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Fighting wildfires with AI and simulations

Many Mediterranean countries suffer destructive and even deadly fires every year. For example, in August 2023 Greece saw much of its native forests incinerated by the immensely destructive Dadia wildfires. How will we protect people, nature, and infrastructure? Konstantinos Karalidis, shortened to Kostas, used his MSc thesis at the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment to investigate the possibility of using AI-enhanced fire detection and prediction models. “This is something which can be done now, not some utopian vision.”

Resonance between brain and mind for better design

Caiseal Beardow, master’s student at TU Delft’s Faculty of Industrial Design, built an audio-visual installation that explores how brain and mind respond to subtle changes in a landscape of light and sound that test subjects experience in her installation.

An algorithm for the perfect photograph

The rise of smartphones has made photography accessible to everyone, but this has not necessarily resulted in better photographs, as a quick look on Instagram or Facebook can confirm: there is a huge difference between being able to take photographs and being a good photographer. But what if this difference was eliminated? Thomas Saulou at TU Delft is working on software that can make this possible.

AI for all students at TU Delft

All bachelor students are being offered the chance to choose the AI minor in Delft this academic year – the first time this has been possible. The minor takes six months and yields 30 credits, and just as importantly, it prepares students for a digital future.
Slimme chatbots als goede raadgever voor angst

Intelligent chatbots as anxiety counsellors

Chatbots, on eHealth apps, have the potential to support people suffering from anxiety and other mental disorders. However, today’s chatbots still need to be sufficiently developed. For her Master’s thesis, Maria Chiara Mazza investigated how recognising students' linguistic patterns and personality could help improve the workings of personalized-chatbots. Her thesis secured her election as the Best Graduate in the Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management.

Analysing firefighter calls on New Year’s Eve

At present an active societal debate is going on in the Netherlands whether consumer fireworks should be banned. The reason: increasing violence directed at first aid responders, annually increasing arson and damage to public and private property. Researchers Mikhail Sirenko, Trivik Verma, and Igor Nikolic decided to analyse the firefighter calls and support the debate with facts and figures.

Breaking down barriers to open science step by step

The call for transparency is growing both from within and outside the scientific community. Yet public sharing of research data is not yet taken for granted. Open science advocate Anneke Zuiderwijk is researching and developing tools to help improve sharing, availability and use of data and to make it easier. Thereby, she hopes that the social value of open science will grow and be utilised in more ways.

Artificial intelligence with a moral compass

The rapid development of artificial intelligence brings its own set of new ethical challenges. In her PhD research, Andreia Martinho is trying to bring the ultra-theoretical world of ethics and the practice of artificial intelligence closer together.

Innovation needs a place to grow

Mitigating the impact of climate change, facilitating the energy transition, solving the housing crisis… The built environment needs to address pretty big challenges, which ask for innovative solutions. Students at the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment have plenty of good ideas to create the necessary innovations, but how can their ideas successfully evolve?