Archive

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.

We don’t realize it, but loose strands of DNA end up in nature via our wastewater. As of yet, it is unclear how much this 'free-floating DNA' impacts environmental and public health. Researchers at Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) have now found a way to determine just how much potentially harmful DNA ends up in our wastewater. They have developed a method that can isolate such ‘free floating DNA’ from wastewater, which gives them the means to determine the extent of the problem. The results of their work will officially be printed in Water Research in February 2021, but have already been pre-published online.

Platform Bio-Economie consolidates its strategic reorientation towards becoming the leading industry organisation targeting the development of a fully renewable and sustainable, CO2-neutral society in which product chains are as circular and biobased as possible. Luuk van der Wielen with over 30 years of mixed academic/industrial experience in developing bioeconomy technology, business and policies has been appointed to chair the board.

The ERC has awarded a Consolidator Grant to Stan Brouns, Kristof Cools and Simon Gröblacher from TU Delft. With this support, they will be able to consolidate their teams and have farreaching impact. It was the first ERC Consolidator Grant application process that was conducted completely online.

Professor Ronald Hanson of the Faculty of Applied Sciences (AS) and the QuTech Institute has been appointed Distinguished Professor in Quantum Computing and Quantum Internet.

Doctors have to keep a close eye on babies that are born prematurely, and brain oxygenation is perhaps the most important thing to monitor. Up to 50 percent of premature babies suffer brain damage, leading to neurological problems. Researchers at Delft University of Technology have now developed a wireless sensor that monitors the health of the baby's brain in a simple, inexpensive and comfortable way for the child.

One of the challenges in optical imaging is imaging the inside of tissue in high resolution. Traditional methods allow us to look to a depth of approximately one millimetre. Researchers at Delft University of Technology have now developed a new method that can penetrate up to four times as deep: up to around four millimetres. The healthcare sector in particular may benefit from the new technique in the future.