Research News

Researchers from the Department of BioMechanical Engineering, have been committed to science communication for years, on their own initiative. That’s why the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) is rewarding these enthusiastic biomechanical engineers with the Pilot Fund Science Communication ‘Appreciated’ of 10.000 euros.

We’re all familiar with the step tracker these days. Now there’s something new: the stumble tracker. This invention by TU Delft is helping a trauma surgeon at Erasmus MC to measure whether people using a new kind of prosthetic leg stumble less frequently. ‘This partnership has a bright future.’

A parking lot with solar panels where renewable energy generation, electric charging and energy storage are cleverly integrated. In the Municipality of Dronten, the official opening of a parking lot with 1,100 solar panels is taking place today, which, in combination with a large battery, will make the town hall energy-neutral.

Researcher Chirlmin Joo of TU Delft will receive a VICI grant for developing a method to sequence proteins one at a time. He will receive 1.5 million euros from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO).

For the next ten years TU Delft will allocate 22 million euro to set up and shape an extensive Climate Action Programme, focusing not only on additional investments in research and education but also on improving the sustainability of TU Delft campus.

Zuid-Holland's economy and knowledge and innovation infrastructure will be strengthened thanks to investments from the National Growth Fund announced today by the demissionary government. The money will go towards improving accessibility, Health, Quantum, Green Power and Artificial Intelligence.

On September 1, 2020, part of the quay of the Grimburgwal in Amsterdam collapsed. The primary causes appear to be the different construction of the narrow quay, the locally deeper canal bed, and the weakening of masonry due to collisions. This is the result of the research conducted by a research team composed of experts from TU Delft, Deltares, AMS Institute, and SkyGEO, led by Mandy Korff (TU Delft/Deltares), on behalf of the City of Amsterdam. The full report with conclusions and recommendations for other quay walls in the city was published by the City of Amsterdam on April 8, 2021.

This week the Dutch project ABOARD (A personalized medicine approach for Alzheimer’s disease), a collaboration of more than thirty partners, has been launched. ABOARD aims to prepare for a future in which Alzheimer’s disease is stopped before dementia has started. ABOARD achieves this by improving diagnostic markers, developing personalized risk scores and by focusing on prevention through increased awareness of dementia and brain health.

Marien van der Meer will become Vice President Operations (VPO) in the Executive Board of TU Delft. The Supervisory Board has appointed Van der Meer as of 1 August 2021. She is currently a member of the Board of Directors/CFOO of the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Netherlands Cancer Institute.

Een bijna lege telefoon kan bij rampen het verschil betekenen tussen leven en dood. TU Delft onderzoeker Indushree Banerjee heeft daarom een nieuw energie-efficiënt en betrouwbaar noodcommunicatiesysteem ontworpen voor smartphones. Het systeem maximaliseert het aantal mensen dat gedurende een langere periode kan communiceren en kan daarmee levens redden in getroffen gebieden.

Researchers at TU Delft have expanded upon a clever trick that increases the speed of electron microscope imaging by a factor of twenty. A simple adjustment is all that is needed: applying a voltage to the specimen holder. Through this simple intervention, a specimen that the electron microscope would normally take a week to image can now be inspected in a single night or one working day.

The ventilation system in the Thialf ice stadium creates an airflow that affects the skaters. This is the conclusion of TU Delft aerodynamics researcher Alexander Spoelstra. He was commissioned by Thialf to closely map out the airflow, after skaters asked questions about the stadium's ventilation system. Spoelstra used a research set-up made up of lasers, helium bubbles and high-speed cameras. The technical report of the investigation was published online on 26 March.

In preparation for cell division, cells need to copy (‘replicate’) the DNA that they contain. A team of researchers from TU Delft, collaborating with investigators from the Francis Crick Institute in London, has now shown that the protein building blocks involved in the initial steps of DNA replication are mobile but reduce their speed at specific DNA sequences on the genome. Their findings, which will be published on 26 March in the open-access journal Nature Communications, were facilitated using an integrated approach involving biophysics and biochemistry that will propel new discoveries in the field.

How enviromentally friendly is yacht building actually? Can you compare one yacht to another? And how can we ensure that all yacht builders take the same approach, so that we can ultimately reduce the footprint of yachts?

Today's oceans contain 26-66 million tons of waste, with approximately 94% located on the seafloor. So far, collection efforts have focused mostly on surface waste, with only a few local efforts to gather underwater waste, always using human divers. No solution exists that exploits autonomous robots for underwater litter collection; the SeaClear project will develop the first. Check this animation to explore how are we planning to achieve this ambitious goal!