Archive

The Netherlands Academy of Engineering (NAE) emphasises the importance of technological innovation with the appointment of 62 fellows. Among them are 11 researchers from TU Delft, two of whom work for the Faculty of Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering (3mE).

A material that doesn't just rival the strength of diamonds and graphene, but boasts a yield strength 10 times greater than Kevlar, renowned for its use in bulletproof vests.

TU Delft is launching a new research programme on 31 October to explore the possibilities of wind-assisted propulsion for cargo vessels. The aim is to reduce fuel consumption by 30%.

Today marks a significant milestone as TU Delft officially joins EBRAINS, a state-of-the-art digital research infrastructure developed by the EU-funded Human Brain Project, which serves as a comprehensive hub for brain-related data and tools.

Extracting as much energy as cost-effectively as possible from each individual wind turbine epitomised the short-term approach of the past. But what we need for a climate-neutral and energy-independent Europe is a shift towards sustainable wind energy in the long term, taking into account all costs and aspects – including societal and environmental ones. This is what the wind farm control room of the future is all about.

Recently, researchers have been able to dive even deeper into materials. The arrival of a micro CT scanner at the faculty allows researchers to explore the invisible world.

Self-driving cars still have a number of hurdles to overcome. Reducing motion sickness is a crucial factor in this respect.

Jilt Sietsma schonk zijn recente subsidie van de Jacob Wallenberg Foundation aan de afdeling en maakte een upgrade van een van de optische microscopen mogelijk, waar studenten en onderzoekers nog jaren van kunnen profiteren.

Met slechts twee kleine sensoren, niet groter dan een twee euro munt, kunnen we nu het vermogen van rolstoelsporters meten met een indrukwekkende precisie van wel 2%.

Studying prehistoric production processes of birch bark tar using computational modelling reveals what kinds of cognition were required for the materials produced by Neanderthal and early modern humans.

In cases of upper airway obstruction, acute surgery to open the trachea just below the larynx is the only solution. Due to the rarity of this syndrome, doctors have very little experience with this life-saving procedure. Doctors at the Reinier de Graaf Hospital and students at TU Delft decided that this had to change. Together they developed a realistic and durable model of the larynx.

Bilge Atasoy, associate professor at the Department of Maritime & Transport Technology, has been awarded an ERC Starting Grant to develop adaptive transport systems. She will work on a holistic adaptive modelling framework that considers the interactions between supply and demand to make transport more efficient, sustainable and user-centric.

The faculty building, which had been somewhat empty during the summer holiday, was enlivened by the visit of 40 enthusiastic children of above-average intelligence. The group was given an interactive introduction to the world of Marine Technology.

The 3mE faculty and CEG faculty of TU Delft and The Hague University of Applied Sciences are conducting research to place and retain students in the most appropriate programmes as quickly as possible. For this purpose, they have received an AC grant from the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.

TU Delft receives a total of 17 Venis, 4 of which are awarded to researchers at the 3mE faculty. The funds will be used for a variety of research projects, from giving robots the intelligence to handle deformable objects to a catheter that ensures safer minimal invasive heart surgery.

Matthijs Langelaar was appointed professor at TU Delft on 5 July. His research focuses on developing algorithms capable of solving mechanical design problems.

It is with sadness that we learned of the passing of our dear colleague Cees van Rhee on Saturday 15 July 2023 during his holiday in France. Cees was professor of Dredging Technology at the Department of Maritime & Transport Technology at TU Delft since 2007.

The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) announced its contribution of 15 million euros to PlantXR, a CropXR research programme into 'smart breeding' of extra resilient crops (eXtra Resilient, XR). This impulse brings CropXR's total budget to over €90 million for the next 10 years. NWO’s grant marks the start of the new Dutch institute CropXR, which integrates plant biology, computational modelling, and artificial intelligence into 'smart breeding methods'. Those will be used to develop crop varieties that are more resilient to climate change and less dependent on chemical crop protection. In CropXR, TU Delft works together with Utrecht University, Wageningen University and Research, the University of Amsterdam and dozens of plant breeding, biotech and processing companies on basic scientific research, data collection and data sharing, education, and advancing broad application of the results.

They praised her for the clear structure of her teaching and innovative teaching methods. Among other things, Stijntjes develops and teaches the course Extramural Sensing and Virtual Stimulation as part of the master’s programme in Technical Medicine.

The 2023 Professor of Excellence Award has been awarded to Just Herder, professor of Interactive Mechanisms and Mechatronics, for his exceptional ability to demystify complex concepts and for his special role as a mentor and an example to students and PhD students at home and abroad.

Eight researchers from TU Delft, including two from the 3mE Faculty, namely Wouter Westerveld, Remco Hartkamp and Carlas Smith, received a Vidi grant in June for their research proposals.

During the Design Day of the undergraduate Maritime Engineering program, all first-year students tested their self-designed ship model. The students were instructed to make the sailing condition and heavy load condition as optimal as possible.

Designing a precision disc thrower is an ambitious challenge. ‘A lot goes into this kind of mechanical design. It has to have sufficient power, speed and precision. The rotation of the disc around its own axis – known as the gyroscopic effect – is also important,’ says Regine Vroom, coordinator of the design project.

The 3mE faculty provided a short internship for pupils from the first class of VMBO (pre-vocational secondary education) SC Delfland from Delft. The introduction on what a university is and the importance of technology and education & research for Delft and society was followed by four introductions to professions at 3mE.

Can ChatGPT also design a robot? And is this a good thing for the design process, or are there risks? TU Delft researchers published their findings in Nature Machine Intelligence.