TU Delft for Life | Xperience Day 9 June 2022
Blog
Here you can reminisce about the day.
Meanwhile on Twitter
Livestream Auditorium
4.45pm | A peek behind the scenes: video impression #2
This is what they came for: new developments, ideas that tickle their imagination and things to (maybe) try at home. Tag along on some of the campus tours and get a glimpse of the Dream Hall and the Green Village.
Meanwhile on Twitter
4.30pm | Taste the atmosphere: video impression #1
They arrive with a smile, hungry for knowledge and curious for new developments. Meet a few alumni in person and you begin to understand the meaning of ‘TU Delft for Life’.
4.00pm | ‘They wondered if I was true Delft material’
‘I am proud and also very humbled.’ Alumni gathered to listen to the inspirational lecture of Jan-Maarten Geertman, director of Net Zero Production at The HEINEKEN Company and TU Delft Alumnus of the Year 2022. As a student, he didn’t feel especially bright and, considering his grades, Geertman admits: ‘They wondered if I was true Delft material’. Yet here he is.
Geertman tells a captivated audience about his career and the challenges he is currently working on. He studied Chemical Engineering and obtained his doctorate in 2006 for his research on improving fermentation processes for the food industry. Achieving sustainability by improving processes and value chains has been central to his career ever since. As a lead investigator with the Canadian company Logen, he led research projects into the production of biofuels from renewable agricultural raw materials.
Since this year, he has been leading the transition to climate-neutral beer production at all of Heineken’s 188 production sites worldwide, to be achieved by 2030. Eliminating greenhouse gases plays a role in the entire food industry, so Geertman’s influence as a pioneer extends far beyond the brewing sector.
3.30pm | Dream teams, new technologies and a future proof electricity network
The tours are in full swing. Some snapshots of the Dream Hall, e-Refinery and the ESP Lab. For everyone who can’t join the tours today: a quick summary.
In the Dream Hall alumni discover what the Dream Teams are up to. These teams consist of students who are looking for extra challenge and the opportunity to acquire knowledge and skills in challenging and socially relevant technical projects in a safe environment.
The e-Refinery Delft institute forms the link between researchers and industrial partners,
so that the necessary technologies and expertise can be developed together. Researchers who are part of e-Refinery focus on the electrochemical conversion of sustainable electricity, water and air into fuels and chemical building blocks. This is done both on a molecular scale as well as in the form of large-scale system integration.
In the Electrical Sustainable Power Laboratory (ESP Lab) researchers, companies, policy makers and business developers work together on the most important energy issues of our time. It is the place where our electricity network is prepared for the future.
Meanwhile on Twitter
Earlier today | Alumni arriving on campus
With a lot of enthousiasm and recognition alumni have arrived at the Aula. A select company of committed Good Friends of TU Delft enjoyed lunch together, while other alumni gathered and socialised in the lobby. Old ties were tightened and new fellow engineers met for the first time.
Shortly after, the auditorium begins to empty: time to join the campus tours. What will be your next stop, the Electrical Sustainable Power Laboratory (ESP Lab) or the Green Village? Groups gather around their chosen tour. One or two quietly decide to explore the campus by themselves.
1.00pm | Message from minister Rob Jetten in honour of the TUD 180th anniversary
In a 2 minute video, climate and energy minister Rob Jetten paints a beautiful picture of the role TUD plays in the field of energy and the imminent transition. We thank minister Jetten for his words of encouragement. Our students, academic staff and alumni are already building up to it and will continue to do so.
12.30pm | Meet the change agents of tomorrow at the Energy Challenge
It’s not just alumni that are the stars on this Xperience Day 2022. Today is all about bringing ideas, knowledge and experience together. More than 15,000 TU Delft students have followed a course on energy transition in the past six months. Their ideas and prototypes on how to accelerate the energy transition can be viewed at the Energy Challenge Event today from 12 to 18pm. We’re curious how alumni will connect to the bold ideas of these engineering newcomers.
One assignment in particular draws attention: designing a Wave Energy Accumulator, in which the energy from the movement of waves is converted into rotational energy of a flywheel. The challenge is to rotate a flywheel by means of a float to be designed on the waves. 100 student teams not only come up with a design, but will also fabricate and test it. For testing, the students have to generate the waves themselves with a simple wave generator.
This assignment directly flows from one of the main issues in energy transition. In addition to energy production from natural sources, energy storage is also a major challenge. It would be ideal if there was a technique that would provide a solution for both challenges at the same time, i.e. for extraction and storage.
The winners of this design assignment will be presented at the end of the afternoon.
11.00am | Campus getting ready for 400+ alumni
After a fresh morning shower, the campus is in full preparation. In a few hours, more than 400 alumni will arrive, ready for an inspiring day at the university where they took their first steps in engineering. What will they encounter?
All will be immersed in the latest developments in the field of energy. Some alumni will visit the Reactor Institute, others will discover the Floating Renewables Lab. Further tours to be launched will head to the Electrical Sustainable Power Lab, the e-Refinery, the Green Village. A general Energy Transition Tour will pass various locations on the campus.
First-hand responses on tours will follow later on. We’ll keep you posted!
