Archive

Tamas Keviczky, hoogleraar Networked Cyber-Physical Systems and a team of researchers and students from TU Delft in cooperation with the companies Van der Hoeven Horticultural Projects, Keygene and Hoogendoorn Growth Management has won the 2nd International Autonomous Greenhouse Challenge. Five teams participated, the Automatoes team, with the help of advanced data-driven control algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI), not only achieved the best tomato harvest after six months, but also scored best on sustainability in a fully automated greenhouse.

Researchers at the Department of Biomechanical Engineering of Delft University of Technology have created a new class of metamaterials that can dynamically switch their mechanical behaviour. It may form the basis for practical applications such as fall-protective clothing for the elderly. The results are to appear in the journal Science Advances on 17 June.

At the PME department, a micro-sized pipette probe has been developed for handling multiple liquids. It is the first time that such a small probe can dose fluid volume, and simultaneously control the concentration of particles inside the fluid.

The Embassy of Mexico in the Netherlands received the prototype of a mechanical ventilator developed by Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) within the framework of its Project Inspiration. The prototype will be lent to the government of Mexico to support its efforts in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Today TU Delft launched eight new 'TU Delft AI Labs'. The goal is to use artificial intelligence (AI) to accelerate scientific progress. The labs bring together scientists doing research in AI and with AI.

Tamás Keviczky appointed full professor Networked Cyber-Physical Systems. Tamás Keviczky joined the Delft Center for Systems and Control in 2007 and has worked there as an associate professor since 2015.

A project team of scientists active in the Medical Delta region is testing the first prototypes of a ventilator consisting entirely of standard parts. These parts are locally stocked almost everywhere in the world and can be made by hundreds of manufacturers. As a result, the ventilator can in many cases be assembled locally. The design hopes to respond to the demand for respiratory equipment and the logistical problems that exist due to a shortage of specific parts.

According to professor Jan Klein, authority in the field of patient safety, the number of calamities hardly decreases.

For people who are paralyzed and unable to move, communication is difficult. Or can you also control a computer with your thoughts?

Due to the restrictive corona measures, the design project of the first-year Mechanical Engineering looks very different this year. What if you are no longer allowed to get together and work, and if you can’t build and test a design in the workshop?

Bart van Trigt is researching how to reduce injuries among athletes, especially baseball and tennis players.

We deeply regret to inform you that two students from our faculty were involved in the tragic surfing accident on Monday 11 May in Scheveningen.

This Wednesday May 6th, Tepitome ‘Tope’ Agbana successfully defended his PhD on ‘Smart Optics Against Smart Parasites’, at Delft University of Technology (3ME faculty). The defence took place at the Senate room of the Aula while four other committee members joined via Skype . Agbana’s research concerns the early detection of malaria, which is the leading cause of death among pregnant women and young children: 11% of maternal and 20% of under–five deaths are attributed to malaria every year.

In a very short period of time, students involved in OperationAIR have successfully developed an emergency ventilator for coronavirus patients. Following the necessary test procedures, the design of the AIRone – including all related documentation – has now been released online so that other countries and initiatives can also benefit from it.

The shortages of personal protective equipment are increasing the pressure on the healthcare system in the fight against COVID-19. In collaboration with Pieter van der Staay, FLEX/design, Delmic, Star-shl diagnostic centres and Scala Scientific, a team of TU Delft students have developed a smart shielding wall that relieves care providers of time-consuming and complicated cleaning protocols.

The researchers of Project Inspiration have made all of the designs for their mechanical ventilator available worldwide. In this way, the team hope to reduce the shortage of ventilators in the Netherlands and abroad. In addition, a test model has been prepared, and it will soon be sent to Guatemala.

Scientific research into the world-famous painting by Johannes Vermeer, known as the 'Girl with a Pearl Earring', has yielded new insights. TU Delft researchers played an important role in making discoveries about the brushwork, the use of pigments and how Vermeer built up his painting with various layers of paint.

In the early morning of 22 April 2020, our dear former colleague professor Barend Thijsse passed away after a short illness as a result of lung cancer. Barend was 69 years old.

The corona pandemic has caused a shortage of protection equipment, especially face masks. TU Delft researchers and students are ramping up testing facilities in ProjectMask.

Today, a team of Delft researchers and students from the BioMechanical Engineering department is launching a new type of ventilator that is purely mechanical and which you could easily construct and repair yourself. The team borrowed a 1960s ventilator from Rijksmuseum Boerhaave and used it as inspiration. As it works mechanically, no electronics are required. This is particularly advantageous since its production is not dependent on the – now uncertain – supply of parts from China.

Amir Zadpoor and a team of scientists from the BioMechanical Engineering department are testing the first prototypes of a ventilator that consists entirely of standard parts. These parts are available locally almost all over the world and can be produced by hundreds of manufacturers. This means that, in many cases, the ventilator can be assembled locally. It is hoped that the design will be able to respond to the demand for ventilators and offer a solution to the logistical problems resulting from a shortage of specific components.

Arjo Loeve and his research colleagues at TU Delft’s Department of BioMechanical Engineering are working with the Jeroen Bosch Hospital and the Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences on a new pulse oximeter that is easy and inexpensive to produce. The pulse oximeter is a crucial measurement tool that monitors the heartbeat and amount of oxygen in the blood while COVID-19 patients are being treated. The aim of the research is to counteract the impending shortage of this tool.

NWO has awarded researchers Remco Hartkamp and Burak Eral from the Department of Process & Energy a LIFT (Launchpad for Innovative Technology) grant for their research on selectively extracting ionic contaminants from water with the aid of porous electrodes via a process called capacitive deionization. The aim of the research is to develop a solution for selectively removing ionic contaminants in water.

The location of a crime is usually very precisely mapped. A new digital measuring instrument prevents traces from being erased.

Researchers from the Faculty of Mechanical, Maritime & Materials Engineering (3mE) are sharing the installation for testing face masks in a publication. The researchers use the test installation to test, among other things, whether the materials used and the fit of the masks meet European safety standards. You will find all the last updates and publications on www.projectmask.nl

Jerry Westerweel, professor of fluid mechanics at the Department of Process and Energy has received an ERC Advanced Grant for his research on impulsive flows. These are flows of air or a liquid around objects that undergo a strong and sudden motion change. Little is known about the fluid forces during these sudden motions. The aim of this research is to gain insight into the fundamental aspects and physical properties of these impulsive flows.

In the fight against the 'Corona shortage’ of face masks, John van den Dobbelsteen and Tim Horeman, researchers at the Department of BioMechanical Engineering department, and with lab manager Rob Luttjeboer, developed a successful way to test reused sterilised surgical masks and surgical masks made of new materials.

This week, under the leadership of Director of Studies for Technical Medicine Professor Jaap Harlaar, a group of Master’s students in Technical Medicine launched the OperationAIR initiative with the objective of developing a simple and relatively inexpensive ventilator as quickly as possible.

The research consortium of the European Union-funded project ADREM (Adaptable Reactors for Resource- and Energy-Efficient Methane Valorisation), led by Andrzej Stankiewicz, TUD Professor of Process Intensification, successfully developed highly innovative, economically attractive and resource- and energy-efficient reactor concepts for boosting resource and energy efficiency in process industries.

Container ships that aren’t fully loaded, congested locks resulting in long waits for vessels, suboptimal navigation of ships on rivers and fully loaded ships that cannot cope with low water levels. These are common problems on inland waterways. The Horizon 2020 programme ‘Novel inland waterway transport concepts for moving freight effectively’ (NOVIMOVE) is going to use a European grant of almost 9 million euros to conduct research on how to improve the logistics of this transport system.

Last December, a ship with 95 women sailed to Antarctica. PhD student Andrea Mangel Raventos was one of them. What were her experiences and what will she bring back to Delft?

Experts from TU Delft are working with an international consortium on a new martensitic steel grade for automotive applications: QPInox steel. This is just as strong as all regular steels so far and - as the name says - "inox", so stainless. How this is possible, and what that means for recycling, says Professor Maria Santofimia Navarro.

NWO has awarded almost 6 million euros to nine proposals in the ‘Blue Route’ programme in the Water & Maritime top sector. Six of the nine grants are going to TU Delft, at the Department of Maritime and Transport Technology.

Graphene is well-known for its remarkable electronic, mechanical and thermal properties, but industrial production of high-quality graphene is very challenging. A research team at Delft University of Technology has now developed a mathematical model that can be used to guide the large-scale production of these ultrathin layers of carbon. The findings were published this week in The Journal of Chemical Physics.

If we want to keep healthcare affordable and accessible, then we really need technology. The introduction of this must then be done in a way that does justice to the values of patients.

The use of technology is unavoidable to keep healthcare affordable and accessible, but its implementation must go hand in hand with respect for patient values, says trauma surgeon Maarten van der Elst. He has been appointed to TU Delft’s Reinier de Graaf chair for the coming five years and is holding his inaugural address on 4 March.

Going by the name H2 Coach Boat, TU Delft is joining a consortium consisting of maritime companies, the Sailing Innovation Centre and the Watersportverbond (Water Sports Federation) to develop a clean coach boat for the sport of sailing, with propulsion based on hydrogen in combination with electricity. The aim is to drastically reduce carbon emissions in the sport of sailing. Klaas Visser, researcher in Marine Engineering at TU Delft is leading the research team of maritime students who have completed a feasibility study, among other things, in cooperation with several companies from the marine sector and who are focusing on reducing boat emissions.