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Laurens Valk

Faculty of Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering Laurens obtained his master’s double degree in Mechanical Engineering and in Systems & Control. He chose to conduct research in the area of control theory. Control theory deals with the behaviour of dynamical systems, aiming to develop methods to better understand and control these systems. Laurens generalized, improved and extended an energy-based control concept in the area of so-called passivity-based control. His innovative method enables distributed control design for a large class of applications, such as human‐machine and human‐swarm interaction. For example, using his approach, human operators can cooperate with and control the behaviour of entire swarms in a simple-to-use, intuitive, and safe way, even if the different individual dynamical systems that form the swarm (e.g. flexible robot arms, unmanned aerial vehicles, etc.) would be difficult to control directly by a human operator. Given the outstanding quality of the work and the high potential impact for applications, Laurens already got two papers published. His thesis was rewarded with the highest grade possible (10). On top of his academic excellence, Laurens is also a successful book author. His handbook on Lego Mindstorms is very popular, according to the Amazon Best Sellers Rank the #1 in Children’s Books, Computers & Technology, Hardware & Robotics. “It is impressive how much Laurens has learned about a highly challenging field in a very short time. The success in and dedication to accessible knowledge dissemination demonstrate both his didactic talent and his unpretentious nature.” Graduation committee – Prof. Heike Vallery, Dr Tamas Keviczky Thesis synopsis The research field of distributed control studies networks of interconnected systems, such as water networks or autonomous vehicle networks. In robotics, distributed control is about making multiple robots cooperate, such as to collaboratively lift and transport an object. In practice, many conventional control techniques are not directly applicable to robots with a limited number of actuators, also known as underactuated systems. This thesis presents techniques to enable stable distributed control of underactuated systems. Relying on a principle similar to the conservation of energy, we show that it is possible to stabilize individual underactuated systems, while simultaneously achieving a group objective such as driving or flying in a prescribed formation. The proposed technique is constructive, allowing a wide range of previously found solutions for individual robots to be used in a distributed control framework. The results have applications in industrial robotics as well as in safe human-robot interaction.

Anne van Lieren

Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering Anne completed her master’s degree in Strategic Product Design. For her thesis, she focussed on the concept of nudging, a psychological construct that proposes positive reinforcement and indirect suggestions as ways to influence the behaviour of individuals. In her thesis, Anne summarized and classified the majority of more than a hundred known nudging techniques. She executed seven case studies with service designers and their clients to analyse the value of different nudging techniques in a service design process. She developed the new and inspiring concept of rational overrides: micro moments of friction that can be used to disrupt mindless automatic reactions, prompt moments of reflection, and ultimately change behaviour. Anne used this concept to develop a theoretical framework and toolkit. The theoretical framework has been further developed in a research paper that Anne presented at a major international conference on design research. Furthermore, Anne managed to design a real usable service design toolkit, which was tested with real clients and proved to be a very usable solution to help designers in developing meaningful and positive behavioural change. She received an impressive 9.5 for her thesis “Anne took great care to communicate her work in a highly understandable and engaging (visual) language. An additional proof that she is a real designer.” Graduation committee - Prof. J.P.L. Schoormans, Dr G. Calabretta, Lavans Løvlie Thesis synopsis Organisations are increasingly keen to influence behaviour; from banks that urge people to save for future income to healthcare organisations that encourage healthier lifestyles. These organizations, and the designers that they hire to do the job, are struggling to change behaviour since it is complex, dynamic and very often not rational. In this graduation project, knowledge from behavioural sciences was incorporate in the service design practice. The research demonstrated that, next to the well-known nudging approach, micro moments of friction are crucial to changing behaviour. Moments of friction, also referred to as rational overrides, cause people to pause and notice what they’re doing automatically – and so enable them to make a more conscious decision. An alternative design approach and service design toolkit was created to enable designers and organizations to benefit from an enhanced ability to understand, predict and influence customer behaviour.

Jacopo Zamboni

Faculty of Aeropace Engineering Jacopo obtained his master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering. For his thesis he developed a method for the conceptual design of hybrid electric aircraft. Society demands future aircraft to be more fuel-efficient to limit their negative impact on our climate and still warrant a sustainable growth of the aviation industry. Jacopo developed a design methodology based on fundamental theories of flight, electrical engineering, and aircraft design. He demonstrated the versatility of his method by designing various future aircraft relying on different hybrid-electric architectures. By performing a thorough validation of each of the subcomponents of the methodology, he convinced the graduation committee of the validity of his results. Furthermore, Jacopo outlined three distinctive paths forward for hybrid-electric propulsion, with overall reductions in energy consumption ranging between 6% and 35% for the most conservative and most progressive technology assumptions, respectively. Jacopo received a 9 for his thesis and will present the contents of his work on the international AIAA SCITECH conference. “Jacopo is an excellent student with a deep passion for aviation and aircraft design in particular. His thesis is original, scientifically sound and very relevant with respect to developments within society” Graduation committee – Dr R. Vos, Prof. L. L. M. Veldhuis, P. C. Roling MSc, R. de Vries MSc Thesis synposis As the aviation sector keeps expanding, a growing interest in technologies that can reduce the dependency from non-renewable energy sources, both for economic and environmental reasons, has led researchers to investigate the opportunities offered by the electrification of flight. However, fully electric designs are not viable in the foreseeable future, as the performance characteristics of the electric devices are still not comparable with the achievements of fuel-burning propulsive systems. A proposed solution is to electrify only a fraction of the aircraft system while the technology maturity level is still advancing. The use of two energy sources opens the design space and allows for the experimentation with novel aircraft configurations that could lead to interesting energy consumption reductions. However, established methods for aircraft design become obsolete as the required complex configurations and control strategies cannot be modelled. Therefore, the objective of this project was the development of a conceptual design procedure that can be applied to size and analyse any hybrid electric architecture that remains simple enough to be usable at the start of the design.

Guillermo Ortiz Jiménez

Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics & Computer Science Guillermo obtained his master’s degree in Electrical Engineering. He chose a graduation project in the field of signal processing. He first dived into the topic of deep learning, a machine learning technique that teaches computers to learn by example. He examined whether he could extend classical deep learning techniques, meant to classify audio signals or images, to techniques useful for classifying signals supported by an irregular structure. Such learning methods can be used to classify complicated non-structured data such as measurements from body sensors. Guillermo managed to quickly develop a graph-convolutional deep network structure, which successfully classified the irregular signals. Guillermo also tackled the topic of sparse sensing, a technique to reduce the number of sensors in a sensing system. He established a complete sparse sensing framework. His work can, for example, help movie recommender systems (such as Netflix) to pick movies and users in a clever way to predict all preferences. Guillermo is the first to introduce such a framework and his work is truly ground-breaking. A conference paper has already been accepted for one of the main conferences of the IEEE Signal Processing Society. His thesis was rewarded with the highest possible grade (10). “With Guillermo you can always have very mature discussions and brainstorming sessions with interesting outcomes. He is one of the best MSc students I ever met.” Graduation committee - Prof. GJ.T. Leus, Dr S.P. Chepuri, Dr R. Hendriks, Dr D. Tax Thesis synposis In this new era of data science, Machine Learning (ML) and Signal Processing (SP) are becoming the key driving forces of the fourth industrial revolution. They are paving the way for the genesis of new disruptive applications across many fields, ranging from the biomedical sciences to the ICT and manufacturing industries. Most of the tools in ML and SP, however, can only be applied to signals residing on a regular grid, e.g. audio and image signals. In my thesis, hence, I extended these tools to signals that lie on irregular domains with a graph structure, e.g. traffic networks, 3D meshes, or social network graphs. In particular, I developed two mathematical frameworks: one for the classification of graph signals using tools from deep learning and one for their sampling. The applications of my thesis are diverse varying from brain signal decoding (classification) to the automatic recommendation of items in e-commerce (sampling).

Eleni Chronopoulou

Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment Eleni completed her master’s degree Architecture, Urbanism and Building Science in the summer of 2018. Her thesis explores how landscape architecture has the capacity to work as an integrative common ground, bringing together conflicting notions such as natural and engineered, formal and informal, concept and reality, process and form, the designed landscape and the practices of everyday life. Eleni researched the landscape of Kifissos, a heavily abused river area in Athens, Greece. This area has become part of the city’s infrastructural network, functioning as a highway and a sewage collector. The once natural dynamic river banks are now replaced with strict concrete boundaries, expressing a conceived necessity to dominate nature. Eleni describes the case of Kifissos as oppositions of uncontrolled dynamic natural processes and an over-controlled landscape. The oppositions are addressed in her graduation work through an alternative reading of the existing landscape sustained by theory, in search for latent conditions of coexistence. Extracted from their habitual settings, Eleni translated these conditions into design concepts. This combination has resulted in a flexible landscape architectural framework that integrates social, environmental, and technical aspects. Her thesis was rewarded with the highest possible grade (10). “Eleni’s thesis is an outstanding contribution to the discipline of landscape architecture, combining theory and design in a clever innovative way.” Graduation committee – Dr Inge Bobbink, Dr Esther Gramsbergen, Alexander de Ridder MSc Thesis synopsis Kifissos is an abused urban river in Athens: a heavily polluted landscape suffering from deadly flood events that have been escalating together with the city’s growth. The river’s containment within concrete boundaries reflects a conceived necessity to over-control unpredictable natural dynamics, reflecting an opposition between man and nature. Furthermore, the unnegotiable linearity of the river results in one more division: between rich, formally designed neighbourhoods and poor districts which have grown informally, outside the control of urban plans. To address these oppositions, the design starts from an excavation on the existing site, investigating the common grounds between conflicting notions: between natural and engineered, formal and informal, the designed landscape and the practices of everyday life. The extracted conditions of coexistence are translated into design tools able to incorporate social, environmental, and technical aspects closely related to the realities of the existing milieu.

James Gleeson: Branching processes as models of cascade dynamics on networks (Thursday)

James Gleeson: Branching processes as models of cascade dynamics on networks (Thursday) 16 December 2021 16:00 Network models may be applied to describe many complex systems, and in the era of online social networks the study of dynamics on networks is an important branch of computational social science. Cascade dynamics can occur when the state of a node is affected by the states of its neighbours in the network, for example when a Twitter user is inspired to retweet a message that she received from a user she follows, with one event (the retweet) potentially causing further events (retweets by followers of followers) in a chain reaction. In this talk I will review some mathematical models that can help us understand how social contagion (the spread of cultural fads and the viral diffusion of information) depends upon the structure of the social network and on the dynamics of human behaviour. Although the models are simple enough to allow for mathematical analysis, I will show examples where they can also provide good matches to empirical observations of cascades on social networks. James Gleeson Website University of Limerick

11/12 & 18/12 Christmas Workshops: making presents and decorations

Always wanted to analogue print and frame a picture, make some awesome Christmas ornaments, take your own crazy Christmas photo or crochet Christmas ornaments? During this elaborate weekend a wide variety of workshops will be offered to you. Choose the workshop that suits you best and make some nice presents or decorations!

New menu and takeaway

Starting today, you can enjoy a new menu with delicious December specials like fries & stew, flammkuchen with pumpkin and a different dutch mash pot every day! Also your favorites (like the Beet Me burger) are available again. When life gives you lemons... reintroduce the takeaway service! The corona measures have major consequences for the hospitality industry, and thus also for Cafe X. You are still very welcome, however, the COVID certificate and identification are mandatory and we close the doors at 17.00. The advantage of this is that the take-away is back in business. The full menu can be ordered from the Concept Store between 17:00 and 21:00. Ordering can also be done directly from your room via the online order form . Come taste it!

TPM AI Lab luncheon: the new DAI Labs

We would like to invite you to the next TPM AI Lab Luncheon that will take place on Tuesday, December 14th, 12:00–13:00. During this event, we will present the newest DAI labs with TPM partners.

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Early attempt at colour photography discovered

Delft University of Technology has unearthed six glass slides (1890 – 1910), which represent one of the earliest attempts at colour photography. The slides were found during an inventory conducted by the Programme Tailor-Made Approach to Faculty Collections at the Imaging Physics department of the Faculty of Applied Sciences. To view the images, technician Thim Zuidwijk reconstructed a diffraction chromoscope, revealing vivid depictions of a vase with a floral motif and a still life of a fruit basket alongside a banana and a wrapped citrus fruit.

How storm surge barriers can keep the Netherlands safe and liveable

A safe and liveable delta, who doesn't go for that? Storm surge barriers play a crucial role in this. Yet there are many choices to be made in the short term to keep the storm surge barriers in a good condition, to eventually cope with rising sea levels in the longer term. A new project receives funding from NWO for five years to explore the best routes to a liveable delta. Storm surge barriers, like the Maeslantkering and the Oosterscheldekering are essential for protecting the Netherlands from high water coming in from the sea. How long will these imposing structures remain effective bearing in mind sea level rise, decay of the structures and an altering surrounding area. In the short term, decisions will have to be taken on maintenance, while in the longer term, adaptation or replacement should be considered. Linking storm surge barriers with the delta Within the SSB-Δ (storm surge barrier delta) project, a diverse consortium will investigate under what circumstances storm surge barriers can keep the Netherlands safe and liveable. The consortium consists of the universities of Delft, Utrecht, and Rotterdam; the universities of applied sciences of Rotterdam and Zeeland; knowledge institutes Deltares and TNO, as well as Rijkswaterstaat, water boards and companies. Bram van Prooijen, associate professor at TU Delft, will lead the research: “Decisions on flood defences are important for the entire delta. The link between the hinterland and the flood defences needs to be made properly. During this project, we will have the opportunity to bring different areas of expertise together and strengthen each other.” Long term perspective Therefore, the research is not only about the technical lifespan of the barriers. It will also clarify how the delta is going to change and how society thinks about it, resulting in a guideline to on how and when decisions need to be taken in the short term, with a long term perspective. Van Prooijen cites an example of car maintenance: “Think of replacing the engine block. This is very expensive maintenance, but sometimes necessary to keep the car running safely. But is it worth the investment if you plan to buy a new car next year? Or if you prefer to travel by train? Important choices will have to be made for storm surge barriers. We want to provide a strong basis for that.” Informed decisions The project will reveal the possible pathways to a liveable delta, and how storm surge barriers fit into that. Van Prooijen: “That offers clarity, to make quick and better-informed decisions. Many trials run for a long time, with the outcome of this research we can decide which trials specifically are the best option to proceed with.” Future experts One of the storm surge barriers involved in the research is the Maeslantkering. This barrier is expected to last another fifty years or so. That may seem far away, Van Prooijen reasons, “but we need to train the experts who will decide on this now. Those are probably the PhD students on this project.”

What subject do you want to master?

Master’s Event (28 November 2024) Are you almost done with your bachelor's and orientating on a master's programme? During the online Master’s Event on the 28th of November, you will get all the information you need to make a conscious choice. There will be an in-depth session via Microsoft Teams about every TU Delft master’s programme. If you would rather visit an on campus event, you can join the next event on the 20th of February. Register now: https://www.tudelft.nl/masters-event

Apply to become a student fellow at Impact Studio’s Ideation lab!

Do you want to experience entrepreneurship? Are you curious about how exploring business opportunities work? Join the Ideation Lab ..

Merging like a human: TU Delft develops new model to help self-driving cars drive socially

Scientists at TU Delft have developed a new model that better describes human behaviour when merging into motorway traffic. Current models often assume that drivers are constantly trying to optimise their behaviour to reach their destination as quickly and safely as possible, but this is not always the case, says postdoctoral researcher Olger Siebinga.

Energy Hubs: Stories of Team Science

In this longread we talk with Peter Palensky, head of the department Electrical Sustainable Energy, and with Laura Ramirez Elizondo, Associate Professor Micro-grids, about the important role for energy hubs in the energy transition

The TU Delft Library – a driving force of open access publishing

With open publishing deeply ingrained in the DNA of TU Delft it is easy to overlook what happens behind the scenes. Joke Dales and Kees Moerman, both longtime employees of the TU Delft Library, have been involved from the start and they still provide abundant support.

Enrolment for new courses open on 13 November

The new courses will start from Monday 18 November. Enrolment for these starts from Wednesday 13 November at 08.00! In the second quarter, a new series of courses awaits you. You can find out more on the website. Maybe you already know that you want to attend your favourite course again or maybe you want to discover and try something new; it's all possible. Enrolments go fast Enrolment for our courses always runs fast, so don't wait too long or be surprised by a course where spots are still available! Enrolment closes Enrolment closes on Friday 22 November at 16.00.

Boost you Resillience

Develop yourself with the e-tool Gezondeboel Setbacks and challenges are a normal part of life, including student life. What you find challenging and how you deal with it is personal. It is important that you learn to deal with these challenges and grow from them. The Gezondeboel e-tool offers a wide range of online programmes that meet your development needs as a student. Think about topics such as stress, balance, decision making, planning, procrastination, fear of failure, perfectionism, feelings of loneliness and more. Use Gezondeboel as a self-help tool to strengthen your mental resilience. The programmes are suitable for everyone and offer practical tips for quick results. Choose a programme that suits you and follow it at your own pace, wherever and whenever you want - even via your mobile phone or tablet. You can follow as many programmes as you like, completely free and anonymously. Log in via the Student Portal using the link below. www.tudelft.nl/gezondeboel

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Month 2024: Aftermovie

Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion (EDI) Month took place at TU Delft throughout October 2024, with the theme "United for Change, Together We Grow." This month featured over 20 events and activities organized by more than 35 contributors, providing a valuable opportunity for hands-on workshops, training sessions, and open discussions on various topics: Inclusive communication Unconscious bias Ally skills Neurodiversity Intercultural teamwork Good practices in EDI Girls in Tech Queer emancipation Emotional intelligence at work Deep Democracy and Inclusion Inclusive education Aftermovie Thanks to all faculties, student associations, networks, Diversity & Inclusion office for making this month possible! In this short aftermovie , you can get a glimpse of some (of the many) highlights of this month!

Don’t forget to terminate your enrolment after the final part of your study

Your termination of registration does not happen automatically! Have you completed the final part of your study? Please be aware that you need to send a request to terminate your enrolment through Studielink as it will not be done automatically. When you terminate your enrolment at TU Delft, you are entitled to a refund of one twelfth of the annual tuition fee for each month of the academic year in which you are no longer enrolled, with the exception of termination as from July and August. Enrolment termination with retroactive effect is not possible. Be aware! If you are not enrolled and you still use educational or examination facilities (including taking exams) there will be financial consequences. It can also affect your student grants and/or student travel product. For more information, please check the Student Administration website: Termination of Enrolment (tudelft.nl)

Celebrating One Year of Work Package ‘Future Skills for Engineers and Scientists’

Work Package ‘Future Skills for Engineers and Scientists’, marked one year of work with the completion of our Future Competencies Report. The report consists of our analysis of student surveys, alumni surveys, and self-conducted interviews. Notably, it includes a taxonomy of future competencies and future challenges, with further explanation about specific terms and trends. Over the coming months, these competencies and challenges will form the foundation for a SWOT analysis that aims to determine areas that we, as an alliance, need to address to advance European and technological development. During this process, we will seek to further align with our other ENHANCE work packages, such as those on Future Learning pedagogies and Sustainable Entrepreneurship, and continue to engage key stakeholders in European education, government and industry. If you would like to receive a digital copy of the Future Competencies Report, please contact g.r.penny@tudelft.nl Upcoming Work Package 4 events: 6 November 2025, TU Delft – Work Package 4 ‘Future Skills for Engineers and Scientists’ and Work Package ‘Diversity, Impact and Dissemination’ workshop: A DEI Perspective on Future Engineering Competencies and Challenges. 13 and 14 February 2025, TU Delft – Annual Work Package 4 meeting.

Work Package ‘IT Infrastructure and Services’ meetings

On the 5th and the 6th of September, the TU Delft was hosing the meeting with the work package ‘IT Infrastructure and Services’ leads from RWTH Aachen to discuss IT requirements and solutions aimed at enhancing the learner’s journey and reducing administrative burdens. In addition to this visit from RWTH Aachen, ETH Zurich hosted the inaugural IT Knowledge Hub. The event was a resounding success, bringing together IT and Education officers to collaborate and gain a deeper understanding of the innovative IT improvements needed to better serve our universities and the ENHANCE Alliance. This gathering provided a fantastic opportunity for closer collaboration and innovation.
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9 researchers from ELLIS Unit Delft honoured with Fellows or Scholars title

TU Delft has participated in ELLIS since 2019, currently with over 30 active members within the ELLIS Unit Delft. A total of nine researchers have recently been honour with an ELLIS Fellow or Scholar title.

A rudimentary quantum network link between Dutch cities

An international research team led by QuTech has demonstrated a network connection between quantum processors over metropolitan distances. Their result marks a key advance from early research networks in the lab towards a future quantum internet. The team developed fully independently operating nodes and integrated these with deployed optical internet fibre, enabling a 25 km quantum link. The researchers published their findings in Science Advances.

Bachelor students develop model to better understand the chemical process of renewable fuels

A group of TU Delft bachelor students has developed, as part of the students’ minor in Computational Science and Engineering, a new model that accurately predicts the molecular properties of alkanes. This knowledge is crucial for the development of renewable fuels.

Pioneering Tech: GovTech, Generative AI, and the hydrogen transition

This week, the latest edition of Pioneering Tech has been released. The cover story of this edition focuses on GovTech: the collaborative development of government technology by public and private sectors. GovTech can better safeguard public values and reduce government reliance on 'Big Tech' companies like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft.

Battling the data hunger of Big Tech

Devices like smartphones and laptops have become indispensable in our daily lives. By using them, we share vast amounts of data, such as photos, personal information, and location details. Despite protective legislation, large tech companies have increasing control over how data is gathered and processed, expanding their power. TU Delft researchers Seda Gürses and Lilika Markatou are working to expose the practices of Big Tech and develop new privacy protocols and systems to curb this power and better protect users.

How do we keep the internet, and therefore Dutch and European society, safe?

Scientific research is rarely performed by an individual scientist; it usually involves the work of an entire team of people. Besides this, some topics and challenges are so complex and multifaceted that they affect various faculties and call for multidisciplinary approaches. At TU Delft, a team of researchers and support staff have joined forces to tackle the issue of improving cybersecurity and detecting cybercrime. How do we keep the internet, and therefore Dutch and European society, safe?

Researchers hand over Position Paper to Tweede Kamer

On behalf of the TU Delft PowerWeb Institute, researchers Kenneth Brunninx and Simon Tindemans are handing over a Position Paper to the Dutch Parliament on 14 November 2024, with a possible solution to the major grid capacity problems that are increasingly cropping up in the Netherlands. The Netherlands is unlikely to meet the 2030 climate targets, and one of the reasons for this is that large industry cannot switch to electricity fast enough, partly because of increasingly frequent problems around grid capacity and grid congestion. In all likelihood, those problems will actually increase this decade before they can decrease, the researchers argue. The solution offered by the TU Delft PowerWeb Institute researchers is the ‘flexible backstop’. With a flexible backstop, the current capacity of the power grid can be used more efficiently without sacrificing safety or reliability. A flexible backstop is a safety mechanism that automatically and quickly reduces the amount of electricity that an electric unit can draw from the grid (an electric charging station or a heat pump) or deliver (a PV installation). It is a small device connected or built into an electrical unit, such as a charging station or heat pump, that ‘communicates’ with the distribution network operator. In case of extreme stress on the network, the network operator sends a signal to the device to limit the amount of power. Germany recently introduced a similar system with electric charging stations. The backstop would be activated only in periods of acute congestion problems and could help prevent the last resort measure, which is cutting off electricity to users. ‘Upgrading the electricity network remains essential, but in practice it will take years. So there is a need for short-term solutions that can be integrated into long-term planning. We, the members of the TU Delft PowerWeb Institute, call on the government, network operators and regulator to explore the flexible backstop as an additional grid security measure,’ they said. The entire Paper can be read here . Kenneth Brunninx Associate Professor at the Faculty of Engineering, Governance and Management, where he uses quantitative models to evaluate energy policy and market design with the aim of reducing CO2 emissions. Simon Tindemans is Associate Professor in the Intelligent Electrical Power Grids group at Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science. His research interests include uncertainty and risk management for power grids. TU Delft PowerWeb Institute is a community of researchers who are investigating how to make renewable energy systems reliable, future proof and accessible to everyone.