News

On 1 April, Sandra Nienhuis started as coordinator at the 4TU.Federation. She assists the secretary Marjolein Dohmen-Janssen and succeeds Linda Baljeu (policy advisor; Convergence Alliance). We talked with Sandra on the Delft campus; during her introduction tour along the four universities of technology.

Since the 18th century, the Netherlands has been going through significant transitions in which engineers have always played a crucial role. With the constant development of science and technology, major challenges were successfully overcome.

In order to make better use of each other's expertise and network, a number of the centres and institutes of the 4TU.Federation and the University of Groningen (UG) will join forces in research and teaching. The UG will become a partner of the 4TU.NIRICT (ICT) and 4TU.HTM (High-Tech Materials) centres and is exploring cooperation with the 4TU.AMI (Applied Mathematics), 4TU.Energy and 4TU.CEE (Engineering Education) centres. 

Vandaag hebben de techniekdecanen van de vier Technische Universiteiten (4TU) en de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen een Integraal Sectorplan Techniek ingediend bij het Ministerie van OCW.

The next seven months, the 4TU.Responsible Sustainability Challenge (4TU.RSC) is taking place, an initiative of three centres of the 4TU.Federation: 4TU.High-Tech Materials, 4TU.Energy and 4TU.Ethics & Technology. It is an Honours track intended for motivated and talented master students from the four Technical Universities. Using a Challenge Based Learning approach, they will work with industrial partners, researchers, and societal stakeholders on a case involving sustainability. The focus of these cases is on energy, materials, and ethics.

 The startup Cryocop from Wageningen University & Research wins the fourth edition of the 4TU Impact Challenge, a competition for the most promising student idea from the four Dutch tech universities.

Last summer, researchers from 4TU Plantenna tested several sensors that can measure drought stress in plants in detail. The sensors’ aim is to detect at an early stage when plants are experiencing critical stress, but also to what extent they can recover after a drought period. The ultimate goal is to use the new sensors for a "stress-alert" system, which will help farmers and growers better manage their crops during stress conditions, such as a heat wave or future water scarcity.

On Friday, September 1, the engineering deans of the four TUs and the RUG met in the Omnia building of the WUR to discuss the challenges in the engineering sciences and how the engineering domain can be further strengthened in both the research and education fields. The day was successful, partly because of the high attendance and partly because there was input from different faculties.

What are you going to do when you get your degree? Which employers are interesting, how can the university help you find your way and what do alumni who preceded you do? You can read all about that and more in the 4TU Career Special.

With granting a total of 20 million euros to four capacity building programs within the theme of 'High Tech for a Sustainable Future' (HTSF), the 4TU.Federation gives a solid boost to research into technologies that contribute to a sustainable future and education within these themes. In the honored HTSF programs, scientists from the four technical universities are working on personalized healthcare (RECENTRE), reducing heat in cities (HERITAGE), developing green, biodegradable sensors (Green sensors) and a future-proof food system (High-tech & data-driven agri-food systems of the future).

 The world is in transition. This is having a huge impact on all sectors, and that includes construction. Consequently, 4TU.Bouw is committed to jointly developing the knowledge of tomorrow.

Using a plant to increase the radiation efficiency of an antenna, it seemed like science fiction until recently. However, a simulation study including an Antenna Booster, a simple printed circuit board (PCB) and a basic leaf model showed that the use of the plant itself as an antenna might actually be closer to reality than we think.

The 4TU.Federation has received six eligible proposals in the HTSF-2021 call. The six submitted proposals are based on fifteen Expressions of Interest, submitted last October and are spread over the three themes: built environment, health care and food systems. Depending on the size of the programmes, 3-5 programmes can be funded.

Start-up ZED (Zero Energy Development), a TU Delft spin-off, developed wire- and battery-less sensors that run on the energy by simply pressing a button. Or by buckling your belt

In the new 4TU.Energy video, Harry Bitter (WUR), Michael Boot (TU/e) and Wiebren de Jong (TUD) highlight the possibilities of biomass in the transition to clean energy. Their goal? To accelerate towards a carbon neutral society!