News in Brief - Delta 5

Delft icon
TU Delft staffers Bob Ursem and Marco Waas are two of the nine people nominated for the title, ‘Delft Icon 2010’, Delft municipality has announced. Ursem, the director of TU Delft’s Botanical Garden and employee of the faculty of Applied Sciences, was nominated for his 'meritorious efforts in testing fine particle magnets'. Waas, dean of the 3mE faculty and chairman of YesDelft, was especially nominated for his efforts on behalf of YesDelft. The other nominees for the title include: Ehsan Turabaz of Ikea; Rutger de Graaf of Deltasync; Joris Kleinveld of Auxilium; Ciar Holstein, a aerospace engineering student at InHolland University; Gerwin Hoogendoorn of Senz Umbrellas; Francine Houben of Mecanoo architects; and Nina Voets of Stichting Ciccionina. The winner will be announced on 1 March 2010.

Pay pal
TU Delft is processing and paying invoices twice as quickly as in 2006/07, when it took an average of 59 days to process an invoice. At present, the TU processes invoices within thirty days after reception; moreover, invoices are paid on average after 23 days, compared to 47 days previously. “The number of invoices being paid within the specified time period is increasing”, confirms Fred Rens, a TU Delft financial manager.

Blue moon
As part of a cost-saving initiative aimed at reducing the United States’ fiscal deficit, president Barack Obama has scrapped US plans to return astronauts to the moon. The new plan put forward by president Obama this week kills off the costly constellation program of new rockets and spacecraft initiated under the previous Bush administration. Obama officials said the constellation program was behind schedule, over budget, a waste of resources and less important than other space investments.

Innovation
Which technology developed at TU Delft has the most commercial potential? On Friday, February 5, from 13.20-18.30 hours, six teams will present their technological inventions during the ‘Turning technology into business’ event. Some of the new inventions being presented include, innovative building materials, propulsion technology and multi-bubble technology. At around 18.00 hours, the jury will announce the winner at YesDelft. The event will be held in the Wim Crouwelzaal, at the faculty of Industrial Design Engineering.

Vici grant
The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) has awarded a Vici grant to professor Nynke Dekker, of the bionanoscience  department (Kavli Institute of Nanoscience). Dekker will receive 1.5 million euro for the development of techniques in which individual molecules can be observed inside a living cell. This could potentially lead to researchers gaining a better understanding of DNA’s copying mechanism, which could have important applications in cancer research.

Bionanoscience
TU Delft’s Executive Board is interested in purchasing the so-called ‘K-building’, which is a former TNO building situated in the ‘courtyard’ of the faculty of Applied Sciences (AS) on the Mekelpark/Van der Waalsweg. If purchased this building would become the home of the new AS department, Bionanoscience. The Executive Board believes this building is an ideal location for bionanoscience, as the building already contains laboratories and cleanrooms. The asking price for the building is 690,000 euro.

Model UN
Adil Malih will participate in the Model United Nations, held at Harvard University from February 11-14. “Harvard’s Model UN is the oldest and most prestigious”, says the sixth-year student of offshore engineering at 3mE. The 28-member student delegation representing the Netherlands will be required to defend Russia during the fake UN proceedings. Malih began preparing for the event in September, attending lectures in politics, economics and diplomacy, as well following courses in public speaking, negotiation and lobbying.