Peter Hamersma is stepping down as MST program director

Peter Hamersma looks back on a period of 18 years in which major changes took place in education. He started in 2002 as one of the two program directors of Applied Sciences. In that year the bachelor-master system was introduced and it was his responsibility to split the program into two programs. Looking back, he is most proud that both the bachelor and master programs have been a success. The Chemical Engineering master's degree quickly attracted many foreign students and was able to compete with many renowned foreign universities.

The bachelor was a different story. When he arrived, the Faculties of Science in Leiden and TNW in Delft had set up a new bachelor's program called Sustainable Molecular Science and Technology (SMST). At that time there were still the bachelor's degrees in Chemical Engineering & Bioprocess Technology (STBT) in Delft and the bachelor's in Chemistry. It was therefore a great challenge to merge these three courses into one course. The bachelor Molecular Science and Technology was started in 2006. A training that he has worked on with heart and soul and he is proud of the result: a vibrant training with an annual intake of approximately 180 students.

Although Peter retired on September 1st, he is still active for two days to both train his successor Volkert van Steijn and replace a colleague who is currently on sick leave. An advice he gives to his successor is: “choose the best of the two universities and create your own course!”.