Stories

| TU Delft Stories |

Our researchers work every day on clever solutions for worldwide challenges, to change the world and make an impact.
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reading time: 3 min

Nature inspires new materials

Creating new materials by learning from nature. That’s what Mohammad J. Mirzaali is working on. He looks specifically at hard and soft transitions, which connect a hard bone to a piece of soft tissue in our bodies, for example.

reading time: 5 min

Tiny autonomous satellites in hot pursuit

It doesn’t sound very elegant, launching a bunch of satellites into space only to have them plummet back to earth. But, while falling, they will map the density of earth’s atmosphere – our shield against meteoroids and space debris. It also involves a level of autonomy and coordination that are essential for next generation earth observation technology and future deep space missions.

Levens redden met een eerlijk systeem voor rampencommunicatie

reading time: 4 min

We are all familiar with that uneasy feeling when your phone battery is low, the feeling of nearly being cut-off from communication possibilities. But what if your phone is nearly dead when disaster strikes and the battery of your phone literally can mean the difference between life and death? TU Delft researcher Indushree Banerjee has designed a novel fair emergency communication system that can save lives, by extending the battery life of smartphones.

Saving lives with a fair emergency communication system

reading time: 4 min

Autonomous robots protect the lives of emergency services in disasters

Search and rescue robots play an important role in rescue missions following disasters. Dr. Jamshidnejad is trying to make these robots even more intelligent so that they can make decisions autonomously in complex situations, thereby relieving rescue workers of life-threatening tasks and making rescue operations more efficient.

reading time: 4 min

Airplanes cross borders, so do their environmental effects

When it comes to the health effects of aviation, reducing total fuel burn may not necessarily be the optimal strategy. And, perhaps even more surprisingly, your flight from Amsterdam to Rome contributes to premature deaths in Asia. Dr. Irene Dedoussi models the global human health impact of air pollution from aviation emissions, helping both airplane designers and policy makers in weighing the various mitigation strategies to make aviation sustainable.

reading time: 4 min

Dutch lessons in the Chinese Pearl River Delta

The Pearl River Delta in the province of Guangdong in southern China is one of the most rapidly urbanising deltas in the world. More than sixty million people now live in an area approximately half the size of the Netherlands. The pace of developments, combined with the consequences of climate change, are creating a complex set of issues. How can a small country like the Netherlands help out?

Collection Climate Action

reading time: 4 min

Using smart technology to make fuel out of CO2

Too much CO2 in the air is currently causing a major problem: climate change. If it were up to Peyman Taheri, researcher at Materials Science and Engineering at TU Delft, we would be making smart use of surplus CO2 by converting it into a new fuel. A fuel that could power factories and send cars hurtling down the motorway.

reading time: min

Hit the roads safely with autonomous vehicles

When the time comes for autonomous cars to hit the roads, they’ll have to take other road users into account. For example, they’ll need to stop when a cyclist abruptly turns. Laura Ferranti is studying how this can be best achieved. Even when roads are packed with traffic.

reading time: 5 min

Good vibrations? Not for bridges

Due to poor monitoring, many structures are not maintained properly or on time. This results in safety risks and high costs for overdue maintenance. Researcher Alice Cicirello is working on better design and monitoring tools to ensure the secure construction of structures to extend their service life.

reading time: 5 min

Getting it straight: bridges are becoming circular

A large number of bridges in the Netherlands are scheduled for large-scale maintenance work or replacement. In order to minimise the effect on the environment and bring down costs researcher Wenjun Cao is working on a model to assess the potential for circularity of these bridges. This will help the Netherlands to achieve its aim of a fully Circular Economy (CE) by 2050.

reading time: 4 min

Help from on high to solve earthly problems

The ground beneath our feet is constantly moving and that can compromise the stability of buildings and infrastructure. Satellite data are helping Giorgia Giardina to chart the impact of subsurface activity on buildings in great detail so efficient measures to limit damage, cost and safety risks can be taken before it’s too late.

leestijd: 4 min

Op digitaal ziekenbezoek in Reinier de Graaf dankzij Delftse studenten

Vanwege strikte coronarichtlijnen is het voor veel patiënten in het Reinier de Graaf niet mogelijk om bezoek te ontvangen. Door alle drukte in het ziekenhuis kunnen verplegers oudere of zwakkere patiënten niet altijd helpen contact te hebben met hun naasten via welbekende middelen als WhatsApp of Skype. Delftse studenten ontwikkelden een tool die patiënt en familie toch bij elkaar brengt én het zorgpersoneel ontlast.

reading time: min

A scale model of the brain

We have ten times more brain cells in our head than the number of people on the earth. Technical neurobiologist Dimphna Meijer is conducting research into these neurons by making scale models of the networks they form. Ultimately she hopes to be able to translate this knowledge into clinical practice. “The neurobiologist of the future is also an engineer.”

reading time: 5, 5 min

Concrete examples: a new start for used concrete

Concrete has been one of the most widely used construction materials in the world for decades. Despite this, concrete rubble is recycled in only very small amounts worldwide even though sand and gravel are becoming increasingly scarce and their exploitation is damaging to nature. As part of a European research project, students and staff from the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment have come up with a range of ideas on what you can make using recycled concrete. From permeable paving to street furniture that can generate energy: concrete rubble has real potential.

reading time: 3 min

Aerospace students revive Leonardo da Vinci’s aerial screw (and turn it into an electric personal aerial vehicle for today)

In the midst of the corona pandemic, five aerospace engineering students from Delft University of Technology designed a vertical take-off and landing vehicle based on Leonardo da Vinci’s Aerial Screw and demonstrated its feasibility and physics.

reading time: 3 min

Campus mobility dashboard to monitor crowd behavior at TU Delft

For years, Distinguished Professor Smart Urban Mobility Serge Hoogendoorn had been dreaming of a sensor network for research into traffic flows. The fact that it would happen on the TU Delft campus was never part of the dream. A perfect case of “never waste a good crisis”.

'De lijntjes werden plots een stuk korter door corona'

reading time: 3 min

TPM student Zara-Vé van Tetterode was chair of the Delft Student Council when coronavirus arrived. She is very positive about the cooperation with the Executive Board during the crisis, but she also sees how coronavirus threatens the mental health of students.