10 23 January 2014 | year 56
Staff and s
Biweekly magazine of the Eindhoven University of Technology For the latest news: www.cursor.tue.nl/en and follow @TUeCursor_news on
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Wednesday 22 January - Acco rding to a su and students rvey that was feel safe at TU conducted la /e. Communic improvemen st fall, 98 pe ation, lightin t. The 2,981 pe rcent of staff g and aftercare op le who filled For example, still leave room out the survey many studen ts -especially for do Internal Affairs of fe r ideas for im internationals will therefore provement. - don’t know be prioritizing will also be m w here to report the improvem eeting with Re incidents. ent of commun al Estate Man be improved ication. The de agement to di . A plan of ac partment scuss where tion concerni Internal Affair campus light ng bicycle pa s wants to ad ing could rking will be vance aftercar discussed at presented so e after incide the Universit on as well, an nts. The resu y Council mee will be made d lts of the surv ting first, on public. ey will be February 17. Af ter that, the ex act results
Major energy economization Helix Thursday 16 January - By changing the air management in the Helix building, TU/e will be saving approximately 220,000 euro on energy costs annually. Before Christmas, TU/e signed an Energy Performance Contract with Honeywell. The company will be responsible for the changes, and guarantees the investment will have paid for itself after ten years. Helix is the first TU/e building that will undergo an energy-efficiency makeover in light of the university’s ‘entrepreneurial cooperation’ with five technology partners. The economization will reduce the CO2 emission of Helix by twenty percent, and since Helix is by far the most energy-consuming building on campus (because of the extensive air treatment in the chemical labs), said reduction will contribute to the sustainability goals of the university significantly.
2.5 million for fast electron microscopy Thursday 9 January - FOM has accepted the Industrial Partnership Program ‘The Foundations for Faster Electron Microscopy’. Eindhoven researchers dr.ir. Seth Brussaard, prof.dr.ir. Jom Luiten and dr.ir. Peter Mutsaers of the Coherence & Quantum Technology group (Applied Physics) have set up the program with the help of FEI
-the world’s leading electron microscopy company- and the group of Professor prof.dr. Pieter Kruit of TU Delft. The program budget is 2.5 million euro, half of which is funded by FEI, and the other half by FOM. Approximately two-thirds of the money will be used in Eindhoven, the rest will go to Delft. TU Delft is in charge of the project.
Clmn Exam week always brings me a flood of emotions. Especially right after Christmas break, which you’ve spent joyfully with friends, being back to studying seems to be the most painful transition ever. Days seem dull and boring without all the entertainment, travelling, food, and company. Yes, for me, company is the thing that I miss most while being here in the Netherlands. A couple of weeks back, there was a discussion session conducted by students at the Human Technology Interaction group of the Department of Innovation Sciences about the importance of ‘touch devices’ in the lives of international students staying here at university. Nobody opposed the idea of a device that would enable them to “feel the touch” of family and close friends. There are already a lot of innovative products on the market that meet this demand for example by connecting two or more people who are far apart through vibration or some other mechanical sensation.
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Students finish world’s largest ice dome Saturday 18 January - Friday night, the construction workers popped champagne to celebrate their successful project: building the world’s largest ice dome. The construction diameter is thirty meters and the dome measures ten meters in height. The balloon on which the construction rested was popped Friday, and much to the team’s delight their creation stood on its own - as was expected. The dome’s official opening in Juuka, Finland was on Saturday.
Female Chemical Engineering students start women’s association Monday 13 January - Three female students of Chemical Engineering felt their department could do with more ‘female events’. Eveline Hermans, Marijne Timmers and Nicky Meertens therefore decided to found an association: Women in Chemistry Eindhoven MyST. They’ve planned a kickoff lunch on Monday January 13th, which will be the very first event of the student association for (former) female Chemical Engineering students. The three students want to organize more cultural activities, invite more women to speak at lectures, and ‘not visit companies that focus on chemistry exclusively’.
More news on www.cursor.tue.nl/en
Exam time emotions I am not against these products, but it will never be a substitute for actual human company. Whether it is exam time or free time, the presence of people has never been distracting to me. But it does distract me now. I keep thinking about those I care for, planning and taking time off from studying to ‘talk’ to them on a regular basis. But I’m not complaining. Hearing their loving, caring, and concerned voices, or their excitement about gifts I sent can never be conveyed by some vibrating device. Although such technologies may be healing at times, they’re not a cure. So, regardless of whether or not you have one, help yourself either way and good luck with your exams! Bipashyee Ghosh, Innovation Graduate Student Sciences
20 | Focus
23 January 2014
Icily the
Text | Judith van Gaal Photos | Bart van Overbeeke and Joep Rutgers The warmest winter in Finland in almost one hundred and fifty years. Wood fibers too large for pykrete - the mixture that is used to build the ice dome. A crucial plug that was -inadvertently- pulled out of the inflatable part. Although the route towards building the ‘world’s largest ice dome’ was not always easy for the Built Environment students, they still managed to establish a world record.
What preceded | ‘Fiber-reinforced ice’ was the research subject even a year ago of Remy Houben and Frank Janssen, two students who had graduated before from Building Technology. They found out after various tensile and compression strength tests in a cold-storage chamber that ice becomes three times as tough when you embed wood fibers in it. Houben and Janssen, who had graduated in the meantime, also wanted to build an oversized ice dome last year, but there was no time enough for them. Jorrit Hijl and fellow-student Roel Pluijmen continued where their predecessors left off. In their project they were assisted by ir. Arno Pronk, assistant professor of Structural Design. Hijl and Pluijmen conducted extensive research into the construction, design and execution of the ice dome with a diameter of thirty meters. They found sponsors and decided in the autumn of 2013 that the project could continue.
How was the ice dome made? | The basis of the dome is a huge inflated balloon, with a net construction stretched over it. On top of this comes the pykrete - a mixture of water and sawdust. Jorrit Hijl estimates that they have used some 60 cubic meters of wood fibers. First a layer of snow is applied and then the pykrete. The mixture permeates the layer of snow, which subsequently freezes entirely. That process was repeated until the layer was thick enough. In the end the students let the air out of the balloon and removed it, whereupon an ice dome is left. The pykrete was applied up to almost half the height, says Hijl. “For the technical structure it was not necessary to apply the mixture at the top as well, because the tension is less up there. Besides, we liked the idea of having a transparent top.” The foundation is over four meters thick and at the top the thickness of the layer is some twenty centimeters.
Focus | 21
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largest The group | A total of fifteen Built Environment students collaborated in the project. In addition, there were lots of volunteers from the Netherlands. Altogether there were 50 persons working along. Jorrit Hijl: “They really were one group. And everybody was equally involved. We had to collaborate really well. We worked in four shifts of six persons and every shift had a leader. Communication was of the essence. We had to work at crazy hours, got little sleep. Still, the atmosphere within the group was always very positive. While we have only known some of them for a couple of weeks, we have become great friends. It felt strange when we were back at the airport again and had to say goodbye. I had goose pimples all over.”
Mo www.flickr.comre pictures? /photos/pykre Timelaps http://ow.ly/sPe? 9WM
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Thinking in terms of solutions | Jorrit Hijl sheds more light on some of the challenges facing the team: Warm winter It was the warmest winter in Finland in 146 years. “When we arrived in Juuka, the whole environment was green. As a result we could not start until a week later. The temperature should not have been above minus 4 degrees a day longer. Solution: “Once we could start building, we set up a schedule whereby we worked in shifts around the clock. We have given our all to make it happen. The local fire brigade also lent a hand.” Too large wood fibers The wood fibers turned out to be too large for the pykrete. “Even during our preparations we had seen how essential the quality of the sawdust is. We had carefully explained via e-mail how it should be made and it looked very good. Yet when we tested everything, the pumps got clogged. Small particles turned out to have been polluted with twigs.” Solution: “We first sifted everything manually for four days. While doing so it was great that the weather was a bit warmer. Then the Fins helped us out with a sorting machine which worked perfectly.” Green Christmax There was no snow. “The locals said that they had never seen a green Christmas yet.” Solution: “Although we were able to arrange some snow machines, it proved to be rather awkward to work with them. In the beginning there was too much snow on top. We had to exercise great patience and apply the snow very calmly.” The chief plug was pulled out. “Various items were installed prior to the grand opening. One of the Fins accidentally pulled out the chief plug of the air blower then, so that the balloon started to get deformed. The shell of the dome was then only some 5 centimeters thick, and this created rather a lot of pressure on the membrane. It ruined approximately one third of the shell construction.” Solution: “It was mostly pieces of ice that had broken down. We applied the ice again by means of cherry pickers. That took us about eighteen hours.”
And now..? | During the opening feast the students symbolically handed over the key to the dome to the mayor of Juuka. Hijl: “Thereby we also transferred the responsibility. I myself am curious to see what they are going to do with it. It might simply attract tourists. The space is so impressive, it made me feel like I was in the Pantheon.” Hijl and Pluijmen will be graduating on this project before long. Hijl: “We are very satisfied with the pykrete. There are so many special things you can do with it. Think of temporary storage, or of ice hotels.”
The Finnish place of Juuka | Juuka is a small place in the east of Finland with about five thousand inhabitants. “The people welcomed us with open arms”, Hijl says. “The way we’ve been supported is truly unbelievable. They helped us get materials, brought us sandwiches and pies. The fire brigade helped out. Every day people would come up and watch. The good thing is that we have put the village on the map. The locals enjoyed the fact that there was something happening in winter.”
22 | Research
23 January 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?
Peter Korevaar | Chemical Engineering & Chemistry Lego for solar power 1 | cover The cover shows molecules (small blue-and-red blocks) that pile themselves up, creating screw threads. I’ve been experimenting with the creation of these ‘screws’ in order to understand the process of molecular self-assembly, which is important if you want to optimize electrically active materials such as plastic solar cells. 2 | parties Molecular self-assembly occurs when molecules stack up like Legos to form larger structures that can be used in materials. Plastic solar cells and organic LEDs are created from conductive molecules. The way these materials work is dependent on the exact way the molecules are positioned in relation to each other. Just as Legos can be put together in various ways, molecules can be assembled in several ways as well. I’ve researched how molecules determine their route in the assembly process, and how that affects the eventual structures.
3 | essential I could not have done without circular dichroism spectroscopy. It’s a way to follow the construction of the screw-like structures as a model system, and map each and every assembly route. Equally important were the mathematical models to analyze the results and predict under what conditions (temperature, solvents, concentration) the assembly process yields the desired structure. 4 | society benefit Our experiments and models present new starting points to manipulate molecular self-assembly, which allows us to optimize the creation of functional materials like plastic solar cells.
Sinan Öncü | Mechanical Engineering
A wireless string of cars
1 | cover On the front cover of my thesis, you see three vehicles driving in formation. The back cover shows the signal propagation between these vehicles. The interchanging colors illustrate the interconnectedness of these vehicles.
3 | essential Networked Control Systems are essential, since control over a wireless communication network is the enabling technology behind Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control. However, very few studies of CACC consider the imperfections that are introduced by the network. The impact of these imperfections on string stability requires a careful analysis, and tradeoffs between CACC performance and network specifications need to be made.
2 | parties
In today’s traffic, limited human perception of traffic conditions and human reaction characteristics constrain the lower limits of achievable safe inter-vehicle distances. In dense traffic conditions, a single driver overreacting to a momentary disturbance (e.g. a slight deceleration of the driver in front of them) can trigger a chain of reactions in the rest of the follower vehicles. The amplification of such a disturbance can bring the traffic to a halt kilometers away from the disturbance source and cause traffic jams for no apparent reason. Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control (CACC) uses the information exchange between vehicles through Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) wireless communication in order to increase traffic flow and prevents an amplification of disturbances throughout the string of vehicles, also known as string instability.
4 | society benefit The ever-increasing demand for mobility
today imposes an additional burden on the existing ground transportation infrastructure. In the near future, Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control might provide a more efficient use of the current means of transportation.
Rubina Ramponi | Built Environment
Natural ventilation
1 | cover
3 | essential My study relied on wind tunnel tests conducted by
The cover of my thesis shows curtains flapping from a window. It’s a simple and straightforward way to visualize natural ventilation in buildings by wind. In fact, when positive wind pressure is exerted on the windows, curtains tend to flap into the building. On the contrary, a negative wind pressure creates a suction effect on the windows that makes the curtains flutter out of the building, like on the cover picture.
2 | parties
My research project deals with natural ventilation in buildings and the built environment. Different methods are available for predicting natural ventilation, but their accuracy and suitability for different applications are still a matter of concern. I address the accuracy and suitability of the prediction methods used for wind-induced cross ventilation, urban wind flow, and energy performance of night ventilation.
researchers at other universities. I have focused on Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) simulations validated by those wind tunnel tests. I also used these data as input for the building energy simulations that I performed.
4 | society benefit Natural ventilation is a valuable resource
for a healthy and sustainable outdoor and indoor environment. Therefore, accurate modeling of natural ventilation supports more sustainable building research and design.
does How efit n e b ty socie ur work? yo from
People | 23
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And how are things in Beijing? 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.
My name is Jochem Alferink, and last semester I have participated in an exchange program at the Beijing University of Technology as part of my Architecture Master’s degree. Although I like TU/e for its quality, I thought it would be interesting to go to someplace totally different. Beijing was not a popular city among architecture students, so the exchange contract between the two universities expired in 2009, but luckily they made an exception for me. In Beijing, I did a special program for international students, which consisted of four major tasks: a project, lectures, learning Chinese and cultural discoveries. With Chinese students, I designed an ecological farmhouse for a village near Beijing. Ecology is becoming more and more important in Beijing, because the polluted air is one of the major drawbacks of the city. I learned a lot about the differences in design approaches between China and the Netherlands, and I passed all courses with outstanding results, although admittedly that was easier at BJUT than at TU/e... I discovered almost every part of Beijing on a cheap, brand new road bike. It’s not just the hotspots like the 798 Art district, the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven Park, and the Great Wall that are beautiful, but the bustle of everyday life is amazing as well. The city of Beijing has more citizens than the whole of the Netherlands. The subways and roads are always crammed, and high-rise apartment buildings pop up like mushrooms after the rain. Population density is very high and people live very close to each other like pigeons in concrete pigeonholes. Looking back on many new experiences, international friends, and most importantly, a wonderful French girlfriend, I’m very happy that I decided to step out of my comfort zone and try something different for five months: Beijing, China.
lferink, t JochematA studen Graduchiteecture Ar
I am the person in the back holding up a brick from the Great Wall. Don’t worry, I didn’t break it. There are just a lot of loose bricks on the wall.
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
Life after TU/e Name: Thomas Milde Place of Birth: Altenburg, Germany Date of Birth: 26 June, 1990 Studied at TU/e: September 2011 - September 2013, following the Master’s program in Business Information Systems. Current position: IT consultant at BearingPoint, a management and technology consulting company on Curaçao.
How did you end up on Curaçao? Becoming an IT consultant had been my intention from the start, but moving to Curaçao wasn’t. Originally, I intended to stay in the Netherlands, but when the opportunity came along, I moved to the Caribbean. I had already contacte d by multiple employers via LinkedIn, I visited ‘young professional events’ at multiple companies, and went through the application procedures at two compan ies. Despite of the economical crisis finding a job in my field still isn’t very difficult. Why did you choose TU/e and how do reflect on your time there? I chose TU/e for its reputation in the field of Business Process Manage ment. I had already been studying that subject during my Bachelor’s and wanted to learn more about it. TU/e has an excellent reputation for its research in that field. Besides, TU/e was affordable. All in all, I look back very positively on my time at TU/e. Although my study program wasn’t perfect, the overall program was fine. And apart from the study program itself, the contacts I made during my time in Eindhoven have been very importa nt. Being a member of the international community, I got to know many interest ing people. And the activities of my study association certainly contributed to making my time in Eindhoven a great time.
What happens to international students after they graduate from TU/e? Do they go job hunting in the Netherlands, pack their bags and explore the world, or return to their home countries? International TU/e graduates talk about their lives after TU/e.
What advice would you give current students? If you want to stay in the Netherlands (or maybe the Dutch Caribbean), learn some Dutch at least. Even if you’re not proficient enough to do your work in Dutch, it leaves a positive impression. Dutch employers are also very interest ed in your extracurricular activities. Start looking for job opportunities well before you graduate if you want a smooth start.
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