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Professor Gertjan Medema has been awarded the Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize 2024 for his groundbreaking research and significant contributions to sewage epidemiology for virus detection in wastewater during the COVID-19 pandemic. His timely research breakthrough enabled the use of wastewater surveillance during the COVID-19 pandemic. President Tharman Shanmugaratnam of the Republic of Singapore presented the Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize medallion to Gertjan Medema. At the beginning of the pandemic, he and his team were the first to detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater in the Netherlands. His research enabled the use of wastewater surveillance during the COVID-19 pandemic to stop the spread of the virus and had a global impact.

During the 182nd Dies Natalis of TU Delft, we delved into the theme of "Redesigning Deltas" to underline that we need rethink our approach to keep deltas around the world safe and liveable in the future. As part of the preceding Delta week, we organised a hackathon. On 9 January, students joined forces and took up the challenge: Crafting flood resilience in the Rotterdam region.

During the plenary opening of the UN2023 Water Conference on March 22nd in New York City, all representatives were asking for more awareness, discussions, and most importantly, #WaterAction. Researchers from the TU Delft | Water for Impact programmes were present in New York to do just that: share knowledge, activitate participants and bring together international water experts to accelerate the search for global solutions. 

Extreme rainfall events are becoming more extreme and periods of drought are becoming more frequent. To keep the Dutch delta liveable, adaptations will be needed, such as extra water buffers. The Netherlands has a long history of struggle against water, but also makes eager use of it. What can we learn from our heritage? Erik Mostert, lecturer and researcher Water Management at TU Delft, developed several strategies for the province of South Holland to be more resilient to climate change. Inspiration for this came from Dutch heritage: tow barge canals.