In a major study funded by U.S Government, an international consortium of researchers successfully mapped the different types of brain cells in the motor cortex. Scientists from the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) and Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) contributed specific expertise to visualize the data.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to solve some of society's most important challenges, for example the mounting pressure on healthcare, while at the same time enriching and improving many other aspects of our society, such as transport. In short, the impact of AI is enormous, and it may even become the foundation of our future. Therefore, it is extra important that we are sure that all developed AI systems and techniques are completely reliable. The ROBUST consortium, in which TU Delft plays an essential role in the field of fundamental and applied AI knowledge, investigates how AI-based systems can be made safer and more reliable – and thus better contribute to social issues.

In order to ensure that the electricity grid is prepared for the future, TU Delft, the Dutch government and partners including grid operator TenneT have joined forces to build a brand-new laboratory: the Electrical Sustainable Power Lab, otherwise known as the ESP Lab. The laboratory – described as a ‘veritable temple of sustainability’ – will be officially opened on the afternoon of Friday, 1 October 2021.

Last year, computer engineers from Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) and Northwestern University introduced the world’s first battery-free Game Boy, which harvests both solar energy and the user’s kinetic energy from button mashing to power an unlimited lifetime of game play. The same team now introduces a new platform that enables makers, hobbyists and novice programmers to build their own battery-free electronic devices that run with intermittent, harvested energy.

Making a significant contribution to creating opportunities for a CO2-free energy system, this is what 150 representatives from the business community, knowledge institutions and government are working on within the Dutch AI Coalition. The Energy and Sustainability working group collaborated on the position paper 'AI as an accelerator of the energy transition', which sets out the opportunities for a CO2-free energy system. Researchers from TU Delft have made an active contribution to this agenda.

Check out the new webpage on ‘Design & AI’ by Industrial Design Engineering and explore the work of Delft design researchers who offer a human-centred approach. By incorporating the needs of people and organisations with the latest developments in technology, the design researchers translate abstract AI concepts into tangible designs. This holistic and integrated design research approach is crucial for the impact of AI and possible commercial innovation.

Prof. Georgios Smaragdakis (Cybersecurity group) and colleagues from UCL, Microsoft, Columbia University, and FORTH were awarded the Best paper award in ACM SIGCOMM 2021 for their paper: "Seven Years in the Life of Supergiants' off-nets." SIGCOMM is the ACM flagship conference in Internet Architecture and Networking.

The Electrical Sustainable Power Lab (ESP Lab) has been nominated for the NRP Gulden Feniks award for 2021. After making a selection from the 54 entries, the jury of experts visited the selected projects and then nominated eight projects. The ESP Lab is competing for this prestigious award along with the seven other nominees; they are among the very best examples of renovation and transformation projects.