Relive TU/e Research Day 2023 and celebrate science!
Get updated on everything that happened during our yearly celebration of science, the TU/e Research Day.
Today the second edition of our annual celebration of science took place: a day to honor and appreciate our brilliant scientists, foster connections among researchers, and to realize what remarkable research is taking place at TU/e. This year's theme was ‘Impact: how do YOU make the difference?’. With the presentation of seven TU/e Science Awards, a science communication competition and the ceremonial introduction of our new honorary doctorate it was an exciting day. Read and experience everything again here!
All photos from the second TU/e Research Day can be found on this Flickr album.
AND THE WINNERS OF THE TU/E SCIENCE AWARDS ARE....
The nominated researchers were just relieved of the tension by Professor Bert Meijer. He announced the proud winners of the seven TU/e Science Awards. Here we present our winners from this year!
YOUNG RESEARCHER: MAX BIRK
Max Birk’s research (Industrial Design) pushes the boundaries of interactive systems in preventive health. His work on video games contributes to health interventions, cognitive assessment, and the video games' health impact discourse. He is the deserved winner of the TU/e Science Award for Young Researcher, chapeau Max!
GROUNDBREAKING RESEARCHER: YOERI VAN DE BURGT
Yoeri van de Burgt (Mechanical Engineering) is one of the pioneers and drivers of the young scientific field of “organic neuromorphic engineering”, which aims at the development of advanced computing and memory systems inspired by how the human brain works. He won the TU/e Science Award for Groundbreaking Researcher, well done Yoeri!
LEADERSHIP IN EXCELLENCE AWARD: LUC BRUNSVELD
Luc Brunsveld (Biomedical Engineering) is an internationally leading scientist at the interface of supramolecular chemistry and chemical biology. Among others his group has pioneered new concepts for small-molecule drug discovery focusing on stabilizing protein-protein interactions. We congratulate Luc with his Leadership in Excellence Award!
AUDIENCE AWARD: KARTHIK RAGHAVAN RAMASWAMY
With about half of the more than 2,200 votes submitted, Karthik Raghavan Ramaswamy was the convincing winner of the Audience Award. He narrowly missed out on the award for Best PhD Thesis, but here he hit the mark. His research at the Department of Electrical Engineering focused on data-driven models for complex, large-scale systems. Or, as he himself describes it, "You don't need to be Nostradamus. By being aware of the past and vigilant about the present, you can predict the future." Congratulations Karthik!
BEST ENGD THESIS: NIENKE BAKX
With her thesis on developing an automated radiotherapy treatment using AI, Nienke Bakx (EngD study Qualified Medical Engineer) wins the TU/e Science Award for best EngD thesis. Congratulations Nienke!
BEST PHD THESIS: YOURI VAN HEES
"The combination of photonics and spintronics offers exciting opportunities for the data processing devices of the future," according to Youri van Hees, winner of the TU/e Science Award for best dissertation. He conducted research at the department of Applied Physics & Science Education on the use of ultrashort light pulses to store data in magnetic devices. Congratulations Youri!
TEAM SCIENCE: IRON POWER
A new award compared to last year, which focuses on the collaborative aspect of doing research. From seven nominated projects Iron Power came out as the winner, congratulations! The Iron Power consortium focuses on the use of iron powder as energy carrier. Research at TU/e is focused on combustion properties of iron powder as well as regeneration of combusted iron powder with hydrogen.
The strength of the team is in the collaboration between high-quality academic work in different disciplines (Mechanical Engineering and Chemical Engineering & Chemistry) with the drive and impact of student team SOLID, ecosystem builder Metalot, and startups Iron+ and RIFT. Without this combination the work would have remained an academic interesting project at lab scale.
HONORARY DOCTORATE AWARDED TO 'POLYMER GENIUS' CRAIG HAWKER
An official moment this afternoon on the stage of the Blauwe Zaal. Under the watchful eye of the cortege, Craig J. Hawker received an honorary doctorate from TU/e. Hawker, professor at the University of California Santa Barbara, is one of the world's leading polymer chemists.
He can be described as a polymer genius with a commercial heart. With his innovative ideas, he has changed the polymer world. In the process, he has already mentored dozens of startups and has over eighty patents to his name.
To get to know him better, we previously spoke with him and his honorary supervisors Anja Palmans and Jan van Hest about the impact on polymer research and TU/e Institute ICMS. It became an interview about the power of applied research, how to make people "less afraid of chemistry" and why that in turn can lead to great commercial successes. And, surprisingly, also a lot about soccer.
INTERACTING WITH RESEARCH(ERS)
Colored solar cells, quantum bits and polymers that can change texture: this and more were on display at the Research Expo. Researchers and research institutes had the opportunity there to present their projects and field of research. In the photos below, for example, you can see how someone pricks their finger in a liquid crystal elastomer that changes shape through heat, a prototype of colored solar cells and a setup to make a quantum bit.
At College Tour, with the theme 'How do YOU make a difference? ', Esther Thole moderated an interactive session with on stage Rector Silvia Lenaerts, Craig Hawker (Professor at the University of California Santa Barbara and our new honorary doctor), Wijnand IJsselsteijn (Professor of Cognition and Affect in Human-Technology Interaction at TU/e), Erik Bakkers (Professor of Advanced Nanomaterials & Devices at TU/e), Boudewijn Docter (CEO of TU/e spinoff EFFECT Photonics) and Nicky van den Berg (PhD student at the department of Mathematics & Computer Science at TU/e).
Admittedly, it is by no means the same as literally being there yourself, but with the photo impression below (made by Bart van Overbeeke) we still try to give you an idea of what today was like at the College Tour and TU/e Research Expo.
Watch and (re)experience!
TIM WISSINK WINS FIRST EDITION TALKING SCIENCE
We have our first winner of the day! Tim Wissink won this morning the first edition of our new pitch competition Talking Science. With his pitch on converting CO2 to fuel and chemicals, he convinced the jury and won a prize of 750 euros. And his day is not over yet: Tim gets to present his winning pitch to a full Blauwe Zaal this afternoon during the ceremony. Tim is a PhD student in the Inorganic materials and catalysis group at the department of Chemical Engineering & Chemistry and is supervised by Emiel Hensen and Marta Figueiredo. Congratulations Tim!
Shivani Datai will probably be also very happy with second place. For her pitch on the use of AI in healthcare she received a prize of 500 euros. The audience picked a different winner though: they picked Giulia de Felice as the audience winner for her pitch on the use of plasmas for energy storage. She also received a prize of 500 euros.
A total of eleven participants participated in this "pitching battle" for PhD and EngD researchers. The participants had to pitch their research in a maximum of three minutes and without slides - similar to the international Famelab competitions. With this competition we want to provide a platform for young researchers to inspire and excite a large audience about their research, and to present this research in a comprehensible and engaging way.
The jury consisted of Margriet van der Heijden (professor of science communication at the department of Applied Physics & Science Education), Danqing Liu (associate professor at the department of Chemical Engineering & Chemistry), Karlijn Meinders (science journalist at BNR Radio) and Oded Raz (associate professor at the department of Electrical Engineering). The event was presented and moderated by our own science information officer Barry Fitzgerald.
Check this impression of the event (photos by Bart van Overbeeke):
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