Archive
24 April 2018
Gerwin Smit nominated biggest scientific talent 2018
Dr.ir. Gerwin Smit from Biomechanical Engineering, 3mE faculty, TU Delft, has been nominated by New Scientist for the title of biggest scientific talent in the Netherlands and Flanders.
23 April 2018
KNAW chooses Kofi Makinwa
Prof. Dr. Kofi Makinwa, Professor Electronic Instrumentation and chair of the Micro Electronic department to the faculty of EEMCS, is selected as a new member of The Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences (KNAW).
20 April 2018
Researchers build DNA replication in a model synthetic cell
Researchers at Delft University of Technology, in collaboration with colleagues at the Autonomous University of Madrid, have created an artificial DNA blueprint for the replication of DNA in a cell-like structure.
19 April 2018
Hurricane Harvey: Dutch-Texan research shows most fatalities occurred outside flood zones
A Dutch-Texan team found that most Houston-area drowning deaths from Hurricane Harvey occurred outside the zones designated by government as being at higher risk of flooding: the 100- and 500-year floodplains. Harvey, one of the costliest storms in US history, hit southeast Texas on 25 August 2017 causing unprecedented flooding and killing dozens. Researchers at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands and Rice University in Texas published their results today in the European Geosciences Union journal Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences.
18 April 2018
Het ‘beest van de TU Delft’ is klaar voor actie
De hexapod, 60 ton zwaar en 6x5x3 meter groot, is de nieuwste aanwinst van de TU Delft: een testfaciliteit die krachten van 100 ton in alle zes richtingen kan aanbrengen. Het apparaat kan onder meer in 4 weken de vermoeiing in gelaste scheepsstukken nabootsen van 20 jaar varen op zee, maar is ook breder inzetbaar om constructies beter te kunnen ontwerpen.
12 April 2018
TU Delft in three National Roadmap projects
TU Delft is taking part in three National Roadmap for Large-scale Scientific Infrastructure projects. The three projects concern measuring changes in the atmosphere by Ruisdael Observatory (where TU Delft is the coordinating university), EPOS-NL, on the European infrastructure for geological sciences, dangers and resources, and NEMI, on the Netherlands Electron Microscopy Infrastructure.
12 April 2018
Ruisdael Observatory: measuring the Dutch atmosphere on a 100m scale
‘Weather’ is the result of a combination of many diverse factors, such as solar radiation, the concentration of greenhouse gases, air quality and humidity, local building density or vegetation, wind direction and a whole host of underlying physical and chemical processes.
12 April 2018
'Paternal’ and ‘maternal’ DNA in fungi active at different times
Many types of mushroom have two different nuclei in their cells, one from the ‘father’ and another from the ‘mother’. Researchers at the universities of Delft, Utrecht and Wageningen have discovered that the genes from the parental DNAs are expressed at different times in mushroom development. “This means that when genes involved in mushroom formation are identified, we first need to find out whether the paternal or maternal nucleus is active,” says TU Delft doctoral candidate Thies Gehrmann. The research results were published in the journal PNAS on 11 April 2018.
10 April 2018
ERC Grants for Nynke Dekker and Ibo van de Poel
The European Research Council has awarded an ERC Advanced Grant of 2,5 million euros to two professors from Delft University of Technology.
09 April 2018
Cycling motion keeps hydrofoils upright during flight
09 April 2018
Using superheroes such as Hawkeye, Wonder Woman and the Invisible Woman in the physics classroom
‘We find ourselves in an age where superhero films are immensely popular. With many students familiar with many of these characters and their superpowers, superheroes can facilitate a unique platform to aid in the dissemination of physics materials in the classroom’, says scientist Barry W. Fitzgerald of TU Delft. In a paper published in Physics Education on 5th April 2018, he considers Wonder Woman, Hawkeye and Invisible Woman.
06 April 2018
Synergy Certificate for the smart production of composites
29 March 2018
Micro-CT scanner reveals secrets hidden in prehistoric eggs
29 March 2018
Open Education Global Conference 2018
Dutch universities strive for open access publication of their research. Increasing numbers of universities and lecturers around the world also want open education, the free sharing of educational resources, primarily online.
28 March 2018
Majorana trilogy completed
Since the breakthrough discovery of the Majorana particle in 2012 in Delft, researchers faced great challenges. An international team of researchers from the Netherlands (QuTech, Microsoft and Eindhoven University of Technology) and United States (JQI Maryland, UC Santa Barbara) joined forces to understand the next steps required to improve the experiments. Now, the scientists provide a complete toolbox for the final proof of Majorana existence, paving the way towards Majorana quantum bits. They publish their work in Nature.
28 March 2018
MIT benchmark puts TU Delft at the forefront of innovative education
25 March 2018
Inaudible infrasound also useful for weather and climate forecasts
Research by Pieter Smets of TU Delft and the KNMI shows that infrasound can be used for weather and climate forecasts. These inaudible low sound waves can be used to gain a better picture of the stratosphere, which can barely be measured in any other way. On Wednesday 28 March, Smets will be awarded his PhD at TU Delft for his work on this subject.
23 March 2018
Direct high-speed charging of electric cars by solar panels
Researcher Gautham Ram Chandra Mouli developed a system which charges electric cars quickly and directly using solar power. On Monday 26 March, he will be awarded his PhD at TU Delft for his work on this subject.
23 March 2018
TU Delft receives Open Education Award for Strategic Framework 2018-2024
The international Open Education Consortium is honouring TU Delft with an Open Education Award in the Open Policies category.
22 March 2018
Potassium gives new generation perovskite-based solar cells an efficiency boost
A simple potassium solution could boost the efficiency of next-generation solar cells, by enabling them to convert more sunlight into electricity.
22 March 2018
2018 Stockholm Water Prize for TU Delft biotech pioneer Mark van Loosdrecht
Professors Mark van Loosdrecht (Delft University of Technology) and Bruce Rittmann (Arizona State University) are named the 2018 Stockholm Water Prize Laureates for revolutionizing water and wastewater treatment. By developing microbiological processes in wastewater treatment, they have demonstrated the possibilities to cut costs, reduce energy consumption and even recover chemicals and nutrients for recycling. Their pioneering research and innovations have led to a new generation of energy-efficient water treatment processes that can effectively extract nutrients and other chemicals – both valuable and harmful - from wastewater.
22 March 2018
PME researcher Nima Tolou wins Prins Friso Engineering Award
He received the Prince Friso Engineering Award at the University of Groningen’s Engineering Center in the presence of Princess Beatrix and Princess Mabel.
21 March 2018
Mystery of superior Leeuwenhoek microscope solved after 350 years
Researchers from TU Delft and Rijksmuseum Boerhaave have solved an age-old mystery surrounding Antonie van Leeuwenhoek’s microscopes.
15 March 2018
Increasingly accurate picture of accelerating rise in sea levels
Rising sea levels are affected by all kinds of different factors, most of which we can now effectively unravel and explain almost everywhere in the world. This is according to TU Delft researcher Thomas Frederikse, who has also established that the average rise in sea levels worldwide is accelerating. Moreover, the days on earth are becoming slightly longer... Frederikse will be awarded his doctorate on Monday, 19 March.
09 March 2018
Jan Dirk Jansen appointed as dean CEG
TU Delft’s Executive Board has appointed Professor Jan Dirk Jansen as Dean of the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences (CEG) with effect from 1 May 2018. Jan Dirk Jansen succeeds professor Bert Geerken, who will retire in May 2018.
05 March 2018
TU Delft scans painting Girl with a Pearl Earring by Vermeer
Last week an extensive two week scanning project of the painting Girl with a Pearl Earring - the Dutch Mona Lisa, some say - started at the Mauritshuis. The latest scanning techniques are used, and the audience can follow every step of the process. TU Delft researchers play a major part in this project, and this week their efforts can be followed on the TU Delft Instagram account.
02 March 2018
Wind energy: driving down costs
Despite its recent growth, there’s still a lot of room for cost reductions in wind energy. That’s the view given by prof.dr. Simon Watson in his inaugural lecture at TU Delft on Friday March 2nd.
28 February 2018
Professor Rob F. Mudde new Vice Rector Magnificus/Vice President Education TU Delft
Professor Rob F. Mudde has been appointed Vice Rector Magnificus/Vice President of Education (VRM/VPE), also vice-chairman, of the Executive Board of TU Delft. The Supervisory Board has appointed Rob Mudde with effect from 1 March 2018.
28 February 2018
Ten subjects in Top 50 of QS World University Rankings by Subject
In the World University Rankings by Subject 2018 published today, TU Delft has two subjects in the top ten: ‘Architecture’ (3) and ‘Civil Engineering’ (4). Ten subjects at TU Delft are in the world top 50.
23 February 2018
Marnix Wagemaker receives Vici for battery research
Dr. ir. Marnix Wagemaker will receive a Vici grant from NWO. Wagemaker is getting this grant, which amounts to 1.5 million euros, to investigate the inner workings of batteries. Among other things, the researcher aims to find out why the storage capacity achieved by the current generation of batteries is lagging behind that which should theoretically be feasible. An additional 250.000 euros of in-kind contributions will be provided by companies that are involved in the research.
22 February 2018
Loops, loops, and more loops: This is how your DNA gets organised
Researchers from the Kavli Institute of Delft University and EMBL Heidelberg now managed for the first time to isolate and film and witnessed—in real time—how a single protein complex called condensin reels in DNA to extrude a loop.
15 February 2018
Programming on a silicon quantum chip
Quantum technology makes a great leap forward. While scientists can control a few qubits with great reliability, it doesn’t yet look like a real computer. Useful quantum chips require programmability: the ability to perform an arbitrary set of operations. Scientists from QuTech in Delft have now realised a programmable two-qubit quantum processor in silicon successfully implementing two quantum algorithms. They have published their work in the magazine Nature.
12 February 2018
Designing and testing medical instruments without expensive prototypes
Complex new medical instruments often do not make it beyond the expensive and time-consuming prototype phase. With this in mind, Ewout Arkenbout developed a new, virtual development method allowing for instruments to be evaluated and adjusted at an earlier stage. On Monday 12 February, Arkenbout will be awarded his PhD at TU Delft for his work on this subject.
07 February 2018
Mathematics explains why Crispr-Cas9 sometimes cuts the wrong DNA
The discovery of the Cas9 protein has been of great value to medical science. It has simplified gene editing tremendously, and may even make it possible to eliminate many hereditary diseases in the near future. Using Cas9, researchers have the ability to cut DNA in a cell to correct mutated genes, or paste new pieces of genetic material into the newly opened spot. Initially, the Crispr-Cas9 system seemed to be extremely accurate. But unfortunately, it is now apparent that Cas9 sometimes also cuts other DNA sequences similar to the exact sequences it was programmed to target. Scientists at Delft University of Technology have developed a mathematical model that explains why Cas9 cuts some DNA sequences while leaving others alone.
05 February 2018
The quest to find the optimal speed skating technique
In her search to determine the optimal speed skating technique, doctoral candidate Eline van der Kruk developed a dynamic computer model of a skater and instrumented clap skates. In the future, these will make it possible to offer skaters and coaches real-time visual feedback during training sessions. On Thursday 8 February, the day before the start of the Winter Olympics, Van der Kruk will be awarded her PhD at TU Delft for her work on this subject.
01 February 2018
Clive Brown of Oxford Nanopore at Bioengineering Institute kickoff
On Tuesday 27 March, TU Delft will launch the Delft Bioengineering Institute. Main speaker is Clive Brown, Chief Technology Officer at DNA sequencing specialist Oxford Nanopore Technologies.
01 February 2018
Impact for a better society: TU Delft Strategic Framework 2018-2024
On 12 January, during the 176th Dies Natalis, the new strategic plan for TU Delft was presented, the Strategic Framework 2018-2024.
31 January 2018
Dutch drone first to map pristine national park in half a century
ATMOS UAV, a start-up company from the faculty of Aerospace Engineering, announced on 31 January that their drone Marlyn was used to chart the tropical island of Silhouette in the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean.
30 January 2018
Fiery romance: a risk-model for sky lanterns
This week it’s Valentine’s Day as well as Chinese New Year. A popular week for flying sky lanterns. How safe are they and how do you make a risk-model for them? Michiel Schuurman and Derek Gransden looked into it.
25 January 2018
From spin to light: two Delft scientists separately bring together two worlds
Two groups of scientists from TU Delft in the field of quantum nanotechnology have, independently of one another, found a way to convert spin information to light. The groups are led by professors Kobus Kuipers and Lieven Vandersypen, who both work at the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience. Their research has been published in Science. The discovery by Kuipers can lead to green ICT, for example energy-efficient data processing in data centres. The aim of Vandersypen's research is to allow large numbers of qubits on a chip to work together, bringing the quantum computer one step closer.