Archive

This year’s ‘Meet the Professor’ event took place on 17 April. TU Delft uses the ‘Meet the Professor’ event to celebrate the city’s birthday together with primary schools. During this event, TU Delft professors give a guest lecture about their research at Delft primary schools. Professors Maarten van der Elst and Paul Breedveld represented the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in 2024.

From robots that stock shelves to aid during post-stroke rehabilitation, and from autonomous drones to self-driving cars. All these and more robots can now be found under one roof at TU Delft. On 17 April, the Cognitive Robotics department will open its brand-new lab where not only robots, but also researchers and technicians will come together. This should encourage cross-pollination of knowledge and creative solutions and take research into robotics to the next level.

Een speciale dag voor meisjes zodat zij kunnen ervaren hoe waardevol en leuk technische opleidingen zijn. Op 11 april was het weer tijd voor de jaarlijkse Girls’ Day. Bijna 80 leerlingen uit de eerste, tweede en derde klas van scholen uit Leiden en Schiedam kwamen naar de TU Delft en maakten kennis met techniek bij de faculteiten Mechanical Engineering (ME) en Civiele Techniek en Geowetenschappen (CiTG).

Every time the robotic arm picks up a wafer for placement in the chip machine, very small particles are generated which are harmful for the chip production process. The Faculty of Mechanical Engineering from TU Delft is working on new generation wafer handlers that can handle wafers without particle generation.

When working at the nanoscale, even a speck of dust can cause disruptions. That is why you find several clean rooms across the TU Delft Campus. In the clean room of Mechanical Engineering, researchers have the unique possibility to build mechanical structures at nanoscale, from top-down by sculpting materials and bottom-up by additive nanomanufacturing. The resulting devices find applications in a variety of fields, from biology to material science.

Researcher Gerard Verbiest works on new chip technology using sound. Together with researchers at ASML, he investigates, among other things, how to apply sound to look inside a chip.

AI is already oftem used in robotics. Can these robots help with staff shortages?

What is the effect of the reproduction of artworks on the original? Liselore Tissen was involved in The Van Doesburg experiment in Museum de Lakenhal.

Rudy Negenborn talks about the development and use of robot ships

Musculoskeletal models in research are now based on the body of an average male. Scientists from TU Delft, Department of Mechanical Engineering, investigate how accurate these models are for a broad population. The one-size-fits-all approach could hinder proper treatment by doctors and physiotherapists. The researchers are therefore working on personalized musculoskeletal models based on a simple 3D scan.

Musculoskeletal models in research are now based on the body of an average male. Scientists from Mechanical Engineering investigate how accurate these models are for a broad population. The one-size-fits-all approach could hinder proper treatment by doctors and physiotherapists.

Shaking a baby violently can cause head and neck injuries, blindness and in some cases even death. Researchers at TU Delft, faculty of Mechanical Engineering, are using a dummy baby and computer models to map the accelerations that act on the head during shaking.

A consortium of European researchers, led by TU Delft, created a functional team of smart robots designed to clean litter from the seafloor. The SeaClear system has successfully passed its last series of tests in both clear and murky waters.

Tim Horeman talks about the use of sustainable design in healthcare

On 12 February, the Growing with Green Steel programme received official approval for a grant of more than 100 million euros from the National Growth Fund. Around 22 million euros of the total sum is destined for TU Delft. The programme aims to develop scientific knowledge and technology for sustainable steel production.

Steel production accounts for 7% of global CO2 emissions. That should and could be more sustainable. That is why 31 parties are joining forces to develop a new set of technologies based on hydrogen, renewable energy and circular iron and steel processing.

A coating that can hide objects in plain sight, or an implant that behaves exactly like bone tissue. These extraordinary objects are already made from ‘metamaterials’. Researchers from TU Delft have now developed an AI tool that not only can discover such extraordinary materials but also makes them fabrication-ready and durable.

Mathias Peirlinck decided to research the heart. To improve treatment options for patients, he wants to understand how the heart works and responds to stimuli.

A coating that can hide objects in plain sight, or an implant that behaves exactly like bone tissue. These extraordinary objects are already made from ‘metamaterials’. Researchers from TU Delft have now developed an AI tool that not only can discover such extraordinary materials but also makes them fabrication-ready and durable.

Hope for people who suffer from migraines: with this model you can predict an attack 24 hours in advance.

Paul Breedveld, professor of Medical Instruments & Bio-Inspired Technology developed an ultra-thin, flexible and steerable needle with PhD student Marta Scali and fellow researcher Dimitra Dodou.

Commodifying heat. That is the ultimate goal of TU Delft professor of Heat Transformation Technology Kamel Hooman. In the future, consumers could store heat they do not use and sell it in a market. In this way, total energy loss could be halved. Crucial here is that heat can be efficiently stored and transported. Hooman will explain how he intends to achieve this in his inaugural speech on 7 February.

Can robots take over the tasks of surgeons?

Shaking a baby violently can cause head and neck injuries, blindness and in some cases even death. Researchers at TU Delft, faculty of Mechanical Engineering, are using a dummy baby and computer models to map the accelerations that act on the head during shaking. They want to be able to assess the risk of injury more accurately. This could eventually lead to more clarity in legal cases on the subject.

Will this help to solve the climate crisis? And what are the effects on sea life?

How can robots help in the health & care sector?

In his inaugural lecture on January 19, TU Delft professor of Thermal and Fluids Engineering, Rene Pecnik, states that providing more fundamental insight into thermal fluid science is needed to design highly efficient and reliable equipment that contribute to the energy transition.

Using a unique 3D printing process, TU Delft researchers produced hybrid multi-material interfaces that reached a remarkable closeness to nature’s design of bone-tendon connections.

The Faculty of Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Science (3mE) is starting the new year with a new name: Mechanical Engineering (ME). The name change took effect from 1 January.

A material that doesn't just rival the strength of diamonds and graphene, but boasts a yield strength 10 times greater than Kevlar, renowned for its use in bulletproof vests.

Long waiting lists, delayed surgeries and high costs. According to professor of Medical Process Engineering, John van den Dobbelsteen, this is partly due to insufficient attention to the surgical process when implementing new technology. He wants to improve the interaction between medical staff and medical technology with the aim of reducing the workload. He will deliver his inaugural speech on 15 December.

More and better optics with less. That is the ambition of the AWAVE consortium, led by TU Delft. The researchers will develop a flat optical component that might replace all curved optical components, such as lenses, in the future. This flat component should also be easy to recycle and contain fewer harmful substances.

Researchers at TU Delft designed novel 3D-engineered scaffolds inspired by the geometry of the brain microvasculature. The micro-structures were co-cultured with both glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer, and endothelial cells, the building blocks of blood vessels. This model enabled researchers to study the effect of proton therapy on glioblastoma and uncovered a possible protective role of endothelial cells on cancer cells.

In the Keuzegids Universities 2024, the bachelor's programme Clinical Technology has been labelled top programme for the second time. This study programme is a collaboration between TU Delft, LUMC and Erasmus MC.

Advances in aerospace and energy transition require materials that meet ever-increasing demands. Such as extreme environments, high pressures or temperatures. In TU Delft's Materials for Additive Manufacturing lab, researchers can now explore new materials and process them into products and components for extreme conditions. This unique lab was opened on 30 November.

Last year, scientists at TU Delft achieved a remarkable feat by using graphene to capture the sound of an individual bacterium. In order to improve these kind of 2D ultra-sensitive sensors, the nanomechanics of this material have to be studied in more detail. Farbod Alijani, associate professor at the faculty of Mechanical, Maritime and Material Engineering, received an ERC Consolidator Grant for this project.

On 14 November, a new group of Medical Delta professors and lecturers were inaugurated. Two TU Delft professors at the Faculty of Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering (3mE) received part-time appointments at other academic institutions within Medical Delta. 3mE also welcomes a new professor: Luc van der Laan.

Wetenschappers van de TU Delft starten een onderzoek naar een nieuwe manier van werken in de bagagehallen van Schiphol.