Liveblog MomenTUm 2021

RELIVE MOMENTUM 2021

Did MomenTUm go by in a flash and do you want to experience it once again? Perhaps you missed some of the photos in our liveblog? There is, of course, a lot more material shot by our photographers during MomenTUm. All photos can be found on Flickr.

You can also watch the MomenTUm 2021 aftermovie by clicking on the photo on the right.

SATURDAY OCTOBER 16, 4 PM: THE 50,000TH DEGREE

On July 13th this year, the Turkish Ilgaz Baykal received her bachelor's degree Industrial Engineering at the department of Industrial Engineering and Innovation Sciences. That, in itself, is worth a celebration, but she also turned out to be the 50,000th student to graduate from our 65-year-old university. This took her by surprise: "I thought they were pranking me." She's currently continuing her master's education at the same department. When she's done studying, Baykal would like to stay in Eindhoven. "Preferably working for one of the many start-ups on the High Tech Campus. I really love the Dutch efficient and team spirited working culture."

SATURDAY OCTOBER 16, 4 PM: GRADUATION CEREMONY 3

The final ceremony with Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, Industrial Engineering and Innovation Sciences, and Mechanical Engineering departments. This group of some 602 bachelors brought MomenTUm 2021 to a close with their party on the catwalk.

Alumnus Edwin van Rest, CEO and co-founder of StudyPortals, brougth some inspiration and food for thought for the graduates. "Never stop looking around in wonder", he said. That's how he started his company years ago. He was curious why he was able to book a room via Booking.com within a minute, but there wasn't an online global study platform available. He took the crowd on a journey through time in a thought experiment: "Imagine you're ninety years old. Looking back on your life, what will you be most proud of? The answer isn't the big, expensive car you're driving, nor the holiday home you own. Most important is what you will have achieved for others and the world you live in."

Photos below: Bart van Overbeeke

SATURDAY OCTOBER 16, 2 PM: GRADUATION CEREMONY 2

Some 636 hardcore bachelors from the departments of Mathematics and Computer Science, Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics took their rightful place on the catwalk in the hall of MetaForum.

Alumnus and Lightyear CEO Lex Hoefsloot gave some career advice to the bachelors: "Dare to dream big and stick to that plan. Don't let anyone tell you differently. One hundred people will tell you you won't make it, but stick to it!"

Rector Frank Baaijens concluded the ceremony by congratulating the graduates with this milestone in their education. "You're now entering the master phase, a new milestone, in which you'll be working in the frontiers of science. And remember: there are no boundariies, you can always push it a little further."

Photos: Bart van Overbeeke

SATURDAY OCTOBER 16, 1 PM: REINOUD LAVRIJSEN BEST MASTER TEACHER

From the top three of master teachers nominated by students, Reinoud Lavrijsen (Applied Physics) won. He was elected the best master's teacher of 2021. The enthusiasm with which he teaches the subject Nanomagnetism stimulates his students. They appreciate the relationship he is able to establish with the application within the industry.

They also praise the fact that he is always open to feedback. He is happy when his subject receives a positive assessment, but he is even happier when he receives feedback that helps him do even better next year. He also likes to share his successes with other teachers in inspiration sessions and via the BOOST platform. His students give him the highest mark of all the master's lecturers: a 9.5.

SATURDAY OCTOBER 16, 1 PM: MARK BENTUM BEST BACHELOR TEACHER

This afternoon, Mark Bentum of the Electrical Engineering department received the Best Teacher Award for the bachelor category. Among other things, Bentum teaches the mandatory Electromagnetics II course in the bachelor phase, which is considered one of the most difficult courses in the curriculum. The pass rate has increased from 15-20 percent to over 60 percent since Bentum has been teaching the course.

Students praise the fact that in his teaching he interweaves his research into equipment for radio astronomy. Last year, Bentum made videos for his subject on location, for instance at the ASTRON astronomy institute in Dwingeloo. In this way, he made students enthusiastic for the practical aspect of Electromagnetics II. He is also very open to feedback.

FRIDAY OCTOBER 15, 5 PM: GRADUATION CEREMONY 1

The bachelors of the departments of Biomedical Engineering, Built Environment and Industrial Design were the first graduates who had the honor of walking the MomenTUm catwalk. 628 bachelors proudly walked their walk of fame in front of their family and friends.

Photos below: Bart van Overbeeke

FRIDAY OCTOBER 15, 5 PM: GIFT FROM THE MUNICIPALITY OF EINDHOVEN

The special guest at MomenTUm was Mayor John Jorritsma of Eindhoven, who congratulated the students on their degrees and wished them success with the next phase after their studies. But he also had some nice words for the celebrating university, according to him "a purveyor of highly qualified engineering graduates, who let the students shine like a diamond", a reference to the diamond anniversary of TU/e.

According to Jorritsma, the city of Eindhoven and TU/e have been " inextricably connected" for 65 years. To underline the special bond, he offered Executive Board president Robert-Jan Smits the 3D poem (translated from Dutch) below, written by Gaby Rasters:

The Spirit
Inspires the matter
With a journey
That 65 years ago
Started
On the way to
The future
The heroes
From science
Brought us here
With courage and fantasy
To keep asking
How much further
How much better
And how much faster
We can go together
This eternal growth of knowledge
Is brilliant

FRIDAY OCTOBER 15, 3 PM: MARINA VAN DAMME GRANT

The winner of the Marina van Damme Grant 2021 is: Kjille Hoeben. She wins a sum of 9,000 euros. Runner up Eriola Sophia Shanko takes home 2,500 euros. They were chosen from 21 applicants this year.

Hoeben is an Industrial Engineering alumna and director of the startup MyTemp. Her company is developing a capsule you can swallow and that accurately measures core temperatures of, for example, top athletes. The development of the capsule was begun following the deaths of participants caused by heat exhaustion during the Four Day March in Nijmegen.

Hoeben will use the award for her development as CEO of her company. Thanks to the grant she can follow the training Learning to Lead at the INSEAD business school in France.

Eriola Sophia Shanko, winner of last year's FameLab National Final audience award for science communication, is at the heart of a startup working to regulate the use of antibiotics. She too will use her award to develop herself in her role as CEO of her company ShanX Medtech.

The Marina van Damme grant is awarded annually to talented female alumni who have completed a master's degree, PDENg, or PhD at one of the three technical universities in the Netherlands (TU Delft, TU/e, and University of Twente). The scholarship is made possible by Mrs dr.ir. Marina van Damme and consists of an amount of € 9,000 and is intended, for example, to broaden knowledge or an international orientation in the form of a study, internship, or project.

FRIDAY OCTOBER 15, 1.15 PM: ACADEMIC AWARDS

MomenTUm is not complete without honoring our academic heroes. We do this by presenting Academic Awards for the best bachelor and master thesis, the best PDEng project, the most promising PhD dissertation, and the Audience Award. All candidates and their research will be shining on large billboards on our campus throughout the week. But there can only be five winners. 

The bachelor award goes to...

Sjir Schielen of the Electrical Engineering department. The jury unanimously declared his Shape-Based Brain Tumor Mutation Prediction Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging bachelor thesis the winner.

In his bachelor graduation project, Schielen developed a system that uses artificial intelligence to detect mutations in brain tumors. This is crucial for the choice of treatment for this type of cancer. Schielen uses MRI and machine learning for this purpose. Until now, doctors have only been able to determine whether the tumor has mutated by taking a brain biopsy, which is a painful and dangerous procedure for the patient. Schielen has already presented his pioneering work at a scientific conference. The jury praised not only the innovative nature of his research, but also his clear style. "Simply a beautiful piece of work!"

The master award goes to...

Guido Kusters of the department of Applied Physics. His master thesis Dynamic Landau Theory for Electrically-Responsive Liquid Crystal Networks earned him a cum laude distinction.

In everyday life, we are surrounded by materials that respond to their environment in 'smart' ways. Think of a mobile phone screen that vibrates when touched. In his research, Kusters developed a theory that explains how new smart materials with liquid crystals change in volume and shape under the influence of an electric field. According to the jury, his groundbreaking work, which has since been published in Physical Review E., solves an important bottleneck in the field and paves the way for numerous new applications. Like soft robotic hands and self-cleaning solar panels.

The PDEng award goes to...

Tim van den Boom (Qualified Medical Engineer) received the PDEng Award for his thesis AngioSupport: The design of an interactive tool to allow numerical modeling in clinical decision making.

Van den Boom has collaborated with the Catharina Hospital on an interactive tool - AngioSupport - that can help physicians make better decisions about the treatment of ischemic heart disease thanks to numerical modeling. With AngioSupport, the team can perform treatments virtually and simulate the consequences of the treatment. This helps tremendously in determining a treatment plan for each patient. His thesis combines data systems, computer models, user studies and interactive software. According to the jury, Van den Boom’s work is a wonderful example of a PDEng project with direct impact in practice.

Van den Boom worked on the AngioSupport project together with Bettine van Willigen. They both wrote a separate thesis on the subject. The jury could choose just one winner, based on the theses, and that is Van den Boom. "But you are of course free to share the prize (5,000 euros, ed.)", rector magnificus Frank Baaijens stated. 

The audience award goes to...

The aforementioned awards were determined by jury members from the TU/e departments, each with their own specific knowledge and expertise. But which of all the theses and dissertations submitted will appeal to the public? To find out, we created the Audience Award. People had until Wednesday October 13 to vote for the candidates, and almost 5,000 people did so. The winner of the Audience Award with over 500 votes was Floor van Schie of the Built Environment department for her PDEng project The GEM-Tower.

The mobile GEM Tower offers a sustainable alternative for the energy supply during festivals and events, where normally diesel generators grind and whine away. The tower combines wind energy with solar energy, so energy can be generated in any weather.

The PhD Award goes to...

Marina Pilz Da Cunha (Chemical Engineering and Chemistry) for her dissertation Bio-inspired soft robotics, shining light on liquid crystal polymer.

Inspired by responsive organisms in nature (such as sunflowers that move along with the passage of the sun) Pilz Da Cunha has developed polymers that move under the influence of light with the aid of light-sensitive liquid crystals. According to the jury, this has taken the research into 'soft robotics' to a higher level. The first results are already available. What about a transport robot that is entirely driven by light, or a device that attracts and catches contaminants in water? Pilz Da Cunha's work, which has gained a cum laude distinction, has meanwhile been published in several scientific journals and exhibited in museums.

Rector magnificus Frank Baaijens emphasized that the nominees should be proud of themselves. "The jury can pick only one winner, but in fact you are ALL winners. Your thesis has been selected in the first place, out of many other excellent thesis. That makes you all winners."

The Academic Award winners (from left to right): Guido Kusters (master's), Marina Culz da Pinha (PhD), Tim van den Boom (PDEng) and Bettine van Willigen (PDEng), Sjir Schielen (bachelor's) and Floor van Schie (Audience Award, PDEng). 

Friday October 15, 12.25 pm: livestream academic awards and Marina van Damme Grant

You can virtually join the Academic Award show today. The livestream runs from 12.25 to 14.15 PM. 

The same goes for the Marina van Damme grant ceremony; you're invited to watch the livestream which starts at 2.30 PM.

THURSDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 14: CRACKING KICK-OFF

Last night we kicked off MomenTUm in our anniversary year with a cracking student party in the MetaForum market hall with DJ trio Kriss Kross Amsterdam, cover band Starstruck and DJ Juvanice. With 4,000 students the party was completely sold out. How did that look and feel after sitting at home for over a year and a half studying? The pictures Bart van Overbeeke took, speak for themselves!