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Meet & Eat | Local Community Engagement in Design Education – Can Cats and Dogs Live Under One Roof? with Reinout Kleinhans | 12 April

Meet & Eat | Local Community Engagement in Design Education – Can Cats and Dogs Live Under One Roof? with Reinout Kleinhans | 12 April 12 April 2022 12:30 till 13:30 - Location: Teaching Lab - By: Teaching Academy About this event | Click here to sign up directly Many lecturers at TU Delft seek to connect their teaching to current societal and global challenges in the ‘real’ world. This can require various forms of interaction with target groups, communities of ‘users’ or other stakeholders of design products. This is also known as community engagement. Think for example about the redesign of a neighbourhood park, a square or a public transport facility. However, community engagement (CE) is notoriously difficult in the context of time-bounded courses at TU Delft. While CE can have major benefits, real people and their interests can be harmed if students and their instructors mess up. Mutual Trust and reciprocity are delicate issues. So how to start if you want to incorporate CE in your teaching? In this Meat &Eat session, Reinout Kleinhans (Education Fellow 2020) will discuss the balancing act of engaging local (residential) communities and other stakeholders in student research in university courses. Underlying the short presentation is a conceptual framework that identifies six key challenges and practical solutions for CE in existing or new courses. This Meat &Eat session is particularly relevant for university lecturers and other staff who seek more intensive collaboration with non-university partners in the context of challenge-based university education, exemplified by Joint Interdisciplinary Projects (JIPs), the City Deal ‘Kennis Maken’ and many other examples. About Reinout Kleinhans Reinout Kleinhans is Associate Professor of Urban Regeneration and Neighbourhood Change at the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, Delft University of Technology. His research and teaching interests and expertise include urban regeneration, citizens’ self-organisation, community entrepreneurship, challenge-based learning and community engagement. Please note We are happy to inform you that this Meet & Eat will be organised in the Teaching Lab. A vegetarian lunch will be provided. Please let us know if you have any dietary wishes. In case you are not able to join the event (last minute), please let us know by sending an email to teachingacademy@tudelft.nl . Click here to sign up

ABP Pension Information Meeting April

ABP Pension Information Meeting April 05 April 2022 10:00 till 14:30 - Location: Online Your ABP Multi optional Pension! Our society is constantly changing and your pension is changing with it. Changes in State pension ages, pension accrual and choices when you retire often make retirement a difficult subject. For many people, retirement seems a long way off, for others it is getting closer and closer. Either way, it is important to delve into your pension. And to get answers to questions like: Can I retire sooner, or later? What is conditional pension, and what should I look out for? How much pension and State pension do I accrue? How much pension can I have paid out if I retire? What happens to my pension if I work less? What is surviving dependents pension and what can I do with it? I want to make calculations myself: how does MIJNABP work? Do you have these or similar questions? Retirement is important As an employer, we think it is important that you know what the possibilities are with your ABP pension. That is why, in cooperation with ABP, we have organized an online presentation. During this meeting you will receive answers to the above questions.You can follow the presentation at home, or in the workplace, through Microsoft Teams. Microsoft Teams also offers the opportunity to ask questions to the ABP pension officer during the presentation, which can be done both verbally and through chat functionality.. However, the presentation is not intended to elaborate on personal case studies. Who? International employees and their partners at TU Delft who are interested in learning more about the Pension System in the Netherlands. When? 5 April 2022 - 10.00 to 11.30 for employees < 55 years. Sign up for this online presentation? CLICK HERE Participants are asked to sign in to Microsoft Teams 10 minutes before the presentation starts so that the presentation can start on time.

Look back DEWIS Virtual Coffee February

Thanks to all the participants of the last DEWIS (online) Coffee Meeting in February! We had a great discussion and reflection about challenges and benefits of remote working during the Pandemic. It was nice to see that in the end, despite being a hard time for everyone we all were able to go through the challenge and grow stronger than before. We are all strong resilient women of science!! During the talk common and similar experiences and stories have been shared by the participants and here below (Figure 01) we captured some of the insights and personal stories shared. Figure 01. Personal Stories & Experiences shared by the participants during the last coffee meeting After that, we discussed and brainstormed together: ‘How can we foster a ‘Culture of Care’ within universities?’ Figure 02. Insights captured during the discussion of the last coffee meeting. In conclusion we all agreed that we need to create a network of support and being supporters for each other , always asking your peers and colleagues how they feel and offer your help. Don’t be afraid of reaching out if you need help yourself or simply need to chat with someone for some company! We are all on the same boat, we all go through difficult moments and we all need human contact to thrive and feel alive. In Figure 2 we captured some of the thoughts of the discussion. Hopefully, this has been the last Online Meeting and from next ones we can meet again in a physical space. Our first upcoming networking event will be our Spring Networking Diner! It was also the last meeting facilitated by Chiara Marradi , who unfortunately moved on in her career (now she lives and works in Belgium). However, she was grateful to be part of this network of inspiring women!

Webinar Remote Teaching | Getting a BOLD Edge: Student Readiness for Learning in a Digital World | 13 April

Webinar Remote Teaching | Getting a BOLD Edge: Student Readiness for Learning in a Digital World | 13 April 13 April 2022 10:00 till 11:00 - Location: Online - By: Teaching Academy This webinar reports why learning how to learn online is now a crucial life skill and cannot be left to chance. It outlines what we know from the research on student readiness for successfully engaging in new forms of blended, on-line and digital (BOLD) learning and shares an innovative effort to help give learners a digital edge for their study. The basic thesis woven throughout the talk is that we can learn a lot on how to design our courses and what it really means to be a BOLD learner by taking more time and creating opportunities to listen to the “voice” of learners. Student Readiness is a focus in the DigitTeL Pro project in collaboration with the 3 courses: ' Synchronous Hybrid ', ' Blended ' and ' Online Distance '. If you are interested in DigiTeL Pro or the courses, the presentation slides of the launch session in November 2021 are available, including the full launch recording : Introduction CPD and DigiTeL Pro by George Ubachs (EADTU – European Association for Distance and Teaching Universities) Student Readiness for Digital Education by Mark Brown (DCU – Dublin City University) Synchronous Hybrid Education by Marieke Pieters (KU Leuven – Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) Blended Education by Naomi Wahls (TU Delft – Delft University of Technology) Online Distance Education by Albert Sangrà (UOC – Universitat Oberta de Catalunya). Future webinars will be announced once the titles and descriptions are finalized. If you have a topic that you would like us to cover, please email Naomi directly: n.l.wahls@tudelft.nl . Join the weekly webinars via MS Teams group

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NWO grants funding for innovative research on physical experimental environments

How to move from experiment to mainstream? A consortium led by professor Tamara Metze, has been awarded a prestigious grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). In search for pathways toward more sustainable futures, Metze and her team will explore how various innovations in field labs such as The Green Village, in urban living labs such as Engy Lab South-East in Amsterdam, and in all sorts of citizens’ initiatives, can be mainstreamed and make more impact on sustainability transitions. Pilot paradox The project ‘From EXperiment to sustainable change: TRAnsformative methodologies for Innovation and learning’ (EXTRA) seeks to overcome a persistent “pilot paradox”. In this paradox, much experimentation takes place but long-term systemic impact remains difficult. Researchers together with all sorts of change makers will synthesise existing knowledge on how to mainstream, upscale, spread, broaden and deepen developed innovations. Tamara Metze: ‘I am excited to unravel what are effective ways of cocreation that lead to mainstreaming the positive changes made in experimental environments. We will figure out how learning and innovation can lead to lasting changes in regulations, policies, and financial systems and the biophysical environment.’ Tamara Metze Read the NWO press release Actionable tools The project is crucial for accelerating sustainability transitions. By refining methodologies for mission-driven experimentation and develop hands on tools for all sorts of change-makers, it will be easier to mainstream the sustainable lessons and innovations. ‘These tools will not only aid grassroots innovators but also influence institutional and organisational structures, ensuring that lessons learned from experiments are better anchored in policies, regulations, and organisations’, explains Metze. The project will employ a transdisciplinary action research approach, bringing together knowledge from various disciplines and policy domains. By co-creating solutions with public and private partners, the research will have an immediate impact. In the long term, the project aims to build a more efficient innovation ecosystem, contributing to more impactful and sustainable outcomes for both society and the environment. Projectpartners TU Delft, VU Amsterdam, Wageningen University & Research, Hogeschool van Amsterdam, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam, Hogeschool Rotterdam, The Green Village, AMS Institute; PBL Planbureau voor de Leefomgeving, WoonFriesland, Dijkstra Draisma, Provincie Noord-Holland, Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken, PRICE / Almere, BouwLab, Alliantie Samen Nieuw-West, Innovation Quarter.

Unusual waves grow way beyond known limits

Waves that come from multiple directions are extremer than extreme. These remarkable deep-sea waves can be four times steeper than what was previously imagined, as is shown in research by TU Delft and other universities that was published in Nature today. A long time ago, stories were told of mysterious rogue waves that materialised out of nowhere and could topple even the largest ships. These waves lost their mythical character when the first rogue wave was recorded at the Draupner platform in the North Sea. In 2018, Ton van den Bremer and his colleagues at the Universities of Edinburgh and Oxford managed to recreate the Draupner wave in the lab for the first time ever, and this opportunity to study freak waves closely produced unexpected insights. Multiple waves push up water New research by the research consortium now shows that these remarkable waves do not break when traditional theories hold they should, the secret behind which lies in how they arise. Ton van den Bremer, expert on fluid mechanics at TU Delft and led the study, explains: “When most people think of waves, they think of the rolling waves you’d find on a beach. The type of wave we studied occurs in open water and arises when waves coming from multiple directions come together. When these waves with a high directional spread converge, the water is pushed upwards, forming a partially standing wave. An example of this is known as a crossing wave. How crossing waves arise Under certain conditions at sea, waves from multiple directions occur. This can happen in a place where two seas meet, or where winds suddenly change direction, as in a hurricane. When waves from two directions meet, a cross wave occurs, provided their directions are far enough apart. The study also shows that the further apart the directions are, the higher the resulting cross-wave. Travelling waves break when they reach a certain limit, this is when they reach their maximum steepness. The study shows that waves with a multidirectional spreading can get as much as 80% steeper than this limit before they start breaking, which means they can get almost twice as high as ‘normal waves’ before they start to break. Travelling wave (l) and a wave with high directional spreading (r) Breaking waves that grow Next, the researchers found another highly unusual phenomenon that defies existing theories, a phenomenon that is unprecedented according to Van den Bremer: “Once a conventional wave breaks, it forms a white cap, and there is no way back. But when a wave with a high directional spreading breaks, it can keep growing.” The study shows that these enormous waves can grow to twice their original steepness while breaking, which is already twice bigger than the conventional limit. Together, the waves can grow four times steeper than previously thought possible. Damage to offshore structures The knowledge that multidirectional waves can become as much as four times larger than was deemed possible can help design safer marine structures. "The three-dimensionality of waves is often overlooked in the design of offshore wind turbines and other structures in general; our findings suggest this leads to designs that are less reliable", says Mark McAllister of the University of Oxford, who led the experiments and is now a senior scientist at Wood Thilsted. Innovative vertical sensors made it possible to take accurate 3D measurements of waves. Innovative 3D measurement method A 3D measurement method developed in the FloWave lab paved the way for these new insights. “Conventional 2D wave measurement methods weren’t up to the task”, Van den Bremer explains, which is why the research group designed a new way to create 3D wave measurements. Ross Calvert of the University of Edinburgh: “This is the first time we've been able to measure wave heights at such high spatial resolution over such a big area, giving us a much more detailed understanding of complex wave breaking behaviour." FloWave Ocean Energy Research Facility in Edinburgh. The circular basin has a diameter of 25 metres and can be used to generate waves from multiple directions. Header image by: Fabien Duboc

Ensuring safe and quick food bike-delivery services in cities

Cyclists rushing to deliver food on time to hungry customers is an increasing problem in cities with the growing demand for fast home delivery services. This surge has resulted in more traffic in bike lanes, contributing to accidents and raising concerns about rider safety. In the framework of SINERGI project researchers like Yousef Maknoon are looking into solutions that will help boost logistic operations that are both efficient and safe. ‘Bike delivery services are a great way to transport goods from A to B in a green manner, replacing delivery cars or vans. These micro-delivery systems can really help make city logistics more sustainable,’ says logistics and modelling expert Yousef Maknoon, who is involved in developing real-time decision models for the SINERGI project. Besides looking into sustainability, the project aims to empower delivery providers to offer cost-efficient services, while prioritising the well-being of riders. ‘We want to help bring down the number of accidents,’ stresses Maknoon. Private and public stakeholders have joined to conduct pilot initiatives in the cities of Amsterdam, Shanghai, Singapore and Copenhagen. Yousef Maknoon Safe routing ‘To improve rider safety, the app automatically provides recommended routes when food delivery riders receive their task, helping them avoid dangerous intersections and busy streets. In Amsterdam, the goal is to develop a map that will show the safety of cycling infrastructure. The map is planned to be enriched with real-time information such weather conditions, busy days, and times of the week to not only improve delivery time prediction but also assess route safety in real time,’ explains Maknoon. ‘But everything depends on the cyclist's willingness to take the safer route. When a rider is paid per delivery, they might not be willing to take a longer route. Especially when they know the area well, it can be tempting to take a shorter route that may not always be the safest option.’ A survey held amongst 300 delivery riders found that they can be nudged to follow the recommended routes when they are compensated financially. Profit versus safety Maknoon: ‘What we also found is that paying an hourly fee, instead of paying per on-time delivery, promotes safer riding behaviour, like Just Eat Take​away does in the pilot in Amsterdam. However, other issues arise because riders might not be so motivated to deliver on time. Then you need other incentives to motivate efficiency among riders. Otherwise, customers might switch to other service providers. This puts the business model which is based on hourly payment and prioritize safety, under pressure.’ It seems now that delivery services need to make a trade-off between profit and safety. ‘With the SINERGI project we want to empower delivery providers to offer cost-efficient services while prioritising the well-being of riders.’ Government regulation Public authorities can, for example, improve road safety by enhancing infrastructure, such as building separate bicycle lanes.’ Delivery providers can introduce incentives for riders that compensate the extra time a longer, but safer, route might take. But this puts pressure on profitability and could cause micro-delivery logistics platforms to struggle or even go out of business. It is likely that government regulation will need to play a role in profit-driven societies, as safety risks being overshadowed. Fair delivery system This is also the case for ensuring a fair delivery system where all customers are serviced, whether they live in the busy city centre or the less densely populated countryside. Otherwise, customers who live farther away may not be serviced, as longer cycling times mean less money for riders when they are paid by commission. Riders can simply reject these orders and choose to deliver only to places where they think they can earn more. Human factor In this digitally connected world, we need to consider the human factor in real-time decision-making. The wellbeing of riders, their working conditions, and their quality of life are also important when we talk about making operational decisions. It is interesting to compare the four cities and how they manage the tension between cost-efficiency and safety, and to see what they can learn from each other. About SINERGI SINERGI is a three-year project that runs from 2023 to 2026. It involves thirteen research institutions, governmental authorities, and companies collaborating on a comprehensive framework to improve sustainable city logistics. The project aims to enable real-time management and strategic planning of efficient, safe and user-friendly delivery services. Besides Yousef Maknoon other researchers from TU-Delft involved are: Shadi Sharif Azadeh (project leader), Gonçalo Correia, Kuldeep Kavta and Dongyang Xia. Read more about the SINERGI project.