TU Delft lost a valuable scientist in Dr. Eungyu Park, who resigned from TU Delft and returned to the US when his wife was denied a visa.In 2002, the prestigious NWO (Netherlands Scientific Research Organization) awarded TU Delft’s Department of Hydrology a grant for a project entitled ‘Characterization of Substitution Permeability’, led by TU researchers Professor Majid Hassanizadeh and Dr.
Amro Elfeki. Water – as this summer’s droughts affirmed – is an increasingly vital resource, and this important project would study groundwater flow, movement and contamination. For the project, Professor Hassanizadeh’s team needed a post-doc researcher, and advertised the vacancy nationally and internationally. ”We didn’t receive one application from a Dutch national,” Hassanizadeh says. Scientists from across the world did apply, however, and after an exhausting eight-month search, Professor Hassanizadeh finally found his man: Dr Eungyu Park, an American scientist with a PhD from Texas A & M University. ”Park was all we had hoped for,” Professor Hassanizadeh says, ”a very clever, creative guy, and creative thinking is especially important in this project because there are no straightforward answers.”
Park accepted the position, moved to Delft and started work, immediately impressing his colleagues with his theoretical and practical knowledge. And Park was very happy at TU Delft: ”TU Delft is a world renowned research-oriented university and I was having such a great experience in terms of the scientific environment and the good people I worked with.”
Professionally and personally, it was a perfect fit for everyone involved. But then, obstinate bureaucracy struck. Park’s wife couldn’t get a visa to join her husband in Delft; or rather, she could get one, but a minor visa processing error meant the application procedure was delayed: the IND (Dutch Immigration Service) decided that, instead of the standard one-year wait, Park’s wife would have to wait two years for a visa. Park, who had only two years left on his TU contract, was effectively forced to choose between his project and his wife. After about four months working on the project, he resigned his TU post and returned to America. Park: ”All in all, to enhance scientific exchange and development, I do hope the Dutch government initiates some program that supports the settlement of foreign scientists.”
And so too does Professor Hassanizadeh, TU Delft, and anybody else who understands the vital relationship between science and technology and the national economy. With Park’s departure, the TU’s NWO-funded project ground to a halt. ”Losing Park was a big blow not only to the project but also to the university and country,” Hassanizadeh asserts. ”If Park had stayed, I’ve no doubt he would’ve been a very valuable long-term asset to geosciences and definite candidate for the professor track.”
To replace Park, Hassanizadeh and Elfeki had to begin the application process anew. And again, no Dutch nationals applied. Finally, after months of searching, a researcher from India was found to fill the vacancy. Most probably, Park’s replacement will arrive in Delft about a year after visa problems halted the project, and, incredibly, even when he does arrive, there’s no guarantee the project won’t be derailed again as soon as it restarts. ”Unfortunately,” Hassanizadeh says, ”this new guy is also married! We’ve warned him, but all we can do is hope it works out this time.”
Park, whose knowledge and expertise ensured he wouldn’t be unemployed for long, now works for the US Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, whose mission statement, its web site states, is ”to create scientific knowledge and technical solutions that strengthen the nation’s leadership in key areas of science.” Meanwhile, this nation’s leadership talks about a knowledge economy.
TU Delft lost a valuable scientist in Dr. Eungyu Park, who resigned from TU Delft and returned to the US when his wife was denied a visa.
In 2002, the prestigious NWO (Netherlands Scientific Research Organization) awarded TU Delft’s Department of Hydrology a grant for a project entitled ‘Characterization of Substitution Permeability’, led by TU researchers Professor Majid Hassanizadeh and Dr. Amro Elfeki. Water – as this summer’s droughts affirmed – is an increasingly vital resource, and this important project would study groundwater flow, movement and contamination. For the project, Professor Hassanizadeh’s team needed a post-doc researcher, and advertised the vacancy nationally and internationally. ”We didn’t receive one application from a Dutch national,” Hassanizadeh says. Scientists from across the world did apply, however, and after an exhausting eight-month search, Professor Hassanizadeh finally found his man: Dr Eungyu Park, an American scientist with a PhD from Texas A & M University. ”Park was all we had hoped for,” Professor Hassanizadeh says, ”a very clever, creative guy, and creative thinking is especially important in this project because there are no straightforward answers.”
Park accepted the position, moved to Delft and started work, immediately impressing his colleagues with his theoretical and practical knowledge. And Park was very happy at TU Delft: ”TU Delft is a world renowned research-oriented university and I was having such a great experience in terms of the scientific environment and the good people I worked with.”
Professionally and personally, it was a perfect fit for everyone involved. But then, obstinate bureaucracy struck. Park’s wife couldn’t get a visa to join her husband in Delft; or rather, she could get one, but a minor visa processing error meant the application procedure was delayed: the IND (Dutch Immigration Service) decided that, instead of the standard one-year wait, Park’s wife would have to wait two years for a visa. Park, who had only two years left on his TU contract, was effectively forced to choose between his project and his wife. After about four months working on the project, he resigned his TU post and returned to America. Park: ”All in all, to enhance scientific exchange and development, I do hope the Dutch government initiates some program that supports the settlement of foreign scientists.”
And so too does Professor Hassanizadeh, TU Delft, and anybody else who understands the vital relationship between science and technology and the national economy. With Park’s departure, the TU’s NWO-funded project ground to a halt. ”Losing Park was a big blow not only to the project but also to the university and country,” Hassanizadeh asserts. ”If Park had stayed, I’ve no doubt he would’ve been a very valuable long-term asset to geosciences and definite candidate for the professor track.”
To replace Park, Hassanizadeh and Elfeki had to begin the application process anew. And again, no Dutch nationals applied. Finally, after months of searching, a researcher from India was found to fill the vacancy. Most probably, Park’s replacement will arrive in Delft about a year after visa problems halted the project, and, incredibly, even when he does arrive, there’s no guarantee the project won’t be derailed again as soon as it restarts. ”Unfortunately,” Hassanizadeh says, ”this new guy is also married! We’ve warned him, but all we can do is hope it works out this time.”
Park, whose knowledge and expertise ensured he wouldn’t be unemployed for long, now works for the US Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, whose mission statement, its web site states, is ”to create scientific knowledge and technical solutions that strengthen the nation’s leadership in key areas of science.” Meanwhile, this nation’s leadership talks about a knowledge economy.
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