Archive

Lasers are everywhere nowadays: doctors use them to correct eyesight, cashiers to scan your groceries, and quantum scientist to control qubits in the future quantum computer. For most applications, the current bulky, energy inefficient lasers are fine, but quantum scientist work at extremely low temperatures and on very small scales. For over 40 years, they have been searching for efficient and precise microwave lasers that will not disturb the very cold environment in which quantum technology works. A team of researchers led by Leo Kouwenhoven at TU Delft has demonstrated an on-chip microwave laser based on a fundamental property of superconductivity, the ac Josephson effect. They embedded a small section of an interrupted superconductor, a Josephson junction, in a carefully engineered on-chip cavity. Such a device opens the door to many applications in which microwave radiation with minimal dissipation is key, for example in controlling qubits in a scalable quantum computer. The scientists have published their work in Science on the 3rd of March.

Delft University of Technology (the Netherlands) launches a MicroMasters program Solar Energy Engineering via online platform edX on April 25. The program is developed to give (future) professionals an edge in the rapidly growing Solar Energy industry. By providing in-depth knowledge and engineering skills the program supports them to become an expert in photovoltaics, advance their career and contribute to the energy transition to renewable energy sources. The MicroMasters program offers four graduate-level online courses treating photovoltaic energy conversion, technologies, systems and the integration of photovoltaic systems in microgrids and a capstone project.

In January 2016, the Library has introduced the course “The Informed Researcher”, which deals with the development of skills such as the ability to search for, organize, and disseminate information and data as listed in the Vitae Researcher Development Framework(1). It further links these steps to the Open Science principles. This course is a new and improved version of “How to Manage your Research Information”, based on comments and feedback of participants.

Mona Hichert argues that existing arm prostheses can be improved, and indeed need to be improved. Hichert obtains her doctorate from TU Delft on Friday, 24 February 2017.

The Kavli Institute of Nanoscience Delft will receive additional major funding to further advance its successful program in biological and quantum nanoscience. Provided by The Kavli Foundation, the Kavli Institute will receive $200,000 annually over ten years – funds that will be matched equally by TU Delft. These funds will supplement annual revenue already provided by the Institute’s endowment, which was first established in 2004 and increased in 2008.

On Thursday November 10th, Ellen van Andel (TU Delft Valorisation Centre) participated in the 2 days’ conference on ‘Universities, Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development in Africa’ which took place in Bonn, Germany. Read the blog Ellen van Andel wrote about this event.

The faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences published a new "Story of Science". This edition is about a feasibility study on wheelchair-bound transport for children, performed by Niels van Oort.

It is the most crucial mechanism in life - the division of cells. For 25 years, it has been known that bacteria split into two by forming a Z ring at their centre. They use this to cut themselves into two daughter cells. Using advanced microscopes, researchers from the universities of Harvard, Indiana, Newcastle, and Delft have succeeded in finding out how bacteria do this. The bacteria appear to build a new cell wall working from the outside in, with the help of multiple molecular ‘bricklayers’, in about a quarter of an hour. What was completely unexpected was that the ‘bricklayers’ move along the inside of the wall under construction by ‘treadmilling’; the building of the cell wall is performed from scaffolding that is continuously being moved at the front, while at the rear it is continuously being dismantled. The scientists will be publishing an article on the topic in Science on 17 February.

On February 11th and 12th, 2017 the “Hackaton for Humanitarian Aid” was organised by PwC, UNHCR and UNOCH in Amsterdam. EPA student and alumni teams participated in the two-day contest. EPA alumni Tariq Abdul Muhaimin and Naveen Srivatsav were members of the overall winning team and will be presenting their invention at UNHCR Headquarters in Geneva.

The idea of researchers from TU Delft, Erasmus MC and LUMC of using 3D printing techniques to close spina bifida of unborn children, is according to the magazine Kijk the best Dutch tech-idea of the year. The scientists from Delft, Rotterdam and Leiden are collaborating on a long needle, equipped with a 3D head, that provides the spina bifida of a protective cap in the womb.

Damage to the barrage in the River Meuse near Grave has led to a drop in the water level at the Port of Heijen/Gennep. As a result, some houseboats are tilted, some are taking on water, while the strain on the hulls of others is becoming critical. The longer the water level remains low, the more damage will be done. The TU Delft start-up ShoreMonitoring used a jetski to chart the shallow areas around the houseboats, the mouth of the port and the lake. With this information, the Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management (Rijkswaterstaat) aided by another start-up, Mobiele Dijken, constructed a temporary dike to keep more water in the port.

Nanosatellites, collaboration, ISISpace, ground stations

Electric cars that require charging and autonomous cars that can be summoned to take you from A to B. How do you take these future challenges into account in spatial planning? And what will Dutch roads and the living environment look like in 2030? In February 2016, the Professional Association of Dutch Architect’s Agencies (Branchevereniging Nederlandse Architectenbureaus, BNA) and TU Delft launched a design initiative inviting design teams and the municipalities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht to examine five ring road locations in the respective cities. On Wednesday 15 February 2017, the resulting visions were presented at TU Delft in a new book entitled motorway x City.

From traffic simulations and the airport of the future to the self-driving train: a whole range of topics were addressed during the Tracks in Transport Conference on 2 February 2017. Held at the Lijm & Cultuur grounds, the conference brought TU Delft researchers, students and employees up to speed on the latest developments in the following fields:

What do the circular economy and improving the Dutch healthcare system have in common? They are the focus areas of the SMO Promovendi Programme, that helps PhD candidates develop transferable skills while they work to solve societal challenges.

TU Delft researchers have completed a detailed account of the global potential of hydropower. The results of their research were published in the scientific journal PLOS One on Wednesday, 8 February 2017.

If you wish to improve the performance of a wheelchair tennis player, you need accurate information on everything that happens during a match. Researchers from TU Delft are therefore going to measure sports wheelchairs movements of the top players in international wheelchair tennis. TU Delft will do this during the ABN AMRO World Wheelchair Tennis Tournament, to be held from Tuesday 14 February to Saturday 18 February in Rotterdam Ahoy.

With its thousands of kilometres of coastline, many rivers, heavy rains and periods of prolonged drought, Vietnam is one of the country’s most struck by heavy weather phenomena. TU Delft is working in Vietnam on coastal engineering since the nineties. This has also led to the establishment of the Joint-venture called VINWATER. Recently TU Delft concluded, together with her partners, a NICHE (Netherlands Initiative for Capacity development in Higher Education) programme in Vietnam. This programme was called: ‘Improvement of higher education in water management in view of climatic change in Vietnam’. This programme was funded by EP-Nuffic.

TU Delft researchers have completed a detailed account of the global potential of hydropower. The results of their research were published in the scientific journal PLOS One on Wednesday, 8 February 2017.

Last year alone, over 200 million people were directly affected by natural or man-made disasters worldwide. According to one of the leading re-assurance companies, total economic losses from natural and man-made disasters in 2016 were estimated to be at least $158 billion. Not surprisingly, researchers, humanitarian organizations and local and global policy makers are trying to harness the power of new data and information technologies to better comprehend the causes and mitigate the consequences of disasters.

Better insight into the experience of the patient increases the patient's well-being and can contribute to more efficient and safer healthcare. The detailed analysis of the experience of patients is therefore the central subject of a new TU Delft online course. The ‘Design in healthcare: using patient journey mapping’ MOOC will start on Wednesday 8 February.

In the framework of the Global Research Fellowships Initiative of the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) a PhD position of 4 years is available at the Dept. of Chemical Engineering (in collaboration with the Dept. of Precision and Microsystems Eng.) on the development of the fundamentals of a lab-on-a-chip platform to screen tropical fevers such as Zika, Chikungunya and Dengue.

This exhibition in the TU Delft Library is based on the dissertation ‘Making Fashion Sustainable – The Role of Designers’ by PhD alumnus Natascha van der Velden of the faculty of IDE. With the installations and exhibited objects, Natascha aims to inform the public about several aspects related to the (sustainable) life cycle of clothing and to inspire designers who are willing to take up a different role from many of their predecessors to become a frontrunner of sustainable fashion.

Researchers at the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) and TU Delft have developed a web portal that serves to advance brain research. Using BrainScope, researchers can quickly and interactively explore gene activity in the brain. “BrainScope reveals patterns that you would otherwise never notice,” says Prof. Boudewijn Lelieveldt (Medical Delta professor and affiliated with LUMC and TU Delft).

Last November an enthusiastic group of 19 PhD’s started in the HCP Vitality Program for PhD’s. On Monday March 30th, the next group will start (in English, max 20 participants, first come first serve). This program is offered to you by TU Delft HR (Human Resource department) and the Graduate School to help you with your health, energy and performance management. The program helps PhD candidates to develop better skills for balance and recovery: Combining sprints AND the marathon.

Our oceans represent an enormous untapped resource of clean and renewable energy. In this new international course you will learn about the latest innovations taking place in tidal energy, wave energy, Salinity Gradient Power and OTEC.

This week all TU Delft Employees will receive an email from IVA Onderwijs, inviting you to take part in the university-wide 2017 TU Delft Employee Survey that is held every three years. This is your chance to tell us how you feel about your work experience and vitality and what you think of the quality of support you receive from the organisation.

As the number of available places in courses is limited, we ask you only to enrol in a course if you can commit to attending the full course.

On Friday 20 January the Board for Doctorates of TU Delft conferred its 8000th doctoral degree to Dr. Hayo Hendrikse. He received his degree with ‘cum laude’ for his PhD thesis on Ice-induced vibrations of vertical sided offshore structures.

We have updated the ‘Doctoral Defence Timeline’. It provides you with a summary of the final steps of your PhD programme, as described in the Doctoral Regulations.

The excitement was tangible at the Award Ceremony for SpaceX’s Hyperloop Pod Competition. Amid great interest, the TU Delft students won the competition in Los Angeles. A year ago, Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, challenged the 27 teams from all over the world to construct pods for the Hyperloop – a futuristic transport concept that could propel people and goods through tubes at extremely high speeds. During the weekend, the teams were invited to test their pods in a 1.2 km-long tube located adjacent to the SpaceX grounds in Los Angeles. ‘It was precisely this award that we had set our sights on. We tried to focus on every aspect and to create a pod that could easily be scaled-up,’ explained team captain Tim Houter. ‘And our hard work has now been rewarded, it is fantastic.’ The Delft Hyperloop team also received the award for the best construction and design. Students from the University of Munich went home with the other prize, awarded for the highest average speed.

TU Delft project assists local stakeholders in developing joint vision for the Zambezi River Millions of people in Mozambique are dependent on the Zambezi River, which rises in Zambia and flows into the Indian Ocean via Mozambique. The many varied and often also conflicting interests make water management of this river a difficult task. This leads to such problems as a shortage of water for irrigation in the dry season, and flooded villages in the wet season. In January 2017, TU Delft and partner organisations started the NICHE project Capacity Building for Integrated Water Resources Management in order to assist the river's stakeholders in developing a joint vision for the river. The project is also aimed at professionalising local knowledge of water management.

On friday 27 January 2017 Connecting Mobility, TNO and TU Delft will launch and demonstrate the first prototype of SimSmartMobility. 19 partners will also sign a declaration of intent for ongoing development of the prototype. SimSmartMobility is the only simulation platform of its kind anywhere in the world, enabling the simulation of liveability, safety and accessibility effects of innovative mobility solutions. The prototype was developed by the three initiators during the past six months.

The Delft Hyperloop Team has reached the finals of the SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition in California. This weekend, 27-29 January, its “pod” competes against 29 others to reach the highest possible speed in a 1.2-kilometre test tube at the headquarters of aerospace company SpaceX in Hawthorne, Los Angeles. A judging panel will also assess the half-size pods on such factors as their reliability, design and scalability. The all-student TU Delft team emerged from last year’s design phase of the competition as one of the front runners, alongside MIT from the US. SpaceX is to announce the winner on Sunday 29 January (Mondaynight in NL).

The European Research Council awarded ERC Consolidator Grants of 2 million euros each to Delft researchers Caspar Chorus, Rienk Eelkema and Christian Poelma. The grants are designed to support researchers who want to establish their research teams and continue developing a successful career in Europe.

On the 19th of february, Bart Leistra received, next to his MSc. diploma Transport & Planning, the first Annotation Rail. He received the certificate from ProRail CEO Pier Eringa. This annotation is a supplement to the MSc. diploma, which states that the students followed extra courses in the field of rail.

This week, a team of TU Delft researchers and students will travel to Myanmar to chart the flow of the country’s largest river, the Irrawaddy. The delegation will be taking 15 specially-made GPS trackers and 400 balloons with LED lights with them to help complete the task. Once the devices have been put to water, the team will track their progress as they travel several hundred kilometres downstream. Using this method, the researchers hope to collect data on the variations in the flow rate of the river. The team will also measure the quality of the water. The data will be used to calibrate a model of the river’s hydraulics and water quality.

The solar energy market is about to go through the next step of development in 2017. The ideal solar system design for every roof in the Netherlands will be generated automatically through advanced software. With the energy yield guaranteed and monitored. Solar Monkey, TU Delft, Readaar and Utrecht University have joined forces to develop the next generation solar design and monitoring. The ‘PVision’ project is backed with a €470,000 TKI subsidy granted by the Dutch governmert, to ensure high impact.

On Friday 20 January the 8000th doctoral degree at TU Delft was conferred to Hayo Hendrikse. He received the degree with distinction for his PhD thesis on Ice-induced vibrations of vertical sided offshore structures.