Education

Year of the rabbit

On February 3 the Chinese lunar calendar welcomes the year of rabbit and marks the beginning of spring.
Chinese New Year, a major festival lasting for one month, is a time for reunion, for bringing forth happiness to the New Year while reflecting on the past.

It is also a time when firecrackers explode in the streets, people greet each other with good luck blessings and houses are decorated with Chinese calligraphy, red paper cuttings and traditional Chinese decorated knots to wish for longevity and prosperity.

In the Chinese lunar calendar, 12 animals from the zodiac take turns representing each year. This year it is the rabbit’s turn. Different from the aggressive tiger, the rabbit resembles calmness, sensitivity, hospitality and compassion.

For students here at TU Delft, Chinese New Year also means different things, with very few actually returning home to Asia for the holidays, as too many classes would be missed, although that’s where there thoughts will be. “Back home I always help my mom write New Year cards,” recalls Wanying Wang from China. This year will be Wang’s second time celebrating Chinese New Year in Delft. “Last year I watched the Chinese New Year’s special programs online, and then with a bunch of friends had a special Chinese hot pot dinner.”
“Chinese New Year is a time for family reunion with lots of mouth-watering food!” says Sin-Yun Yang, “like sticky rice cakes, steamed fish – which
signifies abundance and luck – and my favorite, dumplings.” For Yang it’s also a time for fun: “Back home in Taiwan I used to hang out with my relatives and just enjoy the happy atmosphere on the streets.”

Kiki Cheung Shui Kei especially misses the huge New Year’s flower market back in Hong Kong. “This year we will also have New Year’s dinner with my friends here in Delft,” she says.

Even though far from home, students here at TU Delft will still have many ways to celebrate Chinese New Year, and of course all other international and Dutch students are warmly invited to join the fun. On Saturday,
February 5 Chinese students in Delft will host a Spring Fair at the TU Culture Center, wit plenty of food, fun activities and prizes to be won. This will be followed by an ‘after party’ at the Spacebox common room, hosted by TU Delft’s Taiwanese students. And for those wishing to experience Chinese New Year on a national scale, there is a Chinese New Year Festival in The Hague, including a dragon and lion dances, various cultural performances (Tai Chi, aerobics and traditional singing), a Chinese market and parade through Chinatown.  

2011 Delft Chinese New Year Spring Fair: February 5 14:00-16:00, at TU Delft Cultural Center (Room: 230-234); 2011 Delft Come Together New Year Party: February 5 18:00- 22:00, Spacebox common room; 2011 Chinese New Year in The Hague: February 5th from 11:30-17:00, The Hague City Hall (Atrium).

www.chinesecultuur.nl

Exactly fourteen years ago the faculty of Aerospace Engineering went into mourning when the only Dutch aircraft manufacturer was declared bankrupt. TU Delft had strong ties with Fokker: many TU alumni were employed by Fokker, and aerospace engineers often combined their jobs at Fokker with research at TU Delft. Now however many at the aerospace faculty are applauding the re-emergence or resurrection of this once great aircraft manufacturer.

“This is great news”, says Ed Obert, emeritus professor of systems engineering and aircraft design, who was with Fokker from 1964-1996. “There have been several initiatives over the years, but this time it looks very promising that Fokker will indeed return. I’ve spoken to the new investors and I know they’re talking with a number of airplane companies and that things are looking good for them.” Obert was head of the aerodynamics department of the Fokker 100: “The plane feels a bit like my baby, although the plane has many fathers.”
NG Aircraft received a twenty million euro subsidy from the Dutch ministry of Economic Affairs, although this funding must still be approved by the European Union. With this money the company wants to equip the existing Fokker 100s with new electronics, a new engine and new wingtips – all of which should make the plane eighteen percent more efficient.

The new Fokker 100 could compete with the Embraer and Bombardier. “They took over the market after Fokker’s bankruptcy”, explains professor Egbert Torenbeek, of TU Delft’s faculty of Aerospace Engineering. “It’s a smart move to bring an existing plane up to date, instead of building a new one, as it’s very expensive to build new airplanes and get them certified. The Fokker 100 has proven to be successful.” The plane can carry around a hundred passengers and is used for flights ranging from five hundred and three thousand kilometres. There are seven hundred Fokker 100s currently in use around the world.

The redesign and upgrades of the Fokker 100 would also create around 650 new jobs. It’s not yet clear if TU Delft will be affiliated with NG Aircraft. Obert: “I think that most of the work will be done in production.”
According to Obert and Torenbeek, Fokker getting back in business would be especially good news for students. “It might give them a great future at a Dutch airplane manufacturer”, Torenbeek says. “It may also lead to higher enrolments of students. When the Fokker 50 and 100 were being built, more students enrolled at the faculty. After the bankruptcy however there was a decline in students, although indeed over the last couple of years the faculty has welcomed more and more new students. I’m very curious how many will enrol in the coming years if Fokker rises again. And also what kind of opportunities it will offer for both present and former students of TU Delft.”

Editor Redactie

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