7 27 November 2014 | year 57
Biweekly magazine of the Eindhoven University of Technology For the latest news: www.cursor.tue.nl/en and follow @TUeCursor_news on
Mobile store to relieve MetaForum cafeteria
Executive Board draws on equity to balance budget 26 November 2014 - In 2015, the Executive Board will use two million euros of its equity to balance the budget. Another 2.5 million euros from the budgets of departments and services will be earmarked for ICT innovation and digitalization. According to the Executive Board, it’s a combination of factors that has forced the board to draw on its equity. These factors include several housing projects, the growing number of students, and investments for the Bachelor College and Graduate School. The university also wants to reinforce collaboration with the industry, and wants to attract national and internationals funds. On top of that, the Impulse Program is costly and progressive digitalization and improvement of ICT processes and systems call for extra investments, too.
and Chantal Ta a van Damme x have been aw Grant at TU/e. thousand-euro Both women re arded the 2014 check to carry ceived a statue out their plans tte and a nine The jury felt Va fro m Van Damme rathan’s plan was the best, herself. importance to because it mee the entire regi ts a social need on. The alumna partners that he , and is of wants to found lps them to de an organizatio ve lop their profes After Varathan n for expatsional talents had been awar to the best of th ded the check, Chantal Tax w eir abilities. Va as to receive th n Damme unex e pectedly anno grant as well. unced She’ll be goin g to Boston to re search lattice structures in th e nerves. Van Damme, who usually doesn’ t interfere with the choice of the winner, ad mitted she was fascinated by Tax’ plan, and by the personal in vitation she’d received from a professor at Harvard Medic al School. “It would be a shame if she had to decline. ” uri, Marina va
n Damme and
Clmn Eindhoven, 8:35 am, two bike flows: Witte Dame-Piazza-Station-TU/e and, from right to left, TU/e-Station-Piazza-Witte dame. You better decide carefully which route to follow, and the type of Eindhovener you’ll be: the designer or the engineer. The question is: will these two parallel lines ever meet? I have a daily morning dream, while lazily biking to my office along the ‘engineer route’. I imagine a certain Ms Designer crossing the street, chatting with Mr Engineer at the traffic light and, why not, falling in love with him. How would a love story like that go? Before drawing any pessimistic conclusions, let’s have a look at our protagonists. Ms Designer: short blonde hair, straightened fringe, black bowler hat, glasses stolen from Steve Urkel, jersey maxiskirt, sneakers, and a canvas bag with some arresting and unconventional meta-quotes as ‘quote painted on canvas’ or ‘c’eci n’est pas une citation’. Our designer doesn’t know Albert Heijn, as she doesn’t need to. She eats art: a Rothko’s #61 for breakfast, knotted chairs for lunch, and a couple of Duchamp’s wheels for dinner. Ms Designer reads Baudelaire, Mallarmé and the highlights of the Ikea catalogue. Natlab-goer during the week, she spends her Friday nights at secret parties at secret locations with secret people, or at TAC,
25 November 2014 - Soon, TU/e and Eurest Catering hope to be able to unburden the busy MetaForum cafeteria with the help of a mobile store. A large trailer will be selling products like soup and sandwiches. The MetaForum cafeteria caters to twelve to fifteen hundred visitors every day on average. “That’s an awful lot for a location that small”, says Monique Kuyck, head of Operational Services at Internal Affairs. Kuyck says the increased crowds, at all TU/e cafeterias by the way, are mostly a result of the growing student population.
Street name and number for all campus buildings
Not one, but Marina van two winners Damme Gra 20 November nt 2014 - Kavitha Varathan Marin
Kavitha Varath an, Azar Dasto
and tuecursor on
19 November 2014 - The Organisation Real Estate Management (DH) has given each building on campus street names and building numbers. Starting January 15, staff and students will be able to use their own building number and street name. Flux, for example, will come to be located at De Groene loper 19, and the address for MetaForum will be Groene Loper 5. Cascade is the only building with no street name as yet. By early January, Den Dolech will no longer be used as an address for Hoofdgebouw, and further down campus grounds a new street name will see the light: De Groene Loper.
More news on www.cursor.tue.nl/en
Chantal Tax
Can parallel lines meet? discussing the Russian translation’s faithfulness to the latest Coen Brothers film. Now for our charming prince engineer. A few hairs left, T-shirt of an unknown outdoor festival of last summer, high-water pants, velvet socks and vintage moccassins. The engineer knows how to confuse you. When you think you are getting to know him better, he stops spending his sundays at Media Market to try out new 3D printing technologies, and instead starts chewing gum at Baltan Laboratories. Bedside table books: none. Kindle is the way to go, along with thousands of PDFs filling the memory and which, by the way, will never be read. When it comes to leisure... the Engineer patiently passes. If it’s true that birds of a feather go together, at least as far as the love story thing is concerned, this case is closed. But joking aside, the coexistence of such different worlds is something we all should benefit from, and more often. It’s no secret that the reconciliation of creativity and logic is the main catalyst for innovation and social development. We are on the right track, though: it’s just a matter of more crossings of parallel bike routes.
Valentina Bon at Biomed ito, PhD candidate ical Engine ering
22 | Zoom in
27 November 2014
Floor Not Included:
The search for housing in Eindhoven Text | Angela Daley
Like most universities in the Netherlands, TU/e is motivated to broaden its appeal and attract ever-increasing numbers of international students to its campus each year. As the world shrinks and students flow across borders in hopes of furthering their academic careers abroad, more and more students are flowing into places like Eindhoven. How do these students find a place to live? And what’s the process like for the average international student looking for a room to call their own? For international students (and local students, too, actually), finding housing comes down to striking a balance between quality, cost and, of course, availability. The first stop in their search is generally the options offered by the university itself through their arrangement with housing corporation Friendly Housing of Vestide. These spots are generally econo mical and fall within the budget of the average student. However, international students quickly realize that finding a room is competitive, the wait can be long, and that they may already be far behind their Dutch peers. Kevin Steijn (18), from the Computer Science and Engineering Department is Dutch but grew up in Switzerland and says most internationals are already behind in the housing race when they get accepted to TU/e. “Someone in Holland could say two years ahead, ‘Oh I want to go to Eindhoven’ and then they put their name on the waiting list. They know about it, but international students don’t. They have an advantage.” Ian van Eenennaam (28), came to Eindhoven from Curacao six years ago and recently finished a master’s degree in the Industrial Engineering and Innovation Sciences. He found his first room through a friend.
“A lot of people freak out when they arrive” “I was in luck because I knew a girl here already and she had a friend who was moving out of his room. If you don’t have a contact like I did then it can be very difficult for a foreigner to find a room. Once you’re here, there are a lot of websites where you can search and then it becomes easier. But when you’re abroad it’s harder to know what to trust and what to use.”
You’re an international student and you’ve just gotten your acceptance to TU/e. Yippee! A bright academic future lies before you in the dynamic and diverse city of Eindhoven. But, oh wait, there’s one small catch - where, oh where, will you rest your weary head each night after a day of learning? Welcome to Holland, one of the smallest and most denselypopulated countries on Earth and that means you’ve just landed in a brutal rental market where finding a place to live can almost feel like searching for the proverbial needle in a haystack.
International students may also find that the quality of their first place in Holland is not what they expected. Mexican master’s student Amado Garza (27), of the Computer Science and Engineering Department opted to find private housing but says many of his friends got their places through the public (and thus cheaper) housing options and were shocked by their new digs. “That’s why a lot of people freak out when they arrive. They get to their new house and find that there are eight rooms, one big kitchen, and only one toilet for all of these people to share.” Albanian Deni Vangeli (25), a recent graduate from the Computer Science and Engineering Department, would like to see vast improvements in the housing situation. “Many TU/e international students are living in sub-standard conditions. Many students say that they live in extremely small rooms because they can’t afford a better one. The real question is: should a 6m square room, transformed into a bedroom from a bathroom, be allowed to be rented? I mean are there any minimal requirements for a room to be considered habitable here? Sometimes money-making greed reaches some core areas of the student life that it really shouldn’t.”
Instemming: Internationals need not apply? One of the biggest hurdles to acquiring affordable housing for international students is the Dutch tradition of instemming or ‘voting someone in’. It’s customary in the Netherlands that only one student in a house has a contract with the home’s owner. The landlord, then, is not involved in selecting additional housemates but rather leaves this process to the people already living in the house. It goes something like this: a room opens up in a house with, for example, five students already living there. These students then advertise their open room by posting flyers around campus or on a website such as kamernet.nl
(a common way for students to find housing in NL) and invite all interested parties to apply. Because affordable, attractive housing is scarce, anywhere from five to 40 (or more!) potential housemates might reply in hopes of nabbing the spot. An initial selection is made and the lucky ones are invited to view the room and meet the other housemates. In the end, the original housemates will ‘vote in’ the person they think will be the best fit. It can be a competitive and daunting experience and one that international students often get locked out of, explains Amado Garza, “It’s very difficult to get through. I sent a lot of messages to these houses. About 60% didn’t even answer me. Some answered and said ‘We’re not interested in international people. We want a Dutch person to live here.’
Going the private route Deni Vangeli agrees that this Dutch custom is one of the most frustrating for international students. “Is it justified the fact that a bunch of random college students, who do not own the house where they live, decide on another student’s life with such important decisions? Or should a more formal regulation
take place in a more structured way, involving, for example, the landlord or some other trusted entity?” Some international students skip the long waits for public housing and search for accommodations through the many private housing companies. They get faster service and generally fresher, cleaner and more update facilities but it all comes at a cost, explains Garza. “I didn’t use the university services to find my housing when I first arrived. We - a friend and I - did our own research with regular agencies that don’t have an association with the university. But usually those come with this hefty fee. You have to pay the deposit, first month and the charge for the agency itself which is also one month’s rent. It’s really expensive. And then there are things you don’t expect with some of these houses like ‘Wait, I have to pay for the floor or you’ll take it with you? What?!” Kevin Steijn has put a lot of thought into his housing situation and is considering more daring options. “It’s a lot more interesting to think about buying something here right now. Interest rates are low and if you have the capital, then you can buy a house. The math comes down to that, if you buy, you can live for the same price you would pay if you rented a place. The hope is that you’d break even after living in the
house for a few years and then hopefully the market would go up and you can sell.” The university hopes to make things easier for international students in the near future by offering housing options right on campus. Plans have been made for the construction of a student housing tower between Potentiaal and the sports center. Work will commence in early 2015 and should be completed by mid-2016. The new tower will contain approximately 300 living spaces. Also, the seventeen-story TU/e building Potentiaal will be transformed into a residential tower with three hundred housing units. Construction work is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2016. TU/e and construction group Dura Vermeer have entered into a fifty-year agreement. The contract states that the construction company will realize and exploit housing for people associated with TU/e Science Park, both students and young, foreign researchers. For international students, finding housing in Eindhoven can be a complicated process but Ian van Eenennaam advises those searching for that ideal spot to jump in and not worry too much about the process. “I think as a foreigner you shouldn’t be afraid to come to the Netherlands and find out that you want something else. Don’t be afraid to grab the first thing. If you don’t like it, you can change. You’ll never get the real impression of what life here will be like from behind your computer.”
Home hunting help Need some help finding those perfect digs? Here are some tips: • Start with your social network. Tell friends, acquaintances, professors, Facebook, and pretty much anyone who will listen that you need a room. Just like with the rest of life, getting things done is often about who you know. • Explore the many websites offering housing including: • www.kamernet.nl • www.eindhoven2stay.com • www.vestide.nl • www.friendlyhousing.nl • www.pararius.com • www.funda.nl • www.marktplaats.nl - Consider non-traditional options such as renting a room in a private family home. You might even be able to get an extra cheap rent in exchange for a few hours of childcare. - Check the notice boards on campus and in local supermarkets. - Explore the ads in local newspapers for free rooms and/or rentals. Don’t forget to look in the tiny local papers in surrounding villages if you’re willing to live a bit further afield.
See for more news www.cursor.tue.nl/en
Amado Garza. Photo | Bart van Overbeeke
Zoom in | 23
24 | Research
27 November 2014
A thunderstorm
in the lab
Pavlo Kochkin in a simulated thundercloud.
Lightning is more than just a flash of light. A thunderstorm appears to release gamma rays and X-rays, and perhaps even neutrons. PhD candidate Pavlo Kochkin imitated lightning strikes in the TU/e high-voltage lab, and sent along an X-ray detector in an Airbus so as to see what happens exactly when we fly through a thunderstorm. Mysterious things are going on above our heads. As early as the 1990s a NASA satellite -built to explore space to look for gamma ray flashes - saw short outbursts of such radiation, which, to everybody’s surprise, originated from the earth. Terrestrial Gamma-Ray Flashes they were called, which means ‘earthly’
gamma ray flashes, although it soon became clear that they did not come from the surface of the earth, but were generated high up in the atmosphere during thunderstorms. What was remarkable was that these gamma ray flashes always preceded the lightning. In the meantime it has become
known that also X-rays are generated during lightning. Both gamma rays and X-rays consist of photons with a much higher energy than the light particles we perceive as visible light. In principle, both forms of radiation could be harmful to passengers and equipment in airplanes, for instance. “Pilots already try to avoid thunderstorms as much as possible because of the risk of icing, turbulence and the risk of being hit by lightning”, says Pavlo Kochkin, PhD candidate at Electrical Energy Systems. “Exposure to radiation can be an extra reason to be careful when there’s a thunderstorm.”
“When the X-rays form a beam, you wouldn’t want to be hit by that” How harmful the radiation is, depends on the energy of the photons and on the directions in which they are emitted, Kochkin explains. “When X-rays are emitted
evenly in all directions, they can’t have such a big impact, but when they form a beam, you wouldn’t want to be hit by that.” Reason enough, then, to find out how and where the radiation is generated exactly. As it was known that X-rays are also released when long sparks are drawn in the lab, the Ukrainian created ‘lightning’ himself in the high-voltage lab of Electrical Engineering in the past few years, studying this phenomenon at close range. “We have a so-called Marx generator that makes it possible to create very short voltage pulses of a few megavolt. This allows us to
The genesis of ‘lightning’ in the lab, recorded by Pavlo Kochkin with a high-speed camera. The exposure time varies from ca. 150 nanoseconds (photo at extreme left, genesis of streamers near the negative electrode) to 1000 nanoseconds (photo at extreme right, in which the discharge is visible). The distance between the electrodes is 1 meter.
Research | 25
See for more news www.cursor.tue.nl/en
draw sparks of more than a meter. I analyzed those sparks by means of a special high-speed camera and X-ray detectors. If you look at the sparks that way, they turn out to have a striking similarity to special discharge phenomena in the atmosphere, the mysterious sprites that can be seen above thunderclouds.” However, the sparks in the lab are some ten thousand times smaller than those in the atmosphere, and in addition they are generated at a much higher pressure and temperature. “That does make the comparison controversial”, Kochkin admits. “After all, the genesis of such discharges in the atmosphere is explained precisely by the low pressure and temperature reigning there. For that reason some people say that the origin of sprites cannot possibly be the same as those of the sparks in the laboratory. Nevertheless I have devoted attention to this in my in PhD thesis, because I want to open the discussion about this topic.” By drawing countless sparks, while always making photos at slightly different moments during the discharge process, Kochkin created a kind of film of the process. Each photo has an exposure time of less than one-millionth of a second. Never before have meter-long sparks been made visible in that way, he believes. “The camera was positioned three meters away from the discharge. We have had
to consider the construction very carefully indeed in order to prevent the camera from being hit by the discharge. For that would set you back sixty thousand euros in one fell swoop. Fortunately we have extensive expertise in designing such a constellation in the proximity of high voltage.” By comparing the photos with the signals of the X-ray detectors, Kochkin could find out the precise moment of genesis of the radiation. And indeed -as suggested by the satellite measurements- this was just before the real spark is generated. In the run-up to the spark you first get so-called streamers emerging from the negative electrode, thin plasma channels with ionized gas which appear to function like trailblazers for the eventual discharge (see pictures). When the streamers get in the proximity of the positive electrode, they meet specimens of the same sort that travel the reverse route. Just before the positive and negative streamers hit each other, enormously strong electric fields are generated between them. As a result, the electrons in the plasma are accelerated and subsequently slowed down by collisions with ions in such a way that they begin to emit X-rays. That whole process lasts no more than a billionth of a second. As soon as the streamers hit each other, a conductive channel
between the electrodes is created. As a result, they are discharged in one blow: that is the ‘lightning’ that we know. So just before that discharge, a large dose of X-radiation is emitted for a very brief moment.
Conducting measurements of lightning ‘in the wild’ The spectacle described above takes place entirely inside the lab. This spring, though, Kochkin and some colleagues got a unique opportunity to conduct measurements of lightning ‘in the wild’. Airplane manufacturer Airbus regularly carries out test flights under extreme weather conditions. For this purpose they use a system, ILDAS, which makes it possible to determine the impact of lightning strikes on the airplane. “My PhD thesis supervisor, Lex van Deursen, has developed sensors for ILDAS. In April that system was expanded temporarily by two X-ray detectors. Altogether eight test flights were made during which we have recorded 62 lightning strikes.” In order to elaborate the results of the test flights, the Ukrainian will after obtaining his PhD degree - on December 2 - continue at Electrical Energy Systems as a postdoc for another year. In addition to the painstaking analysis of the gigabytes of measurement data, he has meanwhile also started a new experiment, as he explains with great enthusiasm. “I’m going to charge a cloud of steam electrically with a plasma in order to imitate a thundercloud. I then want to suspend that cloud over a scintillator, which is a detector that is used to detect cosmic radiation as well.” The doctor-to-be has far from finished his work with lightning, then. Indeed, there is still so much to be researched. Recently a Russian group reported that they had seen neutrons in a discharge that is similar to the one Kochkin created. “We have not been able to reproduce that, but this may be due to us. Unlike those Russians we have little experience with neutrons. On the other hand, nobody has any idea how those neutrons are generated then.” Meanwhile the Eindhoven research of lightning has aroused extensive interest. “I get invited everywhere now to speak at conferences. We are in fact reasonably unique as electrical engineers among all the scientists studying the atmosphere.” Text | Tom Jeltes Photos | Bart van Overbeeke / Pavlo Kochkin
26 | Research
27 November 2014
4 burning questions 1 ’s on What f your o r e ov ? the c ation t r e s dis
2 Wh a peo t do yo ple u te a whe t par ll ties n abo ut y they a sk our rese arch ?
4
3 What person, technology, or device has been essential for your research?
Remco Lancee | Chemical Engineering
Gasification of biomass
1 | cover The squares and arrows are a schematic representation
3 | essential XPS (X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy) is a surface
of the indirect biomass gasification process, which I studied during my PhD project. The leaves in the background symbolize the biomass itself.
2 | parties My research project focused on the naturally occurring
mineral olivine, which is used in the gasification of biomass. I have investigated how this material behaves in the gasification process, and the conditions under which the mineral has an optimal performance.
Yi Zhang | Chemical Engineering
sensitive characterization technique that can yield detailed chemical sample information very fast. For that reason, I used XPS pretty much on a weekly basis.
4 | society benefit Through gasification, biomass (e.g. grass or wood) can be used efficiently as a renewable energy source. Further research and development of this process will make it more economically feasible. Eventually, biomass gasification will come to constitute a signifi cant part of the energy production in the Netherlands in the future.
Storing sunlight in hydrogen
1 | cover The cover shows the reaction mechanism of photocatalytic 3 | essential My first supervisor, Prof. Emiel Hensen, has guided hydrogen production from water with sacrificial reagent (an organic compound which is used up in the reaction, ed.). I drew a comic to illustrate it: it’s a battle where the catalyst is the ‘angel’ to save and transfer electrons to produce hydrogen.
me throughout the entire process. Plasma Assisted-Atomic Layer Deposition in the clean room of TU/e has been an important technique in my research, and the help from my second promoter dr. Adriana Creatore (Applied Physics) has also been indispensable.
2 | parties Sunlight is a free and abundant energy resource. It is appealing to convert sunlight energy directly to fuels such as hydrogen, which is called photocatalytic water splitting. However, this reaction is thermodynamically unfavorable and suffers from low efficiency. My study focused on synthesizing and modifying photo(electro)catalyst systems in order to improve their efficiency. For instance, I looked at enhancing the light absorption and accelerating the charge transfer.
4 | society benefit Energy issues become more urgent due to
the depletion of fossil fuels, and solar energy is a promising alternative to replace the conventional energy resources. How to efficiently use solar energy is still under development. My study led to a catalyst model for solar energy conversion into clean fuel, hydrogen, based on using simple and cheap materials and equipment.
Mamoun Althuluth | Chemical Engineering
Sweetening natural gas
1 | cover The cover shows the chemical structure of a novel solvent 3 | essential ‘The Cailletet equipment’ was indispensable for my (ionic liquid) that could be a good alternative solvent for the conventional solvents that are currently used in natural gas sweetening plants (absorption columns). What are ionic liquids? Ionic liquids are molten salts composed of bulky organic cations, and organic or mostly inorganic anions.
study, because it enables high-accuracy measurements of phase equilibria. The person who has been indispensable for my research project is Prof. Cor Peters, and Prof. Maaike Kroon as - she has assisted and encouraged me throughout the project.
2 | parties My research project focused on the removal of acid gases (e.g., carbon dioxide) from natural gas (methane) using new solvents (ionic liquids). It’s important not only because of environmental issues (pollution), but also because the presence of acid gases leads to corrosion in equipment and pipelines.
4 | society benefit Within the next couple of years my disser
tation could prove beneficial to society. If the technology is picked up by the industry, the environment will suffer from pollution less, and it’s more economical at that.
does How efit n e b ty socie ur work? yo from
People | 27
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Brainmatters In the section Brain Matters, faculty of the TU/e program Psychology & Technology take a closer, psychological look at students, teaching staff, labs, technical artifacts, the workplace, university, campus, education, and websites.
The heart has its reasons that reason does not know Illustratie | Sandor Paulus
Whoever reads this is… highly educated, or soon to be so. And if, next to your diploma, you are also gifted with ambition, chances are that at some point in your life you will be confronted with the dilemma of following your heart or following your ambitions. Intelligent people love to be challenged, but they also love intelligent people and often their true loves are -just as themselves- persons of above-average intelligence and ambition. So if you are studying or working at TU/e, you or your partner may in the future have to compromise between your relationship or your careers. For most organizations a strong résumé entails a substantial -months if not years-long- stay abroad. Ambitions and education levels notwithstanding, only rarely do ‘trailing spouses’ succeed at also building a career of their own in that particular region. Last week Kavitha Varathan won one of the two Marina van Damme prizes that were awarded. She hopes to start an organization for partners of expats to help them develop their professional talents to their full potential. The other first prize went to Chantal Tax, who plans to finance a 6-month stay at a prestigious group at Harvard. A striking contrast between two progressive women, both with great potential, yet making very different choices in their lives. I watch both women and admire and respect them equally. At the same time I consider myself fortunate not having been faced with this dilemma (yet). Would I be willing to leave my love
and children behind to pursue my career? Would I have risked my career if he had asked me to follow him? Would he have risked his for mine? All of a sudden discussions about childcare and cleaning the house seem almost petty in this emancipation debate. Dualism in philosophy and psychology refers to the misconception that body and mind exist as two separate systems. Is this perhaps also the way we consider love and career these days? But here too we are dealing with communicating vessels: the lover following his/her partner but missing out on a meaningful career of his/her own; the scientist leaving family and home behind to fulfil the requirements of his/her up-or-out contract. This presents a genuine burden to both partners, and an actual risk also to their employers. I would therefore like to advocate a more holistic approach; a sound mind in a loving body.
Discussions about childcare seem almost petty
Yvonne de Kort | associate professor environmental psychology ‘Le coeur a ses raisons que la raison ne connaît point’ (Blaise Pascal, 1623-1662)
And how are things in Berkeley? More and more TU/e students go abroad for their studies to follow courses, internships or a doctorate path. What is it like to find your way in a new country? Students tell their stories.
The land of the free, and of unlimited opportunities. The country where bigger is almost always better: the United States. I’m spending a semester at IC Berkeley in California on the beautiful West Coast. A look behind the scenes of one of the best universities in the United States. American life is, in many ways, comparable to that in The Netherlands. Nevertheless, there are some interesting differences, food probably being the most famous. Eating out is popular here. The popular burger restaurant In ‘n Out is highly recommended: it offers menus based on no less than two dishes: hamburgers and cheeseburgers. Americans eat relatively unhealthy, witness one of their staple dishes macaroni and cheese. It’s without a doubt one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever eaten. Fortunately, Californians have somewhat healthier dining preferences, and the options in Berkeley alone are endless, and include Caribbean, Ethiopian and even Nepalese food. Student life in the United States also differs in some ways. UC Berkeley has a strong sense of community. Lots of students are politically involved. Recently there was a protest against an announced tuition increase, which resulted in over a hundred students occupying a building on campus for two nights. Also noteworthy are Berkeley’s ceremonies, attended by over 3,000 students. Ceremonies include convocation (opening of the academic year) and the bonfire before the football game against Stanford, at which the Stanford flag is ritually burned. Some of my other findings: when someone says “How are you doing?” it is meant as a greeting and you’re not expected to answer the question; everyone is a fan of local football team the Golden Bears; you can practice any possible sport here - including quidditch, and Americans generally have no idea what European languages sound like, so you can easily speak German very badly for over an hour without most of them noticing you’re not really German. Greetings from Berkeley and... Go Bears!
OperatKoen Bres io s Logisnts Manageerms ics stu ent & dent Would you also like to write an article about your time abroad? Please send an email to cursor@tue.nl.
Read more stories online: www.cursor.tue.nl/en
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Voertaal evenement: Nederla nds Entreekosten: geen
Pecha Kucha Ein
ay ntil Thursd u g in o g n O December, , TU/e campus gebouw hall Hoofd
Technop
Ebola, de Mexicaanse griep, Aids … keer op keer worden we verrast doo en bacteriën. Epidemioloog r virussen Roel Coutinho vertelt op basis van jarenlange ervaring over de ingewikkelde strijd van de mens tegen infectieziekten.
Thursday
,
de
man Leuke pu met foto- bquizavond voor te avond uit en muziekronde. E ams van 2 tot 5 pe dinsdag e! Inschrijven op de en gezellige, goed rsonen. Algemen e n woensd a k ag een qu vond bij de quizm ope en bovendienkennisquiz aster van iz avond! le Voertaal e a f 19.45 uu erzame r. Iedere Entreekos venement: Nederl ands ten: 3,00 pp