Our research impacts society

LEARN FROM LEADING SCIENTISTS OUR RESEARCH

IMPACTS SOCIETY

Studying at UT means studying at a young and entrepreneurial research university, where scientists, lecturers and students engage in tackling the global societal challenges of today and tomorrow. We’re involved in giving direction to the digitalisation of society, in making technology in the healthcare sector better and more personal, in developing and using smart materials and smart industries, and in making our rapidly changing world more resilient.

For a long time, technology has mainly focused on the basic form of speech recognition: on whát a person says. However, I feel automatic speech recognition is ready for the next level. For me, the interesting part is the layer beyond words, the emotions or mental state of a speaker.

Are both speakers on the same page? What is the meaning of a certain

laugh? That’s important information because in communication it’s all

about nuance. About silences, a sigh, or a laugh of a person. My ultimate goal is to have a normal conversation with a machine. As if talking to a human being. DR KHIET TRUONGASSISTANT PROFESSOR HUMAN MEDIA INTERACTION

Material science plays a central role in the search for better storage solutions. In the NanoLab at the MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, my fellow scientists and I, along with students, explore technological breakthroughs by studying and designing new materials at nanoscale. One such breakthrough is the solid-state battery. In conventional batteries, two poles – the anode and

the cathode – are joined by a liquid, the electrolyte. Replacing the liquid with a solid yields higher energy density and more power. This is partly caused by the fact that you do not need cooling or protective equipment in a solid-state battery, as the solid cannot leak, it is harmless and insensitive to overheating. That leaves more room for energy storage.

DR MARK HUIJBEN

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR ‘NANOMATERIALS FOR ENERGY CONVERSION AND STORAGE