News in Brief – Delta 7

The university isn’t overly concerned about these finding for now, however. The figures stem from a survey held in some 15 universities and polytechnic newspapers, including Delta. In Delft, more than 450 students participated in the survey. Some 52.9 percent of TU Delft students said they felt such great stress during their studies that their private lives were impacted, including from anxiety about failing and the inability to sleep well. Lower levels of stress were recorded at other universities: At TU Eindhoven the figure was 37.6 percent, and at the University of Twente 36.7 percent. The national average was 40 percent.

Presidential reappointment

TU Delft’s Supervisory Board has reappointed Dirk Jan van den Berg as President of the Executive Board. Van den Berg was originally appointed on 1 March 2008. ‘The Supervisory Board is very satisfied Dirk Jan van den Berg’s powerful contribution in this respect, for example in Europe and in China’, states Gert-Jan Kramer, chairman of the Supervisory Board. Van den Berg previously served as Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was appointed Permanent Representative of the Netherlands at the United Nations in New York in 2001, and from 2005 to 2008, and was the Netherlands’ ambassador to China.

Housing preferences

The results of a survey into housing preferences of knowledge workers has been published. Delft aims to develop new housing projects that are more in line with the housing preferences of knowledge workers. In October a survey was held into these housing wishes. The questionnaire was filled out by TU Delft staff and students, and also by employees of companies like DSM and Exact. The results showed that respondents appreciate the atmosphere and beauty of Delft, its good transport links and intimate scale. But leisure opportunities – going out, sports, cycling, hiking – and especially housing can still be improved. Knowledge workers who leave Delft indicate this was partly due to the housing and living environment.

Good fellow

TU Delft Professor Imre Horvath has become a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering (Asme). The Asme Board of Governors confers the Fellow grade of membership on worthy candidates to recognize their outstanding engineering achievements. Nominated by their peers, Asme Fellows have had 10 or more years of active practice and at least 10 years of continuous active corporate membership in Asme. The Fellow Grade is truly a distinction among Asme members.

Strategic alliance

A strategic alliance. That is what the University of Leiden, TU Delft and

Erasmus University are calling their ‘ongoing cooperation’ in a collective report, entitled ‘More Value, which was released today. The alliance aims to imports the quality of education and research, with a sharp focus on the range of education offered and the international standing of research projects.

Leiden, Delft and Erasmus – known as LDE – regard improved education, the establishment of LDE Centers for research and Graduate Schools for PhDs as offering the most value. They also see improved opportunities for acquiring European Union grants and recruiting international students and PhDs.

Fingerprints

Foreigners who come to work or study in the Netherlands and request a Dutch residence permit will now be required to give their fingerprints as well as a photo. The authorities hope the fingerprints will help them reduce identity fraud and identify illegal immigrants.

Stress test

Relax everyone. The reactor at the Delft Reactor Institute has been tested for a variety of disasters and withstood most of them. Scientists working at the reactor calculated the consequences of hurricanes, inundations, earthquakes and power cuts. They did so in response to a request from the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and innovation. The only incident the reactor would not withstand undamaged was an airplane crashing into the dome. But due to the reactor’s low power (2 MW), even then the consequences would not be disastrous.

“Ik fotografeer graag plekken die niet zo bekend of niet helemaal openbaar zijn”, zegt Caren Huygelen, “en het liefst met staal en beton. Daar komt mijn liefde voor techniek om de hoek kijken.” Huygelen studeerde in 2003 af bij Techniek, Bestuur en Management en is sinds vier jaar professioneel fotograaf. “Als je in Delft studeert, heb je geen weet van de bijzondere onderzoeksruimtes op de TU. Die heb ik vastgelegd voor mijn afstudeerproject aan de fotoacademie. Ik ben dus met mijn ‘nieuwe’ blik van fotograaf gaan kijken naar mijn ‘oude’ wereld van de TU.”

Huygelen was niet op zoek naar een werkbank met wat stofjes erop. “Zo zien niet-wetenschappers laboratoria vaak. Ik probeer er juist een kunstwerk van te maken, de beelden zijn dan ook vrij gestileerd en abstract. Soms herkenden beheerders hun eigen ruimte nauwelijks, ze hadden er nog nooit zo naar gekeken.”

Huygelen heeft veel bewondering voor de mensen die zich jarenlang richten op bepaald wetenschappelijk onderzoek en dat uitvoeren in ruimtes die geïsoleerd liggen van normale werk- of studieruimtes. “Ik heb hun vaak introverte en nadenkende karakter willen vatten in deze portretten. Wetenschappers beleven creativiteit heel anders dan ik nu als fotograaf. Het gaat veel meer om ratio en logica.

Het werk van Huygelen zal in het nieuwe collegejaar worden tentoongesteld in de aula. Van 21 mei tot 19 juni is haar werk te zien op het Foto Festival Naarden, waar nieuw Nederlands talent wordt gepresenteerd.