Paul Breedveld best lecturer of 2021 - 2022

‘It starts with a spark’

The success behind his way of teaching is enthusiasm: Paul Breedveld takes immense pleasure in teaching his course. He designed the course a few years ago with a number of colleagues. The aim was to teach students to design better by looking at ingenious existing designs and learning to understand how they work. Many machines are like a polder model in which almost all aspects of mechanical engineering are incorporated in a wonderfully integrated whole. The trick is to learn to look through that complexity to see the essence of how it works. Students love the stories about the professor tackling a problem with a screwdriver and how things sometimes go wrong. That appeals to them a lot. ‘I’m actually a student too, I’m just 30 years older,’ says Paul. He believes that it all starts with a spark, and if manage to make people enthusiastic with that, they will learn on their own. The most important thing is to transfer the spark, and the actual transfer of knowledge will happen by itself a bit further down the line.

BSA helps to make choices

When asked if Paul has seen the students change, he replies: ‘The students have not changed. They are just as motivated and driven as they were 10 to 15 years ago. What has changed is that you can now find almost everything on the internet. It used to be easier to think for yourself, because otherwise you had to go all the way to the library.’

Years ago, you still had the ‘eternal student’; but since the ‘hard cut-off point’ and the ‘binding recommendation on the continuation of studies (BSA)’ were introduced, this is no longer possible. Of course, this puts more pressure on the students, but on the other hand, it also protects them because it forces them to make choices and not get stuck in a study that’s actually too complicated. Indeed, Paul thinks that this has improved things.

Career

When asked how his career went, he is clear: ‘I came here to study in 1987 and never really left.’ Paul started as a mechanical engineering student. At the time, the programme was so boring the first year, with months of courses on rivets and bolts, that he considered quitting. Only in the second year did he finally get a course on ‘how a CD player works, with very interesting mechatronic designs.’ That's what he was there for, and that’s when he finally became enthusiastic. After that, he did his PhD and Postdoc at 3mE and went on to become a professor.

The main reason he stayed at 3mE is that his group develops many special medical instruments inspired by smart solutions in nature. At TU Delft’s DEMO central workshop, he has two experienced instrument-makers working full time just for his group. The smallest and most complicated parts can be made and assembled here, allowing them to create truly cutting-edge technology in teams of researchers and instrument-makers. Few universities have these facilities. ‘When you have a mechanical design group, there isn’t really any reason to go anywhere else.’