Whistling while he works

De faculteit hield tot dit collegejaar met Industrieel Ontwerpen (IO) het practicum modelbouw en bewerkingen (PMB) in de lucht. Onder meer vanwege de bezuinigingen werd besloten die bij IO ondergebrachte voorziening te ontmantelen. De vervangende oplossing is volgens Valk op meerdere fronten een vooruitgang. Er zijn met ingang van het derde kwartaal drie nieuwe of verbeterde practicumruimten. Daarnaast is 3mE er in onderwijskundig opzicht op vooruitgegaan, meent Valk. De kosten zijn grofweg gehalveerd tot 400 duizend euro.

Valk is het meest opgetogen over de inloopwerkplaats en de daaraan gekoppelde samenwerking met Regionale Opleidings Centra (ROC), scholen voor mbo. Die combinatie blijkt meer te zijn dan een vervanging van de faciliteiten die het PMB bood. “Voor de ontwerpwedstrijd in het laatste deel van het eerste jaar moeten onze studenten in het practicum vervaardigings- en bewerkingstechnieken leren als frezen, draaien en dergelijke. Dat kunnen ze nu leren in de inloopwerkplaats en in de ROC’s.”

Dankzij die samenwerking kunnen de TU-studenten meer verschillende technieken oefenen, zoals 3D-prototyping. “Maar er zit ook een onderwijskundig aspect aan”, zegt Valk. “We willen dat de ontwerpers, onze studenten, samenwerken met de makers, de mbo’ers. De maker kan van de ontwerper leren om buiten de normale oplossingen te denken en de ontwerper kan van de maker leren wat praktische mogelijk- en onmogelijkheden zijn.” Die kruisbestuiving is een onverwachte verrijking. “En je brengt culturen samen op grond van hun gezamenlijke vakgebied, de techniek.” Een andere verrijking vindt Valk het aan de nieuwe opzet gekoppelde individuele inschrijfsysteem voor studenten. “Het geeft studenten de mogelijkheid te kiezen welke drie technieken ze willen volgen en wanneer.”

Behalve de inloopwerkplaats heeft 3mE sinds het derde kwartaal een nieuwe assemblagewerkplaats. Die vervangt faciliteiten die 3mE bij IO had. Daarnaast heeft de faculteit de lasfaciliteiten bij materiaalkunde verdubbeld. Nu kunnen acht studenten tegelijk lassen.

He spoke with Delta about cancer treatment, life in Delft and his whistling hobby.

How did you first become interested in chemical engineering?

“I was introduced to chemistry in 9th grade, and the way my teacher taught the subject really inspired me. I used to take out food packets, look at the ingredients and ask her, ‘What does this chemical do?’ She’d only encourage me to enquire further, which promoted me to go out of my way to learn more about chemistry and natural sciences generally. That got me thinking: how can chemistry be applied in a practical sense? When I did the All India Engineering Entrance Examination, I got a state rank of 139 out of nearly 250,000 people. That was the passport to my B.Tech at the National Institute of Technology in Tiruchirappalli (Nitt), one India’s elite institutions.”

Why did you decide to specialize in molecular engineering?

“Between the 3rd and 4th years of my Bachelor’s study, I did a summer research internship at the University of Münster, through Daad, the German Academic Exchange Service. My scholarship was part of the Wise (Working Internship in Science and Engineering) program, which aims to promote knowledge and cultural exchange through research internships. I worked at the Institute for Material Physics, in association with the Center for Nanotechnology, which influenced my thinking on how nanotechnology would impact the world. It also opened my mind to obtaining an education in Europe, as up to that point I was only considering universities in the US.”

Why the US?

“Back home, it’s the general perspective that the US is where the most advanced research is conducted. In reality, Europe is at the forefront of nanotechnology research, but they don’t advertise themselves as such in the same way that the US does. Also, I have family and friends in the US who urged me to come study there. However, during my internship in Germany I did quite a lot of traveling, and also visited the Netherlands, and I really liked it here. Through a bit of research I discovered that TU Delft has amazing research going on in the field of chemical engineering, particularly in nanochemical engineering. It was a connecting moment for me. I was excited at the opportunities to expand the field of nanotechology this university had to offer. Nanotechnology is in its infancy stages; it’s some 20 to 25 years old. As Richard Feynman used to say in his famous lectures, ‘There’s plenty of room at the bottom.’”

So you then decided to study at TU Delft?

“I decided to apply, yes. But besides Delft, I was also offered admission to several universities in the US, so I was hesitating about where to go. However, in March I got an email from the university saying that I was selected for the TU Delft research initiative scholarship (DRI), which was started to improve the TU’s research and attract foreign talent, enabling foreign students to live and study abroad. Once I received the scholarship, it was very easy to make the decision to come to Delft.”

What’s the theme of your research?

“The usage of nanoparticles as sites or carriers for administering medication. My idea was to use nanoparticles for cancer treatment. This type of research is very new, which is probably why the TU was interested in it. The current way of treating cancer through chemotherapy leads to lots of radiation and destroys healthy living cells surrounding the cancerous cell. My idea is to inject nanoparticles into the bloodstream, from where they’ll be carried to the particular malignant cells and used as targets. It’s kind of a signal saying, this particular region must be attacked. It’s quite specific, so no non-cancerous cells are killed in the process. Consequently, the therapy is more effective and less harmful.”

How are you finding life in the Netherlands so far?

“I quite like it! The Dutch seem to be very nice and helpful people. I’ve also met a lot of Indians here through the Delft Association of Indian students, and of course lots of international students as well. The climate’s pretty cold for me: I’m from southern India, where temperatures are between 25-35 ºC, so I had to get used to that. But of course I saw snow for the first time here! It never snows back home.”

What about the academic side of life?

“I was surprised at how laid-back the professors are here, and how there’s a flat hierarchy here. Back home, I’d address my professor as ‘Sir’, while here I can just call a professor by his first name. You don’t feel really threatened by a professor, you can openly talk about any subject, discuss your doubts, etc. Also, they’ll be honest if they don’t know something. You can discuss the issue via email, and in the next class he or she will actually get back to you on the subject. The way they teach is also really nice. I’m really loving it here.”

Is there something you dislike about living here?

“One major difference between the Dutch people and the rest of the world is that they’re very direct. I was told so before I came here, so it wasn’t something I had to experience to understand. It’s not really difficult to adjust to though, because once they’re being direct, you can also be direct with them. Other people can misinterpret that as being rude, but I like it. Everyone’s open and honest.”

How do you spend your free time?

“I’m an aspiring professional singer. I do lots of singing at home. I got new recording equipment from home during winter vacation. I have a channel in soundcloud where I upload my music: people can download it and use in their mixes. Apart from that, I also whistle. I’ve been practicing whistling since I was 6 years old, and can whistle the tune of any song.”

What’s your ultimate ambition in life?

“It’s always been my dream to run my own company. At some point in time, after getting enough experience and working in industry and doing research, I want to start my own company and run it, because nothing gives more satisfaction than earning from your own work.”