News

Two times Eurographics Medical Prize 2019 for EEMCS’ Intelligent systems department

Definitive place in the BIG law for Technical Medicine Professionals

Royal Honours for three TU Delft professors

TU Delft professors Jan Dirk Jansen, Lucas van Vliet and Miro Zeman all received Royal Honours this year.

Jenny Dankelman and Ronald Hanson become KNAW members

TU Delft professors Jenny Dankelman and Ronald Hanson are set to become members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). The KNAW chooses its members on the basis of their academic achievements. It currently has around 550 members. On Monday, 16 September 2019, nineteen new Academy members will be installed, including Dankelman and Hanson.

TU Delft, EUR and Erasmus MC plan to strengthen collaboration

Erasmus MC, Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) and Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) intend to structurally strengthen and scale up their scientific collaboration – specifically in the health field.

First phage bank in the Netherlands officially opened

Thanks to alumni of the Faculty of Applied Sciences (AS) and supporters of Delft University Fund, Dr.ir. Stan Brouns today, Tuesday 16 April, has opened the first phage bank in the Netherlands.

LED lamp automatically resets racing heart

Researchers at the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) and Delft University of Technology have found a way to reset a racing heart immediately and automatically by an implanted LED device. In the scientific journal Science Translational Medicine, they describe how their bioelectronic defibrillator works in the laboratory. It could be the first step towards a pain-free treatment for patients with atrial fibrillation.

A world first: Reinier de Graaf increases safety and efficiency with track and trace in the operating theatre

Doctor and PhD student Frederique Meeuwsen from BioMechanical Engineering conducted research on the potential application of RFID technology in the research theatre.

The unexplored dimensions of renewable energy

Solar power is a great way to produce renewable energy and provide off-the-grid areas in the world with electrification. The question is how solar powered energy systems can work on a local level. To gain insight on this, Abhigyan Singh studied energy exchanges in two rural villages in India and discovered that this goes beyond just monetary gain.

‘Healing’ water jets for cartilage damage in joints

Researchers discover mechanism disrupting CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing

The discovery of CRISPR-Cas9 has made gene editing very easy. Unfortunately, the molecular tool has recently been found to be less precise than previously assumed. It can lead to unwanted mutations in a cell’s DNA. Researchers at Delft University of Technology have now identified a mechanism that causes such mutations when CRISPR-Cas9 is used incorrectly. This can cause dormant genes to become expressed, which is potentially very dangerous. The researchers have created a checklist based on their findings. Using this checklist will prevent the harmful mechanism from being activated and makes gene editing using CRISPR-Cas9 safer.

Opening HollandPTC

On Friday 30 November, the festive opening celebration of HollandPTC will take place in the Prinsenhof museum in Delft. Recently patients are being treated with proton therapy, a new form of radiotherapy against cancer for the Netherlands, in the outpatient centre HollandPTC located on the campus of the TU Delft. Parallel to these treatments, TU Delft is working together in HollandPTC with the LUMC and Erasmus MC medical centres on innovations in the care of cancer patients. Treatment, education and research go hand in hand to achieve better and responsible care.

ERC Consolidator grant for Chirlmin Joo and Pouyan Boukany

This year, two ERC Consolidator grants have been awarded to TU Delft researchers. Both these researchers work at the Faculty of Applied Sciences. Dr. Pouyan Boukany from the Department of Chemical Engineering wants to learn when, how and why metastatic tumour cells detach form a tumour. Dr. Chirlmin Joo from the Department of Bionanoscience wants to develop a new gene editing tool based on a system found in a single-celled organism.

Robotic support improves rehabilitation

We are living longer and longer these days. And the older we get, the higher the chance of becoming afflicted with an age-related disease, such as stroke. As many as three million people have a stroke every year in Europe. There is a high probability (40%) that many of those who survive will not be able to walk by themselves, unassisted, after three weeks. At which point they will need rehabilitation. But if an increasing number of elderly people want to rehabilitate, then that’s going to put more and more pressure on therapists. Or will it? Probably not, according to Heike Vallery, professor of human motor augmentation at Delft University of Technology. She invented a robotic support system - the RYSEN™. - with a Swiss-Dutch consortium that is 3 metres wide and 10 metres long, which is fastened to the ceiling. RYSEN™ will be launched today by Motek.

Surgical tool inspired by parasitoid wasp

AS to coordinate two large new public private research programmes

NWO (The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research) has announced the new research programmes that will be part of its ‘Perspective for Top Sectors' funding programme. Six public-private programmes will receive a total of 28 million euros. This amount consists of NWO funding (19 million), plus investments by the companies and organisations involved (9 million). Applied Sciences is involved in three programmes and will act as the coordinator of two of these programmes.

TU Delft in five major new public-private research programmes

The NWO (Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research) has announced the new research programmes that will be part of its ‘Perspective for Top Sectors' funding programme which has a budget of 28 million euros. These research programmes will involve scientists working with businesses and civil-society organisations on new lines of research that transcend the boundaries of scientific disciplines. TU Delft is involved in five of the six programmes which have been approved.

Delft student team develops gene doping detection method and wins prizes in worldwide Synthetic Biology competition

TU Delft students have devised and developed a method for detecting gene doping. This method, called ADOPE (Advanced Detection of Performance Enhancement) has the potential to combat the abuse of gene therapy in sport. Through this project, the students in the iGEM team aim to highlight how important it is that synthetic biology is used safely. They presented their idea at last week’s International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition in Boston, winning prizes for their new application and product design.

Student-built Delft exoskeleton wins international Cybathlon

The new MARCH III by TU Delft student team Project MARCH has won the Cybathlon Experience in Düsseldorf, the international obstacle race for exoskeletons. Entrants from several countries competed in the test of robotic harnesses for people with paraplegia, ending on 29 September. Together with ‘pilot’ Sjaan Quirijns, who has had paraplegia since 2000, MARCH III achieved the fastest time and the highest number of points. Thanks to improvements to the suit and intensive training of its wearer, the team successfully completed a four-obstacle course in just under 9.5 minutes. Project MARCH gained particular plaudits for the independent functioning of its device.

NWO Spinoza Prize for Delft bionanoscientist Marileen Dogterom

Marileen Dogterom, Professor of Bionanoscience at TU Delft, has been awarded the NWO Spinoza Prize; the highest award in Dutch science. Dogterom carries out research into the dynamics in living cells and leads a consortium which is aiming to build an entirely artificial cell.

Improved ultrasound device makes images of carotid artery in real time

Researcher Maysam Shabanimotlagh has brought important improvements in ultrasound measurement a step closer. On Wednesday 12 September, he will be awarded his PhD at TU Delft for his work on this technology.

Veni for Jeremy Brown and Zoltán Perkó

NWO has announced the Veni recipients for 2018. Among them are seven Delft scientists, two of whom are from RST: Jeremy Brown and Zoltán Perkó. The Veni grants allow researchers who have recently obtained their PhD to conduct independent research and develop their ideas for a period of three years.

KWF proton research project for Holland PTC

Zoltán Perkó (Radiation, Science & Technology), together with Mischa Hoogeman (project leader, Erasmus MC) and Martijn Eenink (Holland Protonen Therapie Centrum) have been granted a KWF research project named PEARL (PrEcision of proton therapy increased by Advanced Robustness analysis).

Marcel Ottens’ group to participate in new International Training Network

As part of a large European biopharmaceutical consortium, the research group of Marcel Ottens will participate in a 4M€ Marie Curie International Training Network (ITN).

A Taste of the Food & Eating Design Lab

How our society deals with food is of crucial importance. Many societal challenges can be traced back to our relationship with food and eating. “From agricultural production and food waste to growing obesity and diabetes problems. Even mental health can be related to food.” Rick Schifferstein is director of the Food & Eating Design Lab at the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering. Here, researchers, students and companies aim to improve people’s interaction with their daily food and provide solutions that promote people’s health and wellbeing.