Archive

The Reactor Institute Delft (RID), the nuclear research reactor at TU Delft, has been selected as a Collaborating Centre of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for the fourth time. The IAEA and RID have agreed to expand their area of cooperation in Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) to neutron beam-based methodologies – a key technique in materials research, biology and medicine.

Er wordt hard gewerkt aan methodes om CO₂ af te vangen uit de atmosfeer, om op die manier klimaatverandering tegen te gaan. Naast bestaande methodes met giftige oplosmiddelen, zijn er nu elektrochemische technieken in opkomst die kunnen werken met duurzame elektriciteit. De Delftse onderzoeksgroep van David Vermaas analyseerde samen met Wetsus en Caltech deze verschillende duurzame methodes om CO₂ af te vangen en vergeleek ze voor het eerst met elkaar. Daarnaast beschreven de onderzoekers ook welke methodes de meeste potentie hebben om grootschalige CO₂-afvang mogelijk te maken. Hun paper verscheen onlangs in het wetenschappelijke tijdschrift Energy & Environmental Science.

Ron Haaksman, beloved teacher of physics experiments at Applied Sciences, has been awarded this year's J.B. Westerdijk Prize. Ron was nominated by the Vereniging voor Technische Physica (VvTP), the study association of Applied Physics, and received the prize during the Faculty's New Year's Breakfast on Monday, January 11, 2021.

Biotechnologists at Delft University of Technology have built an artificial chromosome in yeast. The chromosome can exist alongside the natural yeast chromosomes, and serves as a platform to safely and easily add new functions to the micro-organism. Researchers can use the artificial chromosome to convert yeast cells into living factories capable of producing useful chemicals and even medicines.

During the New Year's breakfast, the new name for Room E in Building 22 was unveiled. It is now called the 'Mooijzaal'. Professor Hans Mooij (1941) is without a doubt one of the most influential and successful Dutch scientists of the past decades.

Frank Hollmann (Biotechnology) has been awarded a Proof of Concept grant by the European Research Council. He is one of 55 ERC grant holders that are set to receive top-up funding to explore the commercial or innovation potential of the results of their EU-funded research.

We are one step closer to Luminous Glass. On December 14th 2020, Evert Merkx from the department of Radiation Science & Technology (RST) successfully defended his PhD thesis and the accompanying propositions. After a rigorous examination, the committee decided to award Evert the PhD cum laude. ‘Cum laude’ is the highest honor TU Delft can bestow upon PhDs, awarded only to the top 5% of PhD students.

Researchers in Delft have developed at catalyst that is even effective in negligible amounts. The form and durability of the catalyst mean that it lasts much longer in reactions, saving a great deal of energy, waste and costs. The results were published in Nature Communications.

Every year, people all over the world try to make the biggest artificial Christmas tree. Like the Gubbio Christmas Tree, formed by thousands of lights on the slopes of Mount Ingino. Or the illumination of the 372-metre high transmission mast at Lopik in The Netherlands. Maura Willems, a student of Applied Physics at Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), decided to do the opposite. She created what is probably the world’s smallest Christmas tree.