Delta special international edition Summer 2014

Special Edition

August 7

2014

independent magazine

Eet smakelijk?

The differing tastes of Sodexo and internationals Anka Mulder

Encouraging a global mindset Integration

What’s working?

English-language special edition

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TU Delft

16 Delta Special edition

August 7

2014

"As a photographer, you want to be invisible. When you take a photo like this, you are less than one metre from the people you want to photograph. It is like hunting. You cannot take a quick shot. You have to walk in the neighbourhood of the setting until you are part of the scene." (Photo: Hans Stakelbeek)

feedback!

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www.delta.tudelft.nl

colophon

Delta is the independent newspaper of TU Delft.

Editorial Staff: Frank Nuijens (editor-in-chief) - @franknu, Katja Wijnands - @kwijnands, Dorine van Gorp - @dorinevangorp, Saskia Bonger - @sbonger, Tomas van Dijk - @tomasvd, Connie van Uffelen - @connievanu, Jos Wassink - @joswashere Molly Quell @mollyrene Special Edition Editorial Team: Molly Quell, Damini Purkayastha Contributors: Natalie Carr, Kerry Dankers, Heather Beasley Doyle Phillip Gangan, Auke Herrema Job Hogewoning, Heather Montague, Damini Purkayastha Daniela Stow, Caroline Vermeulen Marco Villares Photos Sam Rentmeester, Hans Stakelbeek

Magazine Concept and Design: Maters & Hermsen, Leiden Lay-Out Saskia de Been, Liesbeth van Dam Addresss Universiteits-bibliotheek, Prometheusplein 1, 2628 ZC Delft, 015 278 4848, delta@tudelft.nl Printer: Edauw & Johannissen Year: 45 ISSN 2213-8838 You can subscribe to our newsletter and get more information on our website: www.delta.tudelft.nl Special thanks to: Central International Office, Student and Alumni Communications and Internal Communications

cover

interview

Eating on campus

anka mulder

Dutch eating habits often clash with those of internationals and, according to international students and staff, that conflict is often made worse by Sodexo, the university’s official caterer.

As Vice President for Education and Operations, Mulder has pushed for bringing a global mindset to TU Delft.

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contents

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28 reportage

english pages

research for sale

introduction programme

Research at TU Delft isn’t simply published in an obscure journal and forgotten. A variety of commercially available products have been developed from projects that started in the labs of the university.

Incoming international students are participating in the CIO’s Introduction Programme, with activities ranging from airport pickups to pub crawls.

Delta 01 will be published on Monday, September 1 2014

more Column News shorts Sports campus news party spotters Chef Job essay master events science Survival Guide

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columnmolly quell

Delta As the only international at Delta’s editorial meetings, I typically sit with Google Translate open. The majority of the conversation goes on around me in Dutch, a language I don’t speak.

But Delta didn’t hire me for my Dutch-language skills. I’m responsible for the English-language content, an area that continues to grow and grow. Since taking over as International Editor of Delta in 2012, the English-language content of Delta has expanded. Not only are there more pages in the magazine itself, but our English-language web content as grown as well.

While I’d love to say this was all my doing, the truth is Delta is simply following the trend being set by the rest of the university. As the special edition highlights, the university has been focussing more and more on internationalisation in the past decade. The formal opening ceremony of the university was held in English in 2013, for the first time in the university’s history. The bachelor’s programme in geoscience joined aerospace in switching its degree program requirements to English this year.

These changes have been prompted by the growing number of internationals employed by and enrolled in the university. Which, in turn, has prompted other changes.

The change in the geoscience programme was due, in part, to an inability for the department to find enough qualified staff who spoke Dutch. Apparently, geoscience professors who are fluent in Dutch are as hard to find as Englishlanguages editors.

One English-language project I will take credit for is this special edition of Delta. Institutional publications whose audiences are bi (or tri or more) lingual struggle to determine what languages to publish in. Should you do identical content and translate it? Separate publications for each language? Split the publication into language sections (as we do at Delta)? Each option has its own pros and cons. Writing in both languages allows each side of the paper to reach out to our own, unique audience. And let’s not forget that the majority of TU staff and students are fluent in Dutch. But as the number of internationals, whose common language is English, grows, so too does the demand for information in English.

Though I may have spearheaded this issue, it wouldn’t have been possible to put this together without the Central International Office, Student and Alumni Communications and Internal Communications. Nor would it have been possible without the amazing team of writers who dedicated themselves to it.

As I edited the articles, submitted by a dozen writers from seven nationalities, I mentioned to one of the Dutch writers that I was impressed by the quality of her written English. She writes only in Dutch and was concerned that her work would need considerable editing. She told me she’ll continue to read books in English, so she’ll be prepared if Delta switches to being an entirely-English publication. I told her I was heading off to my Dutch lessons.

Molly Quell is the International Editor of Delta

TU Delft

International students and PhD candidates often face psychological problems as a result of stress and cultural communication differences, says licensed psychologist Paula Meesters of the TU Delft Student and Career Support.

1 International students experience more stress than Dutch students.

Yes

2Internationals often try to deal with psychological problems themselves for too long.

Yes

3 They can go to the TU Delft psychologists for help.

5 Which question do you want to elaborate on?

“On question three. International students and PhD candidates are always welcome, with smaller and bigger issues. We offer individual support and group courses. The courses are focused on learning, dealing with stress, fear of failing, perfectionism, but also on high expectations of others and motivation. One of our psychologists is trained in the specific difficulties PhD’s often face. (SB) psychologen.tudelft.nl, smartstudie.tudelft.nl, graduateschool.tudelft.nl

Yes

4The psychologists take cultural differences into account.

Yes

2948 This is the number of international students enrolled at TU Delft in 2013, which amounts to 16% of TU Delft’s student population.

China now tops the list of countries represented with 421 students, but just over half of the foreign students hail from EU countries. The highest percentage of foreign students can be found in the halls of aerospace engineering.

International enrollments have been gradually on the rise during the last ten years and have more than doubled since 2003 when 1269 international students were enrolled at the university. (HM)

Tweets

(Photo: Paula Meesters)

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Shorts A quick look at some of the online content and on-going series at www.delta.tudelft.nl.

Integration Seen here is the TU Delft Solar Boat that was designed for the DONG Energy Solar Challenge, the World Cup for solar powered boats.

The photo was taken in Sneek, in Southwest Friesland, on July 2. A truly multidisciplinary effort, the team that worked on the boat comprised thirty-two members from across eight faculties of the university. In July, the team also attended the Solar1, a solar boat championship hosted in Monaco. Though the team did not win at either event, they hope to continue on their innovation and participate again in the next championship. (DP) (Photo: TU Delft Solar Boat Team)

People you should know Jad Masri knows what it’s like to move to a new country. Born in Lebanon and raised in Quebec, the Netherlands is the fifth country he has lived in. This makes him well suited to represent the interests of international students in his role as DISS chairperson. The current agenda of DISS includes helping students deal with faculty issues and improving safety and security in student accommodation. Masri, who is pursuing a master’s in petroleum engineering, is working to help internationals integrate and improve their experience at TU Delft.

Since being elected chairman of STIP, Bert Vogel has been actively involved in working for students and the city of Delft. Vogel, a mechanical engineering student, provides leadership to the student political party that focuses on economic growth through innovation, creating a rich cultural scene in Delft and making the city bicycle friendly and sustainable. Although he plans to pursue a career in engineering after he graduates, Vogel doesn’t rule out the idea of returning to politics on a

local or national level in the future.

Chiem Ringers has always been interested in politics so he was eager to get involved in the TU Delft Student Council.

As a member of the student party ORAS he was recently named Student Council chairperson.

The hot issues being addressed by the ten person council at the moment are the capacity of TU Delft educational facilities, ICT, expansion of the Sports and Culture Centre, workspaces and the socalled bachelor before master rule. Studying molecular science & technology, Ringers feels so strongly about the value of his council service that he says it is worth delaying his studies. (HM)

The university should not be too forceful in persuading international students to integrate: it is up to them to do so. This was one of the conclusions reached at an innovation drinks reception for Dutch TU Delft students. delta.tudelft.nl/28520

Teaching internationally

The Executive Board of TU Delft would like to see faculties teaching more Bachelor's programmes and all minors in English.

This has emerged from the 2014-2020 Strategic Plan for the Internationalisation of Education. delta.tudelft.nl/28520

Meet the society

In this article, we highlight student rugby clubs. This is part of our ongoing series Meet The Society, which highlights different student groups and societies at TU Delft. delta.tudelft.nl/28516

What’s hiding

Out of sight, in the basement of the Electrical Engineering Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS) building you will find the Studieverzameling (literal translation: study collection.) This is part of our ongoing series, What’s hiding at TU Delft? delta.tudelft.nl/28200

Alessi

Earlier this year, twenty students from TU Delft were invited to Italy to work with the world-renowned design firm – Alessi.

That’s not all, if all goes well, we may soon see a TU Delft design manufactured by the Italian brand. delta.tudelft.nl/28518

IN THE SPORTLIGHT

Sports Shop

Sidharth Mahalingam Specs

1.80 meters Weight

75 kg

Strong brains and toned bodies are all part of the university experience.

Date of birth March 29 1990

Course:

The cricket whites of the club Concordia

Master's in management of technology

Understanding the importance of exercising more than just our brains, TU Delft offers a comprehensive sport facility on campus. With a variety of sport and fitness options, there is something for everyone.

Sport: Cricket (Concordia)

Other sports: Badminton, Football

An English willow made by the brand SS.

Why cricket?

My first memory of cricket is watching India play in the 1996 World Cup. Cricket is like a religion back in India and I have been playing the game ever since I can remember.

What are your strengths?

I like to be in the middle, always be involved in the field with something or the other. From a cricketing perspective I am an all-rounder, a bowler who can bat. I’m sure my teammates will have their own stories though.

What are your weaknesses?

I take defeat to heart and can’t stop thinking about it unless I win the next round.

Any injuries that you have to keep in mind while playing?

Every now and then my right shoulder pains after a long day in the field and especially when I try and bowl a tad bit faster.

What is your favourite moment?

Winning the IDCL (Indo Dutch Cricket League) We were the 2014 runners up and 2013 winners.

Batsmen wear gloves to protect their hands from the ball, which can reach speeds of 145kph

To protect your legs from the ball, you must wear pads, but they must also be lightweight to allow you to run.

What's the best part about cricket?

Being on the field in the middle of the action (batting, bowling or fielding), team bonding, and all the jokes on and off the field!

What are your ambitions?

I want to play with my team at overgangsklasse next season and maybe even higher leagues in the seasons to come, provided I (get a job and) stay here in the Netherlands. (DP)

On a natural, grass field, you wear rubber spikes for a better grip.

On astroturf, you wear normal training shoes since grip isn’t much of a concern.

Photo: Sam Rentmeester

Why DSV Concordia?

The club is close to where I live and the team has played so many tournaments together that we all know each other quite well.

Considering it to be the best sports offer she has experienced at a university, Jana Zibulski, who is pursuing a master’s in biomechanical engineering, says “they make it easy to try out new things and that is how I was able to discover my passion for climbing.”

In order to participate, you need to have one of two different membership cards. Your first (and cheapest) option is the Sports Card, which will give you access to all of the classes. Once you have a Sports Card, you can also purchase the Fitness Card, which gives you access to the fitness room.

For enrolment classes (like tennis and Jiu-Jitsu) you sign-up at the beginning of the term whereas for group lessons (like yoga and energy block) you enroll online on the day of the class. Popular courses fill up quickly.

Both cards can be purchased at the start of the academic year, but if a yearlong commitment seems overwhelming, there is an introductory period at the beginning of the year where you can sample the classes. Trying out a class lets you see if the Zumba instructor has the moves you are looking for.

Regardless of your schedule, you should be able to find time to get in a workout. During the academic year, the fitness room is open from 7:30 until 23:00 during the week and 11:00 17:00 on the weekends. “I like the fact that it has such extended opening hours compared to other university sports centers,” says fitness instructor and master’s student in sustainable energy technology, Marjolein Elderson. Practice areas are open later, from 08:00 to 1:00 on week days and 08:00 - 21:00 on weekends.

Facilities at the Sports Centre are frequently updated. Just last year they expanded the fitness room adding new equipment. This summer, the Centre began offering fitness classes during the holiday period and is even holding some outdoors.

Of course there is always room for more improvement. “For me personally, a running track would be a great asset.”

If you’ve always secretly wanted to learn how to fence or learn karate, you can find more information on their website: http://sc.tudelft.nl. (NC)

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campus nEws Non-profit group brings Dutch-style student houses to internationals TU Delft students have redeveloped a vacant apartment building in Delft to serve as student housing. Thirty of the 150 rooms in the Zusterflat will be furnished for internationals, giving them the chance to see Dutch student life up close.

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nternationals who want to live amongst Dutch students do not have many options in Delft.

Housing cooperation DUWO mainly offers private rooms in buildings with other foreign students.

A group of Dutch TU Delft students called Stichting Herontwikkeling tot Studentenhuisvesting Delft (SHS

Delft) has recently redeveloped an apartment building with room for fifteen student houses. Three floors are reserved for internationals.

It is SHS’s mission to give empty buildings a new life as student housing. The Zusterflat meaning nurses flat used to house nurses in

The rooms are 11 m in size and will cost, in total a little under €400 per month. Every house has a shared kitchen, bathroom and living room.

Students view one of the furnished rooms in the Zusterflat. (Photo: Sam Rentmeester)

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training, but has been vacant for the past ten years. It is the first project SHS has taken on. In December 2013

contracts were signed with the owner, a mental health hospital. It is now up to the Delft municipality to give the final approval.

The thirty international students will live on three floors, in between the floors housing their Dutch peers.

Every floor will function as a separate student house, with its own rules and customs. The international floors will be fully furnished and the students will lease their rooms from a different organisation yet to be contracted.

The organisation will provide its

international tenants with specific support when needed.

The rooms are 11 m2 in size and will cost, in total a little under €400 per month. Every house has a shared kitchen, bathroom and living room.

On the ground floor of the building there is a large common space and a lush garden. TU Delft campus is five to ten minutes away on a bike. (SB)

The culture of six Do different cultures perceive success differently?

Does the approach to education and what is considered a good grade differ between Dutch and international students? The Dutch cultural phenomenon known as the zesjescultuur would indicate as much. But, does this wider social phenomenon exist within TU Delft?

The zesjescultuur literally translates to the ‘sixes culture’. It gets its name from the Dutch grading system of scoring students out of 10, with a 6 (almost always) being the lowest grade needed to pass. It is, however, more than its literal translation and describes a culture where it is acceptable for students to do the minimum required of them to pass.

In April 2014 the government released Onderwijsverslag 2012/2013: Motivatie – a report assessing motivation within the Dutch education system. Local newspaper NRC reported that the investigation found that Dutch students ‘experienced their right to education merely as a duty’.

We asked students and faculty members if this is an attitude prevalent on campus too – the answers

were mixed. Former student council member Geertje van Engen believes that a zesjescultuur does exist at some levels of the university. “First year Bachelor students are used to studying for a sufficient grade to pass and not necessarily to actually learn something and develop themselves.

Their high school attitude can result in less interest in the courses at university, which often creates a zesjescultuur among them,” she says. However, the expectations and competition at this level is also different as most programmes are in Dutch and the number of international students is much lower.

Things are different at the post graduate level though. “All post graduate students aim for the best result within their reach,” says Rufus Velhorst, chairman of the student union VSSD. He adds that international students probably feel an additional pressure to perform better.

Dr Dap Hartmann, Associate Professor, TBM, agrees.

“International students often have expectations and pressures placed on them that Dutch students do not, which motivates them to score well, as opposed to just ‘pass’,” he says. However, Hartmann also acknowledges that some students may have

a zesjes-approach. “There are a fair amount of students who have this approach but there are so many exceptions that it’s not appropriate to generalise.”

Last year the Dutch government put in a number of new measures aimed at increasing the standards of students and their motivation levels. TU Delft also introduced a number of changes to their academic system – such as Harde Knip (Bachelor to Master is no longer an automatic transition), BSa (Binding study advice) and stricter curricula.

The changes have been met with some criticism.

“The current measures of TU are only stimulating the zesjescultuur. By implementing measures that force students to study [in a particular way], the university will become more like high school and students will learn only enough to pass their exam,” says Van Engen. (DS) Delta approached a number of international students for their comments. However, none were forthcoming on this subject. If you want to share your experience on this matter, write to deltainternational@tudelft.nl.

Commercial success at TU Delft Gerwin Hoogendoorn of senz⠰ shows off his company’s umbrellas in their natural habitat: on a bike.

Text: Kerry Dankers Text: Kerry Dankers Photos: Sam Rentmeester Photos: Sam Rentmeester

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TU Delft

As a technical university, TU Delft is the highest ranking Dutch university, third highest European university and 42nd overall in the World Reputation Rankings of Times Higher Education magazine. What makes TU so special? What is it about this university that inspires success? We talk to four TU Delft alumni who discuss their companies and products and what role the university played in their research and development.

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Ampelmaan CEO Jan van der Tempel came up with the design for his company’s gangways over a beer.

Geert Woerlee stands behind Feyecon’s closed loop dying system.

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f you do not recognise the name senz° umbrellas, you will definitely recognise the shape of their unique umbrellas.

The umbrellas are designed to be used in all weather, including wind, without collapsing or turning inside out. Company founder Gerwin Hoogendoorn came up with the idea for his industrial design engineering master’s project idea out of sheer frustration.

He had three traditional umbrellas break in one week.

After some research, he discovered that the umbrella's original design had not changed since the Egyptians invented it around 3,400 years ago. He figured it could use a little updating. Armed with his idea, Hoogendoorn approached several umbrella companies for his master's project. Not one was interested, stating that the traditional design was fine. With 1.1 billion umbrellas produced in China each year, the companies were happy with their bottom line. This massive number also pointed to the fact that a lot of umbrellas were being thrown away and the consumer was forced to purchase another poorly designed umbrella. “The round shape was a design flaw. It could be pushed over from any side,” explained company cofounder Gerard Kool. Instead, Hoogendoorn got permission to go it alone.

The facilities and resources at TU Delft allowed him to conduct an in-depth graduation project.

He credits the multidisciplinary makeup of TU Delft for the array of testing available to him.

For example, he was able to do material testing as well as wind tunnel testing right on campus.

In the end Hoogendoorn's prototype was even more advanced than what is on the market today.

Inspired to take his product further, Hoogendoorn recruited Gerard Kool, a classmate that he had done projects with, after meeting him again at the faculty bar. He also recruited Philip Hess, a TU Delft alumni studying business education at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, whom he knew through playing basketball. With his two trusted co-founders, senz° umbrellas was formed. “In the first wind tunnel testing I thought that it was possible, that we really had something,” says Kool who is now in charge of finance at the company. senz° umbrellas went on to win several major design prizes including RED Dot, IDEA and iF Design Awards and compete in NewVenture, an important business plan competition that got them a deal with Mexx to initially put their product on the market. Afterwards they set off independently with a webshop and, essentially, crowdfunding. The umbrella took off.

Not forgetting their roots, seven years later senz° umbrellas continues to have a relationship with TU Delft. They were the first company to set up their headquarters at the Yes!Delft building. They also have a programme to hire student interns from TU Delft.

“We started and we never stopped doing what we love. We created a product and put it into the market independently. It's an ongoing process of reinventing ourselves,” says Kool.

The company is now moving forward with new products and accessories.

A better hand TU Delft postdoctoral researcher Gerwin Smit is another successful innovator coming from the TU Delft. After completing his master’s in

biomechanical engineering at University of Twente in Enschede he came to TU Delft for his PhD and focused his studies on prosthetic hands. “Currently 40% of people are not wearing their prosthetic hand because it is too heavy, uncomfortable or too difficult to control,” explains Smit. Introduced to the field by his copromoter Dick Plettenburg and into his network, Smit began working on the problem.

One of the most popular hand prosthetics currently in use is a body-controlled device design which does not even look like a hand.

The design is 100 years old. More recent models are more lifelike and electrically controlled, but with motors and extra components, the model is criticised as being too heavy. Smit wanted a prosthetic that was simple and light.

He set his sights on hydraulics. Other devices that used to work with pulleys and cables have been modernised by the use of lightweight hydraulics, making them the perfect fit for a light, highly articulated prosthetic.

Smit approached hydraulic fabricators for the size he needed. “For prosthetic application I would need very tiny cylinders which would fit inside a finger. These cylinders turned out to be non-existent. Therefore I decided to develop my own micro-hydraulic cylinders,” explains Smit.

He went on to design the cylinders himself after consulting with colleagues in the department.

The parts for the cylinders were made in the faculty workshop. The resulting cylinders have many other potential applications as well.

Conducting his research in the Biomedical Engineering department in the 3mE faculty, Smit was able to bring his idea to life. He credits TU Delft for enabling him to visit international conferences where he could establish

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Gerwin Smit’s prosthetic hand is powered by hydraulics.

international contacts. “Moreover, do not forget all the available resources like workshops, measurement shops, helpful assisting staff, a great library, access to virtually all scientific literature, etc, etc,” says Smit.

As a speaker at TEDxDelft, Smit introduced his lightweight, incredibly articulate, bodycontrolled, intelligent pressurised prosthetic hand to the popular world. A second generation model of the Delft Cylinder Hand is expected to be complete by the end of this year. This version will be tested by people at home during their daily lives and the project has multiple enthusiastic volunteers.

The fabric of science Another success story from TU Delft is Geert Woerlee founder and CEO of FeyeCon. With a master's degree in physics and a PhD in applied sciences, he has revolutionized the manufacturing process of dyeing fabrics. He has replaced the regular dyeing process with a water free solution.

“TU Delft was involved in the development between 2000 and 2007,” says Woerlee.

“Three prototypes were developed through that period.” It started with research and development in early 2000 and soon, he had a small prototype to test. By 2009, an industrial size prototype was in the works. Instead of using millions of litres of water in the dyeing process, the technique makes use of supercritical fluid carbon dioxide to introduce the dye to the fabric. The leftover CO2 is then recycled back into the closed loop system to be used again. The process uses half the amount of dye, less energy and costs 40-60% less money, making it sustainable for the environment and

cost effective for the company.

This game changing technique was the start to Woerlee's entrepreneurial success. YES!Delft helped with the start-up FeyeCon where Woerlee is the CEO. The company has resulted in many spin-offs including DyeCoo, Clean Algae, Tispa

'Hoogendoorn credits the multidisciplinary makeup of TU Delft for the array of testing available to him. He was able to do material testing as well as wind tunnel testing right on campus. ' Medical and Echo Pharmaceuticals and Woerlee sits as an executive board member of them all.

Nike and Adidas have both partnered with Woerlee to begin using the dry dyeing in their manufacturing.

Six degrees of motion Don’t think too small at TU Delft either. In 2002, two TU Delft PhD students were casually discussing the difficulties associated with offshore access over beer at an offshore wind conference in Berlin. A presentation they had seen earlier at the conference highlighted the real challenges posed by moving people

or freight from boats to a fixed structure especially when the weather was poor.

During the conversation, the idea for a flexible gangway was born. One of those two students was Jan van der Tempel who is now the CEO of Ampelmann Operations.

Ampelmann has developed a motioncompensated gangway that takes into account the six degrees of motion. The name Ampelmann comes from the pedestrian figures on Berlin traffic lights. With this gangway, one can safely traverse from vessel to fixed structure or between vessels in any type of weather the sea has to offer. “It is significantly important for wind and oil and gas companies as it means their platforms and wind turbines can be accessed at all times. Renting an Ampelmann is more cost effective that hiring helicopters, jack-ups or larger vessels,” explains Eveline Huizink who is in charge of business development support at the company.

TU Delft and the department of Delft Center for Systems and Controls (DCSC) played a major role in the company's research and development. In conjunction with TU Delft, a patent was applied for and the first Ampelmann system was developed. They gained access to a flight simulator and hexapods for testing and the wave basin for sea simulations. The TU Delft offered a course in entrepreneurship where the founders learned, among other things, to write a business plan. “TU Delft is a unique entity which offered us the opportunity to become who we are,” says Huizink. They are currently a company at YES!Delft. Ampelmann is moving forward with expanding internationally. By increasing their product they hope to make offshore access as easy as crossing the street.

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the best of all worlds An international university is an excellent university, claims Anka Mulder.

As Vice President for Education and Operations, she is regarded as the driving force behind TU Delft’s efforts towards further social integration. ¨A global mind can change the world,” she says.

Text: Phillip Gangan Fhotos: Sam Rentmeester

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TU Delft

You were appointed Vice President in April 2013. How has your experience been so far?

I’ve had a very, very nice year, I have to say. It’s an honour to have this job at this university because I think that this is a fantastic university. I just love it. Also, the cooperation among the three of us –my colleagues Dirk-Jan [the President of the Executive Board] and Karel [the Rector Magnificus] – that’s been really nice as well.

As a female member of the Executive Board, do you feel that women are underrepresented at TU Delft?

Yes, I think so. If you look at the management level in the faculties and in the university as a whole, women have been underrepresented for quite a long time. A few years ago, the board started a very active policy to change that and I think a lot has changed. Of all the three technical universities, I’m the only woman in the Executive Board. Half of our directors are women and we have three women who are deans. That’s a major improvement. If you want to be a very good university, you have to be open to talent, wherever it’s from, female or male. So we still have to take steps, but I think we’ve been quite successful in the last few years in changing the balance.

Prior to your appointment as Vice President, you served as both the Secretary General and Director of Education and Student Affairs. You were also the President of the OpenCourseWare Consortium. How did you manage to fulfil all three roles?

I wonder about that too. One clear thing is that you have to work very hard. I think what helps is that I really, really like my job. So it gives me a lot of energy. Also, having good colleagues is important. Finally, don’t be a perfectionist. I’m always quite flexible and I always think I can manage.

You studied History at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. Has this helped you in your career at TU Delft?

I don’t know if it has helped me, but it hasn’t been a problem. I think what has helped me is that I’ve worked in other countries for years and I’ve also lived in other countries. That has helped a lot because it gives you a broader perspective on your work here. If you’ve only worked in the Netherlands, it’s sometimes hard to understand or to see how things can be different. Universities worldwide are different.

The opening of the 2013 academic year was conducted for the first time in English. What was the reason behind this?

Well, I thought that was very important because the opening of the academic year is sort of the formal start of the year. Because we did it in Dutch, international students could attend but they couldn’t understand. If you want to be open to international students and if you want the opening of the academic year to be for them too, you have to do it in English. That was one of the first things I changed in my new role.

'If you look at all the world-class universities, there’s an international vibe there. If you go to MIT or Berkeley, you see that there are people from all over the world and they mix effortlessly.'

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Integration has become a top priority for the university. Why does this issue need to be addressed?

If you look back at the internationalisation of this university, ten years ago, we had very few internationals among our students and staff. But now we have thousands of staff and students who are not Dutch. I think we’ve been very successful in numbers and we’ve also been successful in quite a number of other things. We have English language training. All our master's programmes are in English and some bachelor's programmes.

Also, housing for international students has improved a lot. But then, you come at a point where you see that the numbers are okay, but still, these two populations don’t mix. It’s almost like there are two planets in orbit and sometimes they circle very close to each other. But there’s a Dutch culture and a Dutch student life and Dutch fraternities and then there is an international student life and international activities. That’s all fine, but it’s not an international university. So we have to make sure that we have the best of all worlds.

What are the barriers to integration?

I think one issue is that Dutch students start with their bachelor's programme, when they’re eighteen. That’s the moment when they’ve all got their networks of friends and they join sports club or something else. International students tend to come for their master's degrees, so they arrive at a time when the Dutch students have already built up their networks. And the other thing is language.

You may think that it’s not a big deal if the activities of a studie vereniging (study association) are in Dutch, but it is. Because if you’re from China or from Italy, you just don’t understand it and you cannot attend. So language is also a big thing, not only in student activities but also for us as a Board.

If I look at the all policy documents I receive, almost all of them are in Dutch. I’m not saying that every international student wants to read our policy documents, but what if they do? Well, there’s no way they can read it. So, I think our support staff and us, as the Executive Board, have to work much more in English.

Integration is mostly seen as the responsibility of internationals. Do you think this is true?

I think it’s a two-way street. I don’t know if you have to learn about other cultures, but you just have to be open to new friends or new colleagues, wherever they are from. For me, I don’t mind if people are not interested in Chinese culture or Italian culture or whatever. But, just be open and be interested in your student colleagues.

How does TU Delft benefit from a more integrated community?

If you look at all the world-class universities, there’s an international vibe there. If you go to MIT or Berkeley, you see that there are people from all over the world and they mix effortlessly. It’s a characteristic of a good university. The other thing is that it will also make international students happier if they could meet Dutch students and go out with them or go for a beer or whatever you like. >

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TU Delft

'The truth is, most of our engineers have to be able to work in English after they graduate anyway.'

how to do that on this campus. I think it’s much better if you integrate.

Finally, there are some very strong points about the educational system and culture in the Netherlands. For example, Dutch students have a reputation for being quite assertive, asking critical questions and having a critical mind. Those are good things, I think. But also, different countries and different cultures have their own strong points. That’s what I mean. We have to make sure that we have the best of all worlds.

This issue has been raised several times in the past. What is the university doing to foster integration?

It’s not a new question, but I’m new. Last year, we took some little steps by having our big events in English like the Dies Natalis (anniversary) but also the opening of the academic year. Also, all policy documents now have to have an English summary. Those are small things. I also asked our support staff to come up with a new international strategy, which is now under discussion with the directors of education and the deans, because I think we need to take some bigger steps as well.

These include things like offering at least thirty ECs of your bachelor's program in English, because that will make it much easier for exchange students to come to Delft. Or ask all faculties to include activities to integrate Dutch and international students. For example, Industrial Design Engineering has a master's introduction programme for all students, Dutch and international.

That’s a really good example and I think other faculties could learn from that. Or facilitate international students to learn Dutch. So, after their Master's programme, it would be easier for them to find a job here in the Netherlands. Or make sure that English is more widely used.

But it’s not only a top-down thing, of course. Integration, I think, is especially bottom-up. What we’ve also been doing is talking with student organisations and with the student council to see how we can start some bottom-up activities to make sure that integration will happen. If student organisations change, that would have a major impact.

What would indicate that progress is being made?

We actually measure student satisfaction. There’s a national student enquête (survey), the NSE, but we also participate in the International Student Barometer. That’s an international benchmark of universities all

CV Anka Mulder worked in Brussels and Vienna for several years, and was the head of department at the ROI institute for public administration before serving as Director of Education and Student Affairs at TU Delft. From 2011 to 2013, she was appointed as the university’s Secretary General

and President of the global OpenCourseWare Consortium.

Technology and business magazine FastCompany named her one of the most creative people in business in 2012.

over the world and we’ve been participating in that for a number of years now. We know on which items we perform well, and which items we do not perform well. Integration is one of the items mentioned in the Barometer, but also how satisfied students feel about their programme here and their lives here. So the next time we do the International Student Barometer, I’m hoping we will have significantly higher marks on quite a number of those issues.

What do the Dutch think about this trend towards English?

It’s not only a trend at universities. If you look at secondary schools in the Netherlands, the number of students who have their programs in Dutch and English has increased enormously. I think for some students, it is more difficult to do their bachelor's programme in English. You have to be honest about that. But I think, it’s difficult for everybody.

So just get started and just be a little bit relaxed about that.

The truth is, most of our engineers have to be able to work in English after they graduate anyway.

WHat: Open Monument Day WHere: Delft WHEN: September 13th and 14th PRICE: Free Party prognosis:

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party Spotters

Stamppot with endive International students of TU Delft: Welcome to Holland!

In this special edition of Delta, I will try to teach you one of the most fundamental dishes in the Dutch kitchen.

Don’t be fooled by the lovely summer weather; when winter comes, it does so with a vengeance. So get out the warm sweaters and the gloves, because believe me, winter is coming. This Dutch recipe will help you through the cold months and warm your body and soul.

Stamppot is named after the action of mashing (stampen in Dutch) potatoes in a pot (pot in Dutch).

Materials Large cooking pan, Masher, Frying pan, Sieve

EXPERIENCE A SLICE OF HISTORY AT OPEN MONUMENT DAY DELFT

Ingredients Potatoes, Butter, Milk, Oil, Salt, Pepper, Bacon bits, Endive Peel, wash and cut the potatoes into large chucks. Boil

If you’re new to the city, or simply want to learn a little more about local history and heritage, then this event is for you.

the potatoes in plenty of lightly salted water until they become soft. While the potatoes are boiling, cook the bacon in a bit of oil until nice and crunchy. Remove the

Open Monument Day is an annual event held in the second weekend of September. Thousands of historical buildings and sites are open to the public free of charge. Now in its 28th year, it has become one of the country's largest cultural events. It attracted around 900,000 visitors last year nationwide.

Stichting Open Monumentendag Delft (SOMD) is responsible for organising the event locally. “We hope to have thirty-five to forty locations open this year, with 10% of these being completely new to the programme. For example, the observatory on campus at TU Delft will be open for the first time,¨ says Marijke Tuurenhout, the chairwoman.

The theme this year is travel and you can expect to see some old style modes of transport cars, boats and buses. Keep an eye out for the trekvaart - a boat pulled by horse power along the side of a canal. Or you can take a ride on a horse and carriage.

It’s not only officially registered monuments that will be open to the public, but also other buildings with a historical story. Places not ordinarily open to the public will also grant access on the day. For example, the late-Gothic water board building on Oude Delft with the coats of arms displayed outside. Or the oldest part of the city hall, the prison tower from the 13th century, which contains a jail cell complete with torture instruments. Many locations will also organise extra activities such as exhibitions, musical performances and guided tours.

Accessing all the sites will be free, but there may be a small charge for some of the extra activities or a turn on one of the old vehicles.

With shopkeepers dressed up in historical costumes, a walking tour around the historical taverns of the city, and a cycle route in the direction of the Koperen Kat brewery - it looks set to be an entertaining weekend.

Don’t let the language barrier put you off. “I worked as a volunteer last year, and there was a big demand for information in English. This year, for the first time, I’m going to make sure it’s available," says Sunny Nabialczyk, secretary of SOMD. (CV) For more information see openmonumentendag.nl and delft.nl. You might also want to check out Delta’s essential survival guides to life and events in the Netherlands here delta.tudelft.nl/ international-students/delft-survival-guide

bacon from the pan and add a small amount of water and a bit of butter. This will make a light gravy. Chop your endive into small pieces.

When the potatoes are cooked, drain them and return them to the pan. Add milk, butter and oil, salt and pepper and mash into a puree. Then add the endive and stir until the heat of the puree softens the endive.

Add the bacon and serve directly with the gravy.

In Holland the gravy is a very important part of the dish. If you like meat, cook a sausage to serve on the side.

A perfect warm meal for the winter months.

On the edge of the blade, Chef Job

Ricardo Rondinel, Civil Engineers (PhD), Peru

Text: Heather Beasley Doyle and Marco Villares Photos: Hans Stakelbeek

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TU Delft

Can TU Delft Finally “Eet Smakelijk?”

Dutch food culture surprises many newcomers. When the Dutch “put lettuce and tomato on a sandwich, they think it’s a party,” quips Dorina Pojani. Pojani’s jab gets to the point—food in the Netherlands is functional and simple. Some say it lacks poetry, others find it a welcome change, but the abundance of sandwiches, coffee and Cup-a-Soup makes for hours of conversation among local foreigners.

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ut Pojani, an Albanian postdoctoral urbanism researcher who joined TU Delft after living in the United States, targets her harshest criticism at Sodexo, the university’s official caterer. “Sodexo takes food quality to a new low,” she says. María Gélvez Rueda, a Colombian master’s student in sustainable energy, agrees. Initially confused by the Netherlands’ cold lunches and large dinners, “I’m in the full Dutch mode now,” she says, lunching on sandwiches and saving her biggest meal for evening. One sticking point remains, though, “I don’t really like the food at Sodexo. But nobody does.”

Sodexo arrived at TU Delft on July 1 2007. The company is the world’s 18th largest employer, with ‘nearly 428,000 employees in eighty countries across the globe,’ according its website. TU Delft isn’t Sodexo’s only venture in the Netherlands; the company runs 1,300 locations in the Netherlands alone, according Jos Schulte, Account Manager Education, who oversees Sodexo food services at TU Delft.

Stuck with Sodexo According to their ten year contract, only Sodexo can provide the food in the university’s canteens and cafés, says Jelle Bos, Interim Facility Management & Real Estate (FMRE)

Manager. TU Delft would not disclose how much it pays Sodexo for this service.

Sodexo is also the preferred, but not mandated, provider of food ordered for meetings and other TU Delft events (known as “banquet”), but in those cases, students and staff are able to decide for themselves from which restaurant they’ll order. And they do. “We see that a lot of orders are made outside of Sodexo,” says Bos, who estimates that roughly 60% of the university’s banqueting comes from nonSodexo sources.

'Sodexo realises its customers are less than satisfied' Despite this bit of flexibility, Bos describes the contract as very old-fashioned. It focused on basic needs, canteen pricing guidelines and anticipating the changing needs of the customer. Bos worries that on the last point, Sodexo is falling short. “I hear a lot of complaints,” he says. “I don’t think the variety is very good.” According to Schulte, Sodexo

realises its customers are less than satisfied, thanks to monthly surveys and restaurant managers’ daily contact with diners, all information he wants to use to increase customer satisfaction.

The first step toward that goal was this summer’s makeover of Sodexo’s Aula canteen, including cosmetic changes and a new menu.

Sodexo and the university hope the canteen’s new identity will make it an environment where students feel welcome all day “and maybe all night, like the library,” adds Bos. Moreover, Sodexo plans to work more with the university’s Health Coach Programme to create healthier selections, and might roll out more international options on a weekly or monthly basis. Daily international offerings are not yet planned, but Schulte is open to the idea. He says he hopes internationals at TU Delft will approach him with suggestions.

At the moment, though, internationals feel largely unheard. During the 2013-2014 academic year, for example, the Architecture faculty pulled together a focus group to brainstorm about the food in its Sodexo-run canteen. The meeting was in Dutch, which Pojani, who was there, suspects kept other foreigners from participating. “The discussion was all wrong,” she says. It centred on recycling and organic offerings, rather than addressing >

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what she sees as the real issue, “proper food.”

This effort reveals TU Delft’s and Sodexo’s failure to connect with their international population, and illustrates what Bos notices. “I don’t think I can say the international students complain more than the Dutch,” he says, “the complaints are different.” While internationals mainly crave better, more varied food, the Dutch push for organic food and recycling, the exact issues brought up during the Architecture meeting.

It is this discontent that prompted bachelor’s students Malcolm Brown and Said Idoum to launch the Facebook group “Sodexo: We’ve had Enough.” By its third day, the group had 1,000 members, and has since grown to 2,167 members, but is just a place to vent, according to Pojani. According Schulte, members of the Facebook page have not contacted him.

Clueless about customers The Facebook page reflects entrenched anti-Sodexo feelings on campus, expressed passionately by many internationals. “I don’t think Sodexo does international food very well,” says Julia Kasmire, a PhD candidate in the Technology, Policy and Management faculty from the United States. “All the international students I know, bar one, bring their own lunch,” she adds. Punit Gandhi, a master’s student in sustainable energy technology from India, says he cooks in the morning and takes the meals with him to campus.

Vegetarians say Sodexo fails to make the grade as well. According to Kasmire, “finding meatless options without massive quantities of cheese is nearly impossible” while Gandhi complains Sodexo’s vegetarian dishes don’t vary much. More specialised dietary needs and religious food laws are ignored altogether, an issue familiar to K.M. Nazmul Islam, a master’s student in industrial ecology from Bangladesh. A Muslim, he only eats halal food. His only on-campus dining option is the Döner Company.

“Even sandwiches, a Dutch staple, are disappointing single cheese, single ham, single bread offerings,” says Ariel Lee, a master’s student in industrial ecology from Taiwan. Kasmire says sandwiches bursting with “decorative” lettuce on the outside are half-empty on the inside. And those who want to eat on campus sometimes can’t, because canteen hours are limited, forcing students into the centre of Delft or back home at odd hours, foraging for food.

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TU Delft

Fringe benefits More variety and better value wouldn’t hurt, either, say internationals. Ricardo Reinoso, a Civil Engineering PhD candidate from Peru, suggests Sodexo “…try to make food from other countries with a nice food culture.”

But not everyone is disappointed, or even surprised, by the food at TU Delft. When Talya ten Brink first heard gripes about Sodexo’s food, she thought, “Why are people complaining?”

Ten Brink, a master’s student in Landscape Architecture, is American, and says, “The Dutch have a better food culture than what you have in the U.S.”

'The Dutch have a better food culture than what you have in the U.S.' Others agree that life here has certain dietary benefits. “In the Netherlands, I feel that I am healthier,” says Lee, who lost weight after moving here. Many see another silver lining.

“It gave me the opportunity to develop my cooking skills…to make something healthy and delicious,” Jaffe explains. By last autumn, Gandhi’s culinary expertise was so good that he won a “Best International Cook in Delft” award.

Interestingly, Schulte thinks many at TU Delft are unhappy because they feel forced to choose Sodexo. Bos agrees. “It will be a big win if people can choose” from different on-campus food suppliers, he says. Because the current contract stipulates Sodexo as the school’s sole caterer, creating change before the contract ends in 2017 isn’t easy. European regulations complicate matters - bringing in new vendors a laborious, time-consuming process that can take months, Bos says.

Nonetheless, with cooperation from Sodexo, a handful of on-campus food alternatives are thriving. The library’s Coffee Star and the Döner Company earn praise, and this summer “rolling kitchens,” or small food trucks, drove onto campus to sell coffee, tostis or chicken saté (chicken with Indonesian peanut sauce) for the first time. Most notably, the university owns and operates the café at Sport and Culture, which also offers banqueting services.

The Sports Café opened in 2006, says Jeroen

Boerrigter, Managing Caterer at Sports and Culture, and has evolved into a happening spot serving barbecue, organic burgers, handmade pizzas and some Dutch dishes. Specials are tweeted daily, and the eatery’s on-campus buzz is positive. “I think it’s really nice,” says Gélvez Rueda, “it’s also kind of expensive, but that’s okay.” Boerrigter concedes that the prices aren’t rock bottom, but adds that he tries to offer the freshest and most authentic food possible within budget. “We cannot do everything fresh,” he says, but “we [are] always seeking the balance.” Boerrigter says another focus is international students, a group he thinks Sodexo has yet to serve adequately.

But he is quick to point out that a universityrun restaurant works differently than a multinational catering corporation. “Sodexo is a whole different company with a whole different structure,” he says. “The Sports Café and its banqueting services are not entirely profit-oriented, so we can do things within our mission and vision,” he says. “The revenues we make eventually come back to the students, and keep the finances within the university.”

Looking ahead TU Delft is considering its own culinary future.

Students, professors, FMRE Sodexo and others all hold a stake in decisions and potential changes. Though the Aula redesign was a start, the university community would welcome more substantive change. To that end, FMRE has initiated a comprehensive hospitality plan to address the issues at play, with the goal of offering food and dining experiences that students and employees enjoy. “I’m hoping to have a new situation by fall 2015,” Bos says.

Moving forward, he looks to Erasmus University Rotterdam for inspiration. Erasmus has a food court with several different vendors and a central, inviting seating area with wifi. If this concept comes to TU Delft, the international community, for one, will be happy to have a gathering spot defined by a multitude of food offerings. A small on-campus grocery store is scheduled to open in late 2015, according to Bert Vogel, Delft council representative from the student-run STIP party.

According to Boerrigter, noticeable, lasting change to food at TU Delft could really be on the way. “There is a paradigm shift at the moment at FMRE and TU Delft,” he says, and before long, food on campus “is going to look completely different.”

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TU Delft

Ariel Lee, Industrial Ecology (MSc), Taiwan

Julia Kasmire, Technology, Policy and Management (PhD), United States

Talya ten Brink, Landscape Architecture (MSc), United States

Punit Gandhi, Sustainable Energy Technology (MSc), India

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TU Delft

Helping the twain meet: nation-wide plans in place to encourage Dutch and international students integrate

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Text: Damini Purkayastha

Making friends is not rocket science. But, sometimes, you just need a little nudge in the right direction. Especially when it comes to making friends with people outside your comfort zone or from outside your country.

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ccording to a report by Nuffic’s Study in Holland initiative, in 2012-2013 over 90,000 international students were enrolled in the Netherlands.

These included 43,500 European Union (EU) and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) students and 20,350 non-EU/EFTA students, 9,600 students within Erasmus or with residence permits for internship and 17,050 other inbound diploma and credit mobile students.

In order to make international students feel welcome and integrate well into Dutch society, universities across the country have introduced a number of initiatives. Some work.

Some don’t. But everyone agrees it’s important to keep trying.

Even more so as a recent report put together by the Social and Economic Council of the Netherlands didn’t have good news on that front. Called Make It in the Netherlands, the report stated that while 70% international students express an interest in staying on in the Netherlands after graduating, only 27% of them actually end up doing so. While part of the suggested solutions including making learning Dutch easier, the report also points out that international students and Dutch students often exist in their own ‘bubbles’ and rarely interact outside of the classroom. “International students find it difficult to connect with Dutch students and to put down roots in Dutch society. We plan to change this situation with extra buddies, an annual cultural connection award, through internationalisation of participation bodies and student associations, and through an active alumni policy,” the report says. Their action plan to address this issue is called ‘Breaking the Bubble’.

involved and explore links between their own culture and that of the Netherlands. Obviously the same applies to Dutch students. Meet others while you have the chance,” he adds.

Delft, Amsterdam, Utrecht - everyone’s talking about it The University of Amsterdam (UvA) has over 2,500 international students enrolled with the majority coming from UK, US, China, Greece and Germany. Aside from special orientation programmes offered by the UvA and the International Student Network Amsterdam, the university has other plans. “Of course we think it is very important that both Dutch and International students integrate. Not only in the classroom, but just as much outside. Both parties can learn tremendously from each other in habits, culture and language. In some classes we try to keep the number of Dutch students at a maximum of 50%, which gives us a more active discussion with a more international view on controversial topics,” says Hans Hulst, communication advisor, UvA. In 2014-2015 they are starting the Amsterdam Excellence Track, an extracurricular programme for excellent students.

“Half of this group of thirty comes from countries outside the EU and will all be receiving the Amsterdam Excellence Scholarship (of €25,000). The rest of the groups are excellent Dutch students.”

The aim of the programme is to prepare them as future leaders and ambassadors for the UvA and having a mixed group will benefit integration as well.

'I prefer to advise our international students more towards acculturation, which involves becoming an active member of their new community, while maintaining their own cultural identity.'

Why integration matters?

In the past few years, various departments at TU Delft have been working actively towards a more international atmosphere on campus. Initiatives at an executive level include hosting key ceremonies in English and ensuring all official communication is in English as well as Dutch. These are many ideas discussed extensively by Anka Mulder, vice president of the Executive Board in her interview to Delta on page 10.

There’s more going at other levels of the university as well. The Central International Office of the university has placed an emphasis on the topic on their agenda for 2014. “Life is much more fun and enriching if you are doing something you enjoy and see a variety of different perspectives from around the world,” says Elco van Noort, director Central International Office, TU Delft. “I prefer to advise our international students more towards acculturation, which involves becoming an active member of their new community, while maintaining their own cultural identity. So, I would advise students to get

Another Dutch university with an international character is Utrecht University, which has more than 1,200 new international students arrive each September. “We organise a university-wide orientation for all international students, which includes a lecture on Dutch study culture. In addition, most programmes or faculties organise their own introductory activities. International students are also welcome to join the Utrechtse Introductie Tijd (UIT),” says Roy Keeris, director Communication and Marketing, University of Utrecht. “Students come from a variety of backgrounds. And can learn a great deal from each other, both inside and outside the classroom. It is important to foster an understanding of different cultures, so that interaction can be open, and free of stereotypes,” he adds.

While there is no university-wide policy on this matter, there are a number of initiatives at the graduate school and faculty level.

These activities range from buddy-programmes to an extra focus > on integration in the classroom.

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Delta magazine

Back in Delft, the Introduction Programme for BSc and MSc students in 2014 will offer more opportunities to integrate with Dutch students and Dutch student life, including Dutch welcome activities, involvement in some OWEE (Dutch orientation) activities, dinners in fraternities and an exciting celebration of Koningsdag or Kings Day, with Dutch games and competitions to give new international students a flavour of Holland.

“PhD students and staff members have a different introduction programme, which is tailored to the needs of this more mature group. They arrive throughout the year and need to form links within the university and integrate into Dutch life,” says Van Noort. One such incentive catering to this category of newcomers is Come2TUDelft, an online platform through which PhDs and staff can find information, sign up for activities and talk to others. Dinner with Dutch PhDs, along with workshops such as Meet the Dutch and a Survival Tour of campus and town, are some initiatives which have been developed so far with varying results. “We intend to continue these initiatives in 2014 and, at the same time, extend the PhD and staff introduction programme to provide more opportunities to integrate into TU Delft and Dutch life,” adds Van Noort.

Student bodies can make a difference too In Breaking the Bubble, the action plan in Make in the Netherlands mentioned above, solutions mentioned include a Buddy Programme and ensuring that student associations (sport-based, interest-based, programme-based etc.) take international students into consideration.

TU Delft student council group ORAS was certainly listening.

The issue of integration even made it to their 2014 election manifesto: Greater social and academic integration will foster a dynamic international environment.

But, they aren’t the only ones. Several other clubs on campus have a similar impetus. The Delft Energy Club - a student run platform that focuses on energy - takes pride in its international character. Of their 1,400 members, an estimated 40% are international students. “The goal of the Energy Club is to stimulate innovation and to offer opportunities to students to unleash their potential. Therefore, organising events and activities where students and researchers from different backgrounds meet is what we do continuously,” says Fritz Dankers, secretary of the Energy Club board. The club also organises monthly Energy Breaks together with the Delft Energy Initiative. Dankers feels that multi-disciplinary projects are a great platform for integration as people with different specialisations and from different backgrounds come together and learn to work in project-teams. “This is something clearly valued by TU Delft,” he adds.

Another such group is YoungDelft, a networking group for TU employees who are younger than 36 years of age. With a board that comprises a mix of Dutch and international staff, Young Delft is a microcosm of the university. “The board is just as diverse as our activities. We have Iranians, Taiwanese, Chinese, American, Polish, and Dutch people in our board. A Brazilian and an Iranian person are joining us soon and a Mexican and Indian recently left,” says Eveline Vreede, the chair of the organisation. Vreede says working together gives them a more nuanced appreciation of sociocultural differences, whether in terms of managerial styles or communication. “We take into account differences in preference between men and women and cultural interests

even when we organise our sport activities, social activities, and other activities that enhance skills or knowledge. This makes it fun for both the Dutch employees as well as the internationals,” says Vreede. Homecooked meal nights, kayaking, beach games are some of the many social events they’ve hosted. All official communication of YoungDelft is in English but that is not always easy. “Of course sometimes there are misunderstandings because of language, more specifically because of cultural interpretation of language,” she says.

Have a hobby? Find a group Vreede acknowledges Dutch and internationals don’t mix sufficiently. Dutch students are usually involved within their own communities (student associations, student houses, sports, etc.) and international students find it easier to slip into groups among themselves. Vreede offers some advice: “Just do it! Just go to the party of another association, or call them over.

Have an intercultural potluck. Sit somewhere different in the lecture hall every time and talk to the people around you.”

Dr. Daniel Farley, an American who completed his post-doc at TU Delft in 2013, counts a number of Dutch people among his friends. His path to feeling integrated involved an exchange of knowledge - about beer. A beer aficionado, Farley says he met a lot of local people at speciality pubs and beer tastings. “Once they realised that I knew what I was talking about, especially when it came to American beer, they opened up. I’m not really one to strike up a conversation, but this way I was in my comfort zone even though I was among strangers,” he says.

In 2012-2013 Holland hosted 90,500 international students.

In government-sponsored programmes there were: • 43,500 students from EU countries and EFTA countries (Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland); • 20,350 students from countries other than EU and EFTA. Another 9,600 students came to Holland within the Erasmus programme, or with a residence permit for an internship.

The remaining 17,050 students enrolled in other programmes, or followed only part of a study programme, to gain credits for their study at home.

Source: Nuffic Study in Holland report

The master

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Fariborz Ghavamian

Modelling of concrete: trial and error? Time is money!

Research: ‘Application of a discrete empirical interpolation-based proper orthogonal decomposition to a gradient-enhanced damage model.’

Final score:

Computational mechanics of materials is concerned with the numeric modelling of materials that are used in civil engineering, such as concrete.

Structural engineering MSc student Fariborz Ghavamian (25) from Iran based his research on this area. The title of his thesis is quite a mouthful. “Everyone laughed at my presentation because of the long title, I spent a week trying to shorten it but it just wasn’t possible,” jokes Ghavamian.

“I did my internship in the structural engineering division of a company called Tebodin. It was my first opportunity to work, I wanted to try something new,” explains Ghavamian. “My thesis was a good chance to give in to my passion, it was really applied mathematics more than engineering,” he says.

So the question is, what exactly did he research?

“In practice, the goal is to find the parameters of a material. First the experimental scientists run experiments on a material in a lab, such as breaking it and recording how much force was needed. But that’s not enough. To really make use of the material you need to be able to use it somewhere else. You need to know its characteristics, like its strength. The mechanical engineers model the material in the computer and try to recreate the same results as the lab.

If the experimental and model results become identical, we can infer that the parameters that we used for the computer model are actually the parameters of the tested material. In order to find the right parameters you have to run the simulation a lot of times and play around with the numbers. It’s essentially a trial and error process,” explains Ghavamian. “My research was to apply the method discrete empirical interpolation-based proper orthogonal decomposition to a gradient-enhanced damage model to reduce its computation time, and therefore the cost of these parameter studies.”

He adds, “This method was introduced in 2009, which is very new by engineering standards.

People are just starting to work on it. My plan

was to get it out of its mathematical form, transform it to a mechanical form, and then implement it to the computer.” How was this done? “We always build upon the work of our predecessors. We had this model already worked out in my faculty, so we had a program. What I had to do was manipulate the program to make it more effective. I had to play around with it a lot. You can run the program a thousand times and it doesn’t work, if it works once then you’re done.”

He was successful. “The computation time was reduced by more than 90%. For more complex problems, it could be more than that. Computer models can sometimes take months or even a year to run, so reducing a year’s computation time to one day is massive. This is purely academic, this method is not yet mature enough to go to the market, but it looks very promising, it’s publishable,” he says.

Ghavamian has had a positive experience as an international student. A big factor in choosing to study in Delft was that most people can speak very good English. “I’ve had no problem with a language barrier at all,” he confirms. “TU Delft was my first experience of a multicultural environment, it opened my mind. I did notice that international and Dutch students don’t really integrate, they keep themselves to themselves,” he observes. “I found the system of education newer here than in Iran, much more practice based. The organisation of everything has been good too. Further, the researchers are prestigious and really care about what they do. My experience until coming here was that in academia you’re on your own, people don’t share too much, but that’s different here,” he notes.

Ghavamian plans to do a PhD next at TU Delft, which is essentially an extension of his thesis work. (CV)

(Photo: Sam Rentmeester)

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Delta

January 1 2015 New Year’s Day (national holiday)

February 27 2015 TEDxDelft February 2015 Delft Blues Festival February 2015 Stukafest March 2015 Festibérico April 3 2015 Good Friday (national holiday) April 5 2015 Easter Monday (national holiday) April 27 2015 King’s Day (national holiday) May 4 2015 Rememberence Day (national holiday) May 5 2015 Liberation Day (national holiday) May 14 2015 Ascension Day (national holiday) May 25 2015 Whit Monday (national holiday) Late May / Early June 2015 Zomer Festival

June 2015 Delft Fringe

June 2015 Mooi Weer Spelen

August 15 – 17 Jazz Festival Delft August 28 - September 7 National Restaurant Week August 29 – 30 Westerpop September 13 – 14 Taptoe Delft September 13 - 14 Open Monumentendag October 24 Museumnacht Delft Second week of December Lichtjesavond December 25 and First and Second Christmas Days December 26 (national holiday)

Digital media and the future of teaching Learning trends The focus of contemporary learning is often on new media available to facilitate teaching. These media have broken down spatial distance and time, making global collaboration possible. Research drives learning and is the key to funding for knowledge institutes, but what is the status of the quality of teaching in the traditional lecture room?

Student perspective The course lecture is where the human element, teacher and student interaction, should happen in a compelling way. Lecturers have an impressive arsenal of materials at their disposal to convey knowledge, but many classes fail to inspire students.

From this student’s perspective, teachers often seem unfocused, and rush through their slides in a superficial way, sometimes running short of time.

Of course, the students can access the slides online later. But this leads to attention shortfall and implicit procrastination. Students have the added distraction of their own laptops and smart phones in class.

Unfortunately, digital media appear to perversely undermine the vibrant knowledge arena they should be supporting. The lecture room often becomes a student transit area instead of a destination.

Lecturer perspective Dr. Marco Zúñiga, assistant professor of Computer Science at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science, explains that research staff who also teach are under great pressure to contribute to research first.

Even so, professors at TU Delft complete a mandatory Basic Teaching Qualification (BTQ) and English language proficiency course. The BTQ consists of four twenty-hour courses within their already crowded timetable.

Admittedly, slides have the convenience of ease of reuse but can lead to routine delivery, and skipping over the subject matter better served by a slower pace. For complex material using the blackboard to write out proofs and equations does slow things down but it makes the material easier to follow.

To teach and prepare unfamiliar subject matter, he updates his knowledge using quality online material. He says “MOOCs (massive open online courses) enable global access to the best teachers and I use them in my own courses in a win-win situation for teacher and student”.

The future Will lecturers disappear, replaced by remote student participation in MOOCs with even more media dependency?

Despite the current pitfalls of digital media, Zúñiga is optimistic about its potential application. Teachers will become facilitators with a coaching role, helping students to cross pollinate ideas and compose their own knowledge arsenal from online sources. A future teaching and learning arena with an optimal balance of human and technological elements appears to be the most desirable outcome.

columnMarcovillares

Events Calendar

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books

TU Delft

For Further Reading

Whether you’ve just arrived or have mastered the art of cycling while balancing groceries, internationals of all stripes will enjoy these books on their favourite coffee corner subject: The Dutch.

The Xenophobe's Guide To The Netherlands This is one of many books in the Xenophobes series which, according to their website, ‘highlights the unique character and behaviour of nations’. The Dutch version of the series is true to form.

The author, Rodney Bolt, was born in South Africa and now divides his time between Amsterdam and Madeira, after having lived all over the world.

It’s a concise book, less than 90 pages, and is arranged by topics ranging from Character to Manners & Etiquette.

All of the standard observances about the Dutch are covered, from their bluntness to their tolerance. The book expands on their traits by putting them into a historical framework.

Ready, Steady, Go Dutch

Stuff Dutch People Like

A collaborative publication between the non-profit organisation ACCESS and the English-language news organisation Dutch News, this book polled internationals from all over the country for their experiences of living in the Netherlands.

The responses are organised by topic and range from the education system to health care. For anyone having difficulties adjusting, this book will help you from feeling like the only one facing these problems. Many internationals feel similarly to whatever quirk of Dutch culture is currently vexing you and you can read about those experiences in this book.

A collection of pieces from the popular website, Stuff Dutch People Like, author Colleen Geske chronicles, as the title suggests, things that Dutch people enjoy.

She started the blog in 2012 for her friends and it has grown tremendously in popularity.

The book subjects the Dutch to a good-natured ribbing about their love of licorice, herring and sandwiches. Turns out, your Dutch friends aren’t strange, they’re just Dutch.

How to Be Orange

The House Of Dolls

American-born comedian Greg Shapiro describes himself has having “splitnationality” disorder. He relocated to Amsterdam from Chicago to help start Boom Chicago, married a Dutch woman and has now become synonymous with Super Burger, the title of his tour.

The stand-up comedian chronicles his experiences in obtaining his Dutch citizenship in this book.

Lest you think his derision is limited to the Dutch, he’s got plenty of things to say about American culture as well.

British author David Hewson is better known for writing two novels based on the hit Danish television show, The Killing, but this time, he’s in Amsterdam.

The novel follows a retired police detective who left the force after his own daughter was kidnapped and is still missing. When another girl is kidnapped in a similar fashion, he’s reinstated to solve the crime.

Though the book doesn’t focus at all on the international experience, the vivid portrayal of Amsterdam and Dutch culture make for a great read for any newcomer to the country. (MQ)

Delta

TU Delft

One extremely large telescope

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Tweet

The top of a 3,000 metre high mountain in Chile was blasted away on June 19 2014 to make way for the world's largest optical and infrared telescope, the E-ELT. in the atmosphere, which in turn leads to blurry images. To compensate for variations in the refractive index, the deformable mirror is placed in the optical path of the telescope. When part of a wavefront from a far away celestial object is slowed down during the last small segment of its journey through our atmosphere, it will hit an elevated section of the mirror.

Meanwhile, the rest will hit a valley.

With this kind of compensation, all photons will arrive on the telescope’s detector simultaneously.

That, at least, is the idea. Verhaegen and his colleagues from Delft and scientists from the Dutch space research agency Sron, with whom they collaborate on this project, still need to demonstrate the technique. They will do so in about six moths, using the Nordic Optical Telscope at La Palma.

The shape of the mirror is defined by 40,000 actuators, which are adjusted every 0.3 milliseconds based on information about the incoming light

which is collected by about a hundred thousand sensors. Developing a control system that can efficiently regulate this kind of set up is quite a feat.

“We can only regulate this mirror by doing parallel calculations”, says Verhaegen. This implies dividing the deformable mirror into different modules that can communicate with one another.

Verhaegen received a 2.5 million euro ERC grant (European Research Council grant) earlier this year to perform these types of parallel calculations. They are essential when huge amount of data come into play, whether you are studying fluid dynamics, traffic flows or trying to remove the twinkling in star light.(TvD)

'The shape of the mirror is defined by 40,000 actuators, which are adjusted every 0.3 milliseconds based on information about the incoming light'

Where did everybody go? #NedMex pic.twitter.com/ ugWMoU6eRO

“It was one of the student members of our webcare team who came up with the idea,” says Rob Speekenbrink, online media consultant at TU Delft and manager of the university’s ten-person webcare team. TU Delft’s observant webcare team noticed that the library was quite full during the exam period right until the time Netherlands was playing a World Cup match.

Then it was empty.

There are ten students behind the TU Delft social media accounts, which include a Facebook page (in English), Dutch-language and Englishlanguage Twitter accounts and even a Weibo account (also known as Chinese Twitter.)

The goal of the social media channels, says Speekenbrink, is to show what the university “smells” like. “We want people to understand what campus life feels like,” he says. (MQ)

Strip: Auke Herrema

E-ELT stands for European Extremely Large Telescope. This new groundbased telescope, built by the European Southern Observatory, should be operational in 2023. It will have a 39 metre main mirror and will be the largest optical/near-infrared telescope in the world. Astronomers will use it to look further into space and in more detail than ever before, enabling them to, for instance, track down Earthlike planets around other stars in the habitable zones where life could exist.

Prof. Michel Verhaegen, of the Systems and Control Group in the 3mE-faculty, watched the live-streamed explosion with great interest. He is leading a team of Delft researchers that works on the 2.4 meter wide M4 mirror, which must remove the twinkling in starlight before this light hits the main mirror.

“It was a very exciting moment”, says Verhaegen. “Not many places on earth are suitable for this kind of telescope. It took quite some time to find the right location. So, it was very important that they didn’t blow up too much of the mountain”, he laughs.

The site, in the middle of the Atacama desert, and close to the Very Large Telescope, has been chosen because the sky is cloudless most of the year.

M4 is a deformable mirror which compensates for variations in the refractive index caused by turbulence

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Text: Damini Purkayastha Photos CIO

TU Delft

Introduction Programme 2014

international pages

In a regular edition of Delta, this is where the English-language pages begin. We’ve kept the formatting the same, so you can get a feel of our usual layout. As TU Delft becomes more and more international, this section of the magazine has expanded along with the number of Englishlanguage articles published to our website. If you have ideas for stories, comments or questions about the international section of Delta, send an email to deltainternational@tudelft.nl

Incoming students participate in a variety of activities during the 2013 Introduction Programme.

TU Delft is a melting pot of world cultures. Every year nearly a thousand international students join the university, bringing with them a little more of the global footprint that makes the university truly international. 2014 has the highest number of international students yet.

1,189 international students enrolled this year, with 977 for an MSc, 126 for BSc programmes and 86 exchange students.

This year, the two-week long Welcome Programme organised by the Central International Office kicks off on August 15 with an added focus on integration. A number of events during this time will be held jointly with OWEE (the introduction programme for Dutch students) so international and Dutch students can get to know each other right from the start. “The Introduction Programme is all about giving TU

Delft international students the best start in their student career and their life in the Netherlands. In the future we aim to provide even more integration between international and Dutch students,” says Sophie Vardon, Manager, Introduction Programme.

Aside from joint sessions with Study Associations and Student Bodies, students will get an early introduction to the most exciting Dutch tradition – Koningsdag! “We’re hosting a second Koningsdag of a sort. Not only will people be dressed in orange things, but students will also play traditional Dutch games such as Koekenhappen,” says Vardon.

Other introduction activities include team project work, happy hours at the Welcome Cafe (in the Aula) and the multicultural closing event.

The Welcome Cafe will also host a number of lunches and dinners on themes such as Meet the Dutch and Dinner with the Study/Student Associations. “One feedback we got from last year was that students wanted to be introduced to their faculties sooner. This year we have introduced new activities around the Faculty Sneak Preview day, during which students will be taken on a tour around their respective faculties.”

'The Introduction Programme is all about giving TU Delft international students the best start in their student career and their life in the Netherlands'

In order to help with the Introduction activities, the CIO put together a team of forty-five specialised coaches – student assistants who took intensive training workshops on areas such as team building and leadership. Keeping with the focus on integration, a number of chosen coaches are Dutch. One of them is civil engineering student Martijn Hollestelle. “I’ve never had the chance to study abroad, but I love the atmosphere of a global community (like in student hostels) and thought it would be a great idea to sign up as a coach. I enjoy living and studying in Delft and I love welcoming new students here and helping them get the best possible start for their time here,” says Hollestelle.

According to one student coach, the pub crawl is among the most exciting aspects of the introduction programme. “Delft is a beautiful city and has some excellent pubs with a fine selection of beers and I enjoy sharing my favourite spots with the new students. Even for those that don't drink, I think the atmosphere in the centrum with all the new students will be infectious and make for a great night out,” says Suparshav Tandon from South Africa, a BSc student at the Aerospace Faculty. Like last year, the official Opening of the Academic Year will be in English and DISS will be involved in the ceremony. ¨This is another opportunity for international students to feel welcome and integrate into TU Delft university life,” adds Vardon.

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TU Delft

SCIENCE Chinese drivers in doubt The Chinese drive through Changsha much as the Dutch cycle in Amsterdam: with no respect for traffic rules. Dr. Jie Li sheds new light on their behavior.

As a mother and traffic researcher, Dr. Jie Li learned about traffic rules in the Netherlands the hard way.

Freshly arrived in Netherlands seven years ago, she told her 7-year old daughter that people in Delft were so kind that it was perfectly safe to ride your bicycle here. After her daughter came home in shock. A vehicle had not given her priority and almost hit her. When Li told her professor about the incident, he asked where it happened and if she, as a traffic researcher for crying out loud, hadn’t noticed the priority markings (known as shark teeth) on the street? “Kind or not, you should learn the rules,” she was told.

Li has compared Chinese and Dutch driving behavior in her PhD research. Her supervisor Professor Henk van Zuijlen (CEEGS faculty) had noticed that traffic capacity at signalised intersections in China was 20-30% lower than in the Netherlands. And he had wondered why. They decided to study driving behavior by means of questionnaires, in-car observations and discussions with focus groups.

The most frequently registered offenses in Chinese traffic are speeding, illegal parking, driving on wrong lanes and disregarding signs and signals. The most

Dr. Jie Li behind the wheel. (Photo: Sam Rentmeester)

frequent causes of accidents include speeding, ignoring priority rules and driving without a license.

These are typical examples of behavior that can be improved by strict traffic rule education and enforcement, Li says.

Adaptations in traffic models that account for the different driving behaviour than in western countries are necessary to arrive at better estimates for traffic flows and travel times. Li suggests this not only to distinguish between conservative and aggressive drivers in the traffic model, but to make the distribution between the behavioural types dependent of traffic conditions to allow for a feedback of the traffic on the driver’s conduct.

The underlying problem is poor knowledge of traffic rules in China.

Li observes a complete disconnect between the education of traffic rules (from a book and with exercises on internet) and driving lessons. Driving lessons commence once the theory test has been

Statistics alone reveal remarkable differences between Dutch and Chinese traffic: NL CN Deaths per 100,000 vehicles (2010)

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32

Main cause of accidents

distance

priority

Novice drivers (%)

4

38

Cars per 1,000 people

461

35

Annual growth rate (%)

1

27

Mean driving experience (years)

20

6

passed, but focus mainly on practical driving skills. Thus driving and traffic rules have become separate domains.

A typical example of this emerged from one of the Chinese drivers’ focus groups. Only four out of the thirty-five people rightly identified the priority sign. In other words, Li’s daughter wasn’t the only one to miss the clue.

The lack of knowledge is widespread, says Li. Even driving instructors and policemen are often at loss when confronted with a situation concerning three cars arriving simultaneously at a nonpriority crossing.

Meanwhile drivers have adapted to a malfunctioning traffic system. They chose to ignore badly tuned traffic lights when there’s no conflicting traffic in sight. Conversely, at green light, they carefully venture onto the crossing out of fear others ignore the right light. The most frequently repeated lesson to traffic novices is to be kind and careful.

Li, however says, “In driving, traffic rules are more important than courtesy”. And that’s also the message she wants to convey in China by means of a number of articles in Chinese and perhaps even essays for the newspaper to reach a larger audience. (JW) Ji Lie, Characteristics of Chinese Driving Behavior, PhD supervisors Prof. Henk van Zuijlen and Prof.

Serge Hoogendoorn (CEEGS), June 19 2014

SHORT Quantum teleportation

Researchers of Kavli Institute of Nanoscience demonstrated the teleportation of information between two quantumbits three metres apart and published their findings in Science online in May 2014. This development is an important step towards a quantum network for communication between future ultra-fast quantum computers – a quantum internet. To achieve teleportation the scientists made use of the unusual phenomenon known as entanglement. “Entanglement is arguably the strangest and most intriguing consequence of the laws of quantum mechanics,” argues the head of the research project, Prof. Ronald Hanson. “When two particles become entangled, their identities merge: their collective state is precisely determined but the individual identity of each of the particles has disappeared.”

Delta.tudelft.nl/ 28423

Less river discharge

A warming climate will cause rivers in regions affected by snowfall to discharge significantly less water, or so former master’s student Wouter Berghuijs (CEG faculty) concludes in Nature. Climate Change, in May 2014. In a warming climate, less precipitation will fall in the form of snow and more in the form of rain. In his graduation research, Berghuijs considered how this affects the average amount of water flowing through a river. That his findings were published in Nature Climate Change is something that is something uncommon for a graduation research.

Berghuijs studied historical data on snowfall and on the mean annual stream flow from 420 catchments located across the United States.

Delta.tudelft.nl/28279

Undersea earthquake

For the first time, sound created by an undersea earthquake was measured above the surface of the sea. An article about this was recently published in Geophysical Research Letters and TU Delft's Dr. Läslo Evers, who also works for the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI), was the first author. The earthquake occurred in New Zealand in 2004. Though large, it received little attention, as it was followed by the devastating Sumatra earthquake and tsunami. Evers and his colleagues found that infrasound (sound with very low frequency), which was measured with land based microbarometers in Tasmania, originated from this earthquake.

Delta.tudelft.nl/28079

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TU Delft

Text: Damini Purkayastha Photo: Hans Stakelbeek

delft survival guide Survive the survival guide It’s not easy to find your way around a new country while settling into the demanding routine of university life. Things get even more complicated when most of the information is in a language you don’t understand. To help you figure out your way around town, Delta started a series called Survival Guide in 2012 which can normally be found in this space. In every issue, the series explores topics ranging from getting around campus and the city to where you can shop for ethnic food.

All of the articles previously covered are available in an easy-to-access manner on the Delta website. Below is a rough guide to the different categories of articles, so you can scroll through for whatever information you need, whenever you need it.

tells you where you can get the news in English.

Life Skills

Getting Around

Forgot to buy a copy of Dutch For Dummies? Don’t worry. For a quick guide to words such as Thank You and Good Bye, you can read our March guide Surviving Dutch. If you’d like to jump right into learning Dutch, scroll to the guide called Survive Learning Dutch where we explore the different Dutch lessons available in Delft. We also have a guide to afterhours emergency services (such as getting locked out at midnight), one with tips for bike maintenance, one for the rare day when it snows and, among others, one that

Not just getting around, but where to go when you get there. Learn about the Dutch transport system as well as tourism passes and discounts. We definitely recommend the article on places where you can access free WiFi in the city centre. You’ll catch Delta writers at nearly all of them. We have mini-guides to nearby libraries, one for theatres and another for museums.

For those of you who love quizzing, we’ve even got a list of local pubs that host pub quizzes - in English!

Already missing home-cooked food and can’t adjust to eating bread all the time?

Try the Surviving Food Shopping guide.

Foodie Central Already missing home-cooked food and can’t adjust to eating bread all the time? Try the Surviving Food Shopping guide. Here you can find directions to the nearest place with a range of international ingredients, including dried seaweed cake (The Amazing Oriental) or to the ones stocked with Indian masalas (Bahaar) or Turkish delights (Erciyes Slagerij). For coffee connoisseurs, one of our most recent guides explores places in town to get the perfect beans, whether it’s a single estate dark roast or a dark blend. If you’re awake and hungry at midnight, check out Surviving Late Night Shopping where we bring you a list of places open after midnight.

Things To Do Don’t be fooled by its fairy tale look.

Delft is actually a very happening town and the city centre has plenty going on all year round. Music festivals range from the Jazz Festival (August),

the Blues Festival (February) to the two-day pop festival Westerpop (August). Besides music, there are theatre festivals such as the Fringe Festival, a film festival called Festiberico and special events such as Open Monument Day and Museum Night. You can read more about them in Surviving Events in Delft. The city also has a number of networking events hosted by expat groups such as Delftians, which are great places to meet new people. You can also read about local holidays and the events around them. And, of course, we have a special on Surviving Queen’s Day though it’s called King’s Day now.

Find all of the Survival Guides online: www.delta.tudelft.nl/internationalstudents/delft-survival-guide

Delta

There’s not an app for that

TU Delft opens new academic year The academic year 2014-2015 begins officially on September 1 with the official Opening Ceremony.

The ceremony, which was conducted in Dutch until 2012, will be held in English again this year.

The theme for this year is to encourage students to think about subjects from various angles 'because by looking at a problem from different frames of reference, possibilities for

solving it become easier to discover' says the information note about the ceremony.

This year the event has a special guest - Dutch astronaut Andre Kuipers. Kuipers is the first Dutch astronaut with two space missions and he has spent 204 days in space. In 2013, he was appointed the Ambassador of Teckniepact - a pact between the government, educational institutions and industries to encourage young people to study science. He also hosts a weekly TV science show called De Kennis van Nu - (The Knowledge We Have Now).

Other speakers include the President and Vice President of the Executive Board, Anka

Mulder and Dirk Jan van den Berg. While Mulder opens the ceremony with a look at the world of the future engineer, Van Den Berg will share his personal international experiences.

Besides this, certain student organisations will also have a stand at the event. ¨The discussion came up at one of the internationalisation meetings and we felt it will be good to have a stand at the ceremony so new students learn about the organisation and the options they have," says Tushar Nafde, secretary, Delft International Student Society. (DP)

Kouwenhoven partners with Microsoft to build quantum computer Leo Kouwenhoven has made extreme strides in his field by discovering the Majorana Particle and now Microsoft has partnered with him to hopefully develop the first quantum computer.

A

s a professor of physics in the faculty of Applied Sciences and group leader of the Quantum Transport Group within the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, he had been actively researching the mysterious Majorana Particle for year when, in 2012, he first saw something different in his research. He published his first article about the discovery in April 2012.

Named after Ettore Majorana, who hypothesised the existence of the particle in 1937, it is a fermion. That is, the one and only particle that is equal to its own antiparticle. “If it meets itself, it disappears,” explains Kouwenhoven. Finding this fermion posed a question to the status quo of physics. “The universe is split by bozon and fermion – light and electrons. Maybe Majorana particles are a new class of non-abelian statistics,” says Kouwenhoven.

Majorana particles are viewed as the building

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TU Delft

blocks for quantum computers and the research team at the Quantum Transport Group views their ultimate goal as the creation of one.

Current computers rely on transistors to transmit information, recording information in a binary format of ones and zeroes. Quantum computing uses qubits. Rather than being in one state or another, qubits remain in a superposition of two states simultaneously. This would allow a computer to perform an immense number of calculations at the same time, thus greatly increasing its speed.

Microsoft has invested one million euros in the project, with another million coming from the Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter (Fom). The goal of the project is to build the first working quantum computer.

A professor with the TU Delft since 2008, Kouwenhoven is not new to big discoveries.

While he was a master's student at TU Delft, he accidently discovered Quantum Point Contact, a narrow point between two wide electrically conducting regions. (KD)

I

n regular editions of Delta, this space features an app recommended by a student or staff member at TU Delft. In the past, we've looked at apps such as Evernote, Delft City apps, Snapchat and Viber.

This time, we're using this space to tell you how you can access Delta online, even though we don't have an app yet.

Check our website at www.delta.tudelft.nl.

Not only do we post every article from the printed edition of the magazine, we also include a number of web-only articles that cover news and events on campus. If you prefer the look of the magazine, we upload the entire edition to the website as well.

Make the magazine come to you.

We’ve got a newsletter, which you can subscribe to at www.delta.tudelft.nl/aanmelden.

You’ll get the top stories in your inbox every Monday afternoon.

We also have an RSS feed and separate feeds for each topic.

Finally, follow us on social media.

We’re on Twitter at @TUDelta and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/tudelta. (MQ)

nostalgia

A

nne-Linde van Gameren (24) doesn’t stay in one place for very long. “My master’s programme [in urban studies] is organised by six different universities throughout Europe.”

She’s lived in Brussels, Vienna, Madrid and now Copenhagen. Originally from the Netherlands, she obtained a BSc in architecture from

TU Delft. “It is really nice to have some stuff of your own in a new apartment, especially since I have moved so many times,” she says. She’s carted this string of lights from place to place mostly by train in spite of their impractical shape. “I can’t remember where they came from,” she confesses, “They’ve just always been around.”

Interested in being featured in Nostalgia?

Contact us at deltainternational@tudelft.nl

The bike of

C

ycling is a way of life in the Netherlands.

In fact, this bikecentred culture has the highest density of bicycles in the world. With roughly 18 million bikes in the country, there are about 1.3 bikes per person old enough to ride. It’s not unusual to see people ranging from 5

to 85-years-old pedalling down the bike path, wearing everything from business suits to stilettoes. Once in a while you may even witness the seemingly impossible feat of a cyclist toting two children, a load of groceries and a potted plant, while talking on a cell phone.

Once every month, the back

Text: Heather Montague Photo: Hans Stakelbeek

page of Delta features an international at TU Delft who has forayed into the Dutch world of cycling. Here they share the adventures and goof-ups they face as they try to get the hang of what most Dutch people are seemingly born to do.

Did you know?

• The term fietsenmaker literally means a person who sells and repairs bikes. It is also a nickname for a TU Delft student, originally used to refer to mechanical engineering students.

• You can be fined for cycling on the sidewalk.

• It is compulsory to hold your handlebars with at least one hand when you're cycling.

• There are over 35,000 kilometres of cycle paths in the Netherlands • In 1942 the Nazis planned to confiscate 50,000 Dutch bikes to help mobilise their troops.

Amsterdammers were tipped off and they hid and/or dismantled nearly every bike in the city.

Things readers have spotted on bikes • A guy riding a bike with a baby on the front seat and a woman riding sidesaddle at the back. She was breastfeeding. And talking on the phone.

• Two guys carrying a whole drum set, 3 guitars and a microphone stand between them on their bikes.

• A 3-meter rocket on the back of a bike near the EWI building.