to produce Ammonia

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Faculty of Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering (3mE)

Winner TU Delft Energy Paper Award

Maarten van den Broek (DCSC) is the winner of the TU Delft Energy Paper Award with the development of an algorithm that ensures a higher energy yield from wind farms.

Aimée Sakes joins board NWO domain Applied and Engineering Sciences

The board of the NWO domain Applied and Engineering Sciences (AES) appoints dr. ir. Aimée Sakes as new board member. She will join the board as of 1 April 2023.

Rudy Negenborn’s vision on autonomous ships in Nature

Nature published an article ‘Autonomous ships are on the horizon: here’s what we need to know’ about autonomous ships that highlights research gaps in six key areas. Rudy Negenborn and his co-authors touch upon critical challenges in the development and deployment of autonomous ships in practice, that are not receiving sufficient attention in research and innovation.

New tool for organ repair: curvature of the environment

A ball, a saddle, or a flat plate. The curvature of biomaterials inhibits or stimulates bone cells to make new tissue. This is what TU Delft engineers show in research published on Friday, 3rd of March in Nature Communications. This study of geometries could be an important step in research into repairing damaged tissues. Living cells can perceive and respond to the geometry of their environment. ‘Cells sense and respond to the geometry of the surfaces they are exposed to. Depending on their curvature, surfaces can either encourage cells to create new tissue or prevent them from doing so,’ says Amir Zadpoor , professor of Biomaterials and Tissue Biomechanics, supervisor of the study. ‘Stimulating curvatures made by a 3D printer are an easy and safe way to promote tissue growth. As compared to drugs, they are also much cheaper.’ In petri dishes, the researchers grew bone cells surrounded by small moulds made from biomaterials with which the researchers have experience. Depending on the curvatures in the moulds, the cells tended to grow, divide, and form tissue to different extents. Cells like a saddle shape Although curved shapes seem to exist in endless variations, they always fall roughly into one of these three categories: a ball that has a convex curvature, a saddle that has a concave curvature, and a plate that is flat. One of the authors, assistant professor of Biomaterials Lidy Fratila-Apachitei : ‘Cells prefer a saddle shape. If they perceive a saddle shape nearby, growth is stimulated. The study also shows that cells prefer valleys over hills.’ Rather aligned than bent First author Sebastien Callens did the experiments and analysis in the study. ‘Cells also have a skeleton, which consists of fibres that are under tension to different degrees. How tension builds up in those fibres strongly influences the behaviour of cells. Our study shows that cells collectively align their stress fibers with the curvatures they experience to minimize their need to bend. I could see that cells prefer to align than to bend.’ Budget of saddle curvature You can't have only saddle curves around cells. Just as the three angles of a triangle always add up to 180 degrees, the sum of all curvatures must also equal some fundamental numbers. ‘You always have a limited budget of saddle shapes,’ says Zadpoor. ‘If you use too much negative curvature somewhere, you must use positive curvatures somewhere else to keep the sum constant. You need to use your budget wisely to encourage maximum tissue regeneration.’ New biomaterials The study provides guidance on the optimal geometry of biomaterials and implants to maximise tissue regeneration. The complex geometric designs required are made using high-precision 3D printing techniques to make the shapes so small that they are perceptible to cells. Callens: ‘We have now discovered new playing rules by which biomaterials can stimulate tissue growth. In follow-up research, we will try to apply those rules optimally.’ More information If you would like to know more about how the curvature of biomaterials around bone tissue inhibits or stimulates bone cells to create new tissue, please feel free to contact: Fien Bosman – Science information officer Health & Care – f.j.bosman@tudelft.nl / 06 2495 3733 Amir Zadpoor – Professor of Biomaterials and Tissue Biomechanics – A.A.Zadpoor@tudelft.nl / 06 4344 7445 Emergent collective organization of bone cells in complex curvature fields Nature Communications , 3 maart 2023 Media package

Sergio Grammatico has been awarded an NWO ENW-M1 grant

Sergio Grammatico, Associate Professor at the Delft Centre for Systems and Control (DCSC) has been awarded an individual NWO ENW-M1 grant of € 365.000 for his research project on wind farm control and optimization. NWO ENW-M grants are intended for curiosity-driven scientific research.

The Ship Hydromechanics lab welcomes the upgraded Wave-Flume Tank

A number of internal relocations have taken place in the 3mE building the past year and one of them was the relocation of the Wave-Flume Tank. The tank has been moved from building section J to the API hall nearby in Leeghwaterstraat to create space for projects being conducted in the Fluid Mechanics Lab. The Wave-Flume Tank has returned home: at the Ship Hydromechanics Lab.

Rapid change of friction causes tactile ultrasound illusion

Michaël Wiertlewski, Assistant Professor at the Cognitive Robotics Department, and his colleagues have created a glass plate that can quickly change its friction. It does this with an actuator that releases waves of ultrasound to vibrate the plate. Their research is published in the ‘Royal Society Interface journal’.

Vijayendra Umesh Shastri has been awarded an NWO-XS grant

Vijayendra Umesh Shastri from the Precions and Microsystems Engineering Department has been awarded a NOW-XS grant for his quantitative de-cellurarization with single-cell resolution project.

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Multi-scale modelling of hydrogen embrittlement inspires state-of-the-art simulations for hydrogen storage

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Robotic support improves rehabilitation

Greening steel: it can be done!

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March

Thesis defence J. Dong

Thesis defence V. Morete Barbosa Bertolo

Thesis defence R. Ranjan

Measuring by light

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