Suellen Pereira Espíndola (TU Delft) and Hans Huybrighs (ESA) winners of the Delfts FameLab heat

On Wednesday 3 April, nine researchers battled with each other for a place in the Dutch finals of the international FameLab competition. They had to present their own research in a three-minute pitch, without the aid of slides. Suellen Pereira Espíndola (TU Delft) won the audience vote and Hans Huybrighs (ESA) the jury vote. They will be going on to the Dutch FameLab finals on the 9th of May, in Utrecht.

Toilet paper

‘How can we mine resources from waste and wastewater and boost the circular economy’ was the question Pereira Espíndola focussed on in her talk entitled ‘The Secret Life of Toilet Paper’. In particular she talked about how we can retrieve tiny crystals from the cellulose fibers in used toilet paper to make a very strong material, which can be used in anything from jewellery to bullet proof vests.

Icy moon of Jupiter

Huybrighs is working on a space mission to Europa in order to get to know more about the composition of the inside of this icy moon of Jupiter. In his talk entitled ‘Europa: a Taste of an Extra-terrestrial Ocean’, he used a can of air freshener to give an impression of the way liquid escapes the surface of Europa.

About FameLab

FameLab aims to discover charismatic, up-and-coming scientists who inspire people to see the world from a new perspective… in just three minutes! Since its birth at the Cheltenham Science Festival in 2005, FameLab has grown into arguably the world’s leading science communication competition. A partnership with the British Council (since 2007) made FameLab expand to 31 different countries. With more than 9000 young scientists and engineers participating so far.

FameLab started in the Netherlands in 2014 and already boasts an amazing network of 50+ science communicators, all skilled and committed to sharing their work and knowledge with public audiences nationally and internationally.

More information

For more information about the two winners, FameLab and the other contestants check:
<link famelab contestants suellen-pereira-espindola>

www.tudelft.nl/famelab/contestants/suellen-pereira-espindola/

www.tudelft.nl/famelab/contestants/hans-huybrighs/