Listening tip: De ProfCast

Who is that chalk-spattered individual patiently explaining differential equations? Who is that man or woman struggling with the smartboard? And while we’re at it... where did the unbridled passion for blockchain originate? These are just three of the questions you will get answers to in the near future from listening to De ProfCast, a brand new podcast created by PhD candidate Marieke Kootte and Master’s student Tijs Ziere. In this monthly podcast, Marieke and Tijs will be talking to various EEMCS professors. What are they driven by? Where does their fascination with science come from?

Many students find this hard to visualise, but professors were students attending lectures once too. They were first-year students too, who at times must have asked themselves in sheer frustration: have I made the right choice? And they too felt the pressure of deadlines and exams. Yet sometimes, somehow, you do get the feeling that they are not quite of this world. ‘Our reason for making De ProfCast is that we wanted to reconcile the real and the perceived,’ initiator Tijs Ziere explains. ‘The objective of the podcast is to make students more aware of who it is that is addressing them in the lecture room. This is our way of creating closer ties between students and professors.’

Scoop

The first episode will feature Kees Vuik (Numerical Analysis). Vuik started his career in Delft as an Applied Mathematics student in 1977. That student has since become a professor, and the proud father of seven children. Kootte: ‘In the podcast with Kees we discuss not only super computers and how to forecast rain showers, but also being a father and the interaction between faith and science – are these two distinct worlds, or not? By asking these questions, we hope to give listeners a little glimpse of Kees’ life.’

Series

There will be a new episode on Spotify and iTunes every five weeks. The next ProfCast episodes will feature, among others, Koen Bertels (Quantum and Computer Engineering), Catholijn Jonker (Interactive Intelligence) and Joost de Groot (Linear Algebra, complex analysis). ‘But,’ says Ziere, ‘things are not yet carved in stone. If there is a professor that you – as an EEMCS student – would really like to know more about, please let us know via our website www.deprofcast.nl. We might just be inspired to make one more episode.’ The first episode is online; you will find it here.

This podcast is primarily in Dutch