Five Vidi grants for TU Delft: from zig-zagging through computational barriers to clay-like orthopaedic implants

The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) has awarded Vidi grants worth EUR 800,000 to five researchers at TU Delft. A Vidi grant enables them to set up their own research group to develop their own innovative line of research.

Clay-like orthopaedic implants
Amir Zadpoor
Researchers use 3D printing to create orthopaedic implants that behave like clay and could be moulded to take the shape of the patient’s bones. Afterwards, the implants are locked in that shape (think of it as clay firing). The personalized shape of such implants will improve their fixation and, thus, longevity.

A tuneable platform to study quantum materials
Andrea Caviglia
Two-dimensional quantum materials offer exciting prospects for novel, energy-efficient information processing once fundamental questions are answered. Physicists exploit a new method to stack atomically thin layers rotated with respect to each other, resulting in a tuneable platform to study important quantum phenomena on pico- to femtosecond time scales.

Artificial intelligence for nanodevice design
Anton Akhmerov
The researchers will develop automated algorithms to create optimally functioning and robust quantum electronic devices. In that development they will need to overcome the imprecision of the device creation, and the natural variation occurring at the microscopic scale.

What does it take to break a composite laminate?
Frans van der Meer
Fibre reinforced composites can be designed in many variations. Every design needs to be tested to know when it breaks. Can this also be predicted? Researchers develop a detailed model that covers multiple scales. With new computer methods the computation time of the multiscale simulations remains practical.

Zig-Zagging through Computational Barriers
Joris Bierkens
It is an important open question for the field of statistics how computers can perform efficient computations with enormous amounts of data and complex models. The recently discovered ‘Zig-Zag process’ is a new fundamental building block for computational methods which are much faster. The researcher will develop this idea into a practical method supported by sound theoretical foundations.

A Vidi was also awarded to Rik Vos at the Erasmus MC, who is also attached to the Imaging Physics Department (AS)

Cardiac 3D re-perfusion imaging – QUANTO

H.J. (Rik) Vos (m) PhD, Erasmus MC
Biomedical Engineering. After hospital intervention for opening of clogged cardiac arteries, one-third of patients show no restored blood perfusion in the heart wall. The researchers will build a new echographic system to monitor the perfusion in the heart wall during the intervention, which enables patient-specific treatment for better health afterwards.