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Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences Stevinweg 1, 2628 CN Delft Tel. +31 15 2789034 E-mail: [email protected] You can e-mail your change of adress to: CoNTact [email protected] Published by the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences • July 2013

The masterclasses for alumni start in the autumn Further information: citg.tudelft.nl/masterclasses Entrepreneurial CEG staff Read more on page 4 >>

Dear reader, In the foreword to the previous edition, I mentioned four important subjects we will be focusing on over the coming years. One of these is connectivity. As a faculty we do not function in a vacuum, but are closely linked to the world around us. A world full of societal problems that can often only be properly tackled by creating ties with other disciplines. The article about Geo-Environmental Engineering Professor Timo Heimovaara’s research is a good illustration of this point as is the story about alumnus Stefan Aarninkhof, who ‘builds using nature’.

Naturally, our ties don’t end at the Netherlands’ borders. For instance, there is increasing cooperation with research centres in China. Mainly because there is massive interest in cooperation with TU Delft in China and this is positive for knowledge development and exchange. Furthermore,­ the unique Chinese research institutes provide us with the opportunity to experiment at a fraction of the cost.

Stefan Aarninkhof spends most of his time In recent years, we have been able to find young, enthusiastic experts for empty and new chairs. working as a programme manager for the We thereby consciously opted for a number of professors from practice, experts from the business Stichting Ecoshape [ecoshape foundation]. community who guarantee good ties between science and the market. He enthusiastically works on challenging hydraulic engineering projects. “I want to add quality by building with nature.” We have been offering online education for some time now. Whereas, initially, this concerned a Read more on page 2 >> limited number of subjects, as of September, students can also take our master Watermanagement online. In the meantime, we have also taken the next step with MOOC (massive open online course). This provides anyone in the world with free online access to the subject Introduction to Water TU Delft emphatically stimulates Treatment as of 16 September 2013. entrepreneurship. We spoke to three graduates who now successfully lead As a faculty, we try to stay in touch with our alumni. In this edition, we spoke to three graduates their own companies: Jan van der Tempel (Ampelmann), Rutger de Graaf (Deltasync) who all started their own company. What made them decide to do so and what are they doing at and Johan Breukink (Knaek). the moment? We would also like to know where all the other alumni ended up which is why, Read more on page 4 >> in the near future, we will be sending out a questionnaire alongside our newsletter. I hope you will be so kind as to complete the latter and return it to us.

CEG has many ties with China, Enjoy the read, the largest trading nation in the world. Various research centres Bert Geerken, have been set up in China in the fields of Geodesy, Water and Dean of the Faculty of Urban Systems & Environment. Civil Engineering and Geosciences Read more on page 6 >>

Recent PhD awards Alumnus Stefan Aarninkhof:

Multi-class continuum traffic flow models: Analysis and simulation methods “It’s all about being able to F.L.M. Kessels Traffic flows consist of various types of vehicles such as cars and trucks. Nevertheless, many make people enthusiastic.” models do not take the diffe­ rences in dynamics between these vehicles (fast vs. slow, He only just failed to win short vs. long) into account Engineer of the Year 2013, even though these make a major difference to traffic flow but if you look at the criteria, and, as a result, traffic jams. the title would have suited It is therefore very important him down to the ground. to many applications - such Stefan Aarninkhof works as the estimating, predicting on challenging hydraulic and controlling of traffic - to in­corporate the differences. engineering projects with Moreover, the applications great enthusiasm.­ “I want demand fast simulations. to add quality by building This PhD thesis presents a with nature.” model (‘Fastlane’) that does take the differences between types of vehicle into account. t was a sad afternoon,” he The model was compared to jokes. He had just heard that similar, existing models. Fast­ “Ialthough the jury was full of lane is formulated to enable fast, praise, it awarded the prize for Engineer accurate computer simulations. of the Year to one of the other three To this end, it utilises a moving nominees. He is not that upset although (Lagranian) coordinate system his nomination by Boskalis - where he and efficient numeric methods. works for the Engineering Department Thomas Schreiter and Yufei Hydronamic - was a pleasant surprise. Yuan’s PhDs reveal that this “I was surprised because I occupy research can, among other a special position at the company; things, be used to estimate I thoroughly enjoy the link with the and control road networks world of research and I spend a lot of with high numbers of trucks. time on contacts outside the company. However, this was clear token of Follow your heart but we do aim help them understand appreciation for my work and for His love of technology started when what their respective worlds look like Eastern Scheldt Inlet me, as a person.” he was a child. “My heart would and what drives them. This is everyday • Stefan Aarninkhof (1972) Morphodynamics beat faster when I saw impressive business for me.” Secondary school: M. Eelkema Building with nature structu­res such as the Delta Works Lyceum De Grundel The Dutch Delta’s estuaries and Aarninkhof spends the majority of and the Prins Clausplein [spaghetti After a brief hesitation, Aarninkhof says (1990, Hengelo) tidal basins have been studied his time as the programme manager junction]. I followed my heart and he does believe he has an enormous and influenced by humans for for Stichting Ecoshape [ecoshape then you automatically end up in passion to make Ecoshape something • Graduated: Hydraulic Engineering, centuries. The contemporary foundation], a consortium of building Delft.” A new world opened for me good and to thereby inspire people. 1996 shape of the delta was, to a contractors, consultancies, knowledge thanks to the knowledge I acquired, He also tries to be open to people, great extent, determined by institutes and government bodies but also because of the student acti­ to ensure that everyone can do their • PhD: TU Delft, Hydraulic the 1953 flooding disaster. that implements the Bouwen met vities I became active in. “It was a work in the best way possible. “If you Engineering (thesis ‘Nearshore The floods occasioned one of de Natuur [building with nature] very formative period during which keep following your heart and do the Bathymetry derived from video the largest hydraulic engineer­ programme. “Some 200 people are I did a lot for Sint Jansbrug [student things you enjoy, it gives you enormous­ imagery’, 2003) ing projects in the world: the working on various projects for the association] and the Waterbouwdispuut drive.” Delta Works. Their objective was innovation project which is worth [hydraulic engineering club] including • 1996 - 2004: researcher/advisor to improve flood defence whilst 30 million euros. The programme’s organising an extensive study trip to In practice and research Delft Hydraulics taking the delta’s other functions objective is to use nature for con­ Hong Kong and China. Incidentally, After a PhD in Hydraulic Engineering, into account. The system of struc­tion instead of building in or that was my first real introduction Aarninkhof spent ten years working • 2005 - 2006: senior advisor dams, barriers and locks still in competition with nature, and to to the field and faculty of Hydraulic for what is now known as Deltares. Delft Hydraulics strongly influences the delta’s arrive at a solution with all the parties Engineering.” He regularly visits TU Delft and was basins and coastline, in particu­ Professor Marcel Stive’s first graduate • 2006 - present: Senior engineer lar those of the Oosterschelde. and PhD. Aarninkhof: “Our contact is Boskalis Hydronamic This study’s objective was to gain still very good. We recently attracted insight into the mechanisms that “The idea isn’t to turn an a major STW Perspective programme • 2010 - present: Programme determine the exchange of sedi­ pertaining to the Zandmotor [sand manager EcoShape Building ment between the Oosterschelde ecologist into an engineer or engine], an experimental sand supple­ with Nature (Boskalis) and the coast, and the influence tion off the coast of Delfland. 12 PhDs of human intervention on these vice versa, but we do aim help and three postdocs will work on pro­ mechanisms. To gain more per­ly analysing the sand suppletion in­sight into the processes that them understand what their strategy. It’s a unique project that I love exploring and enjoy working at a determine the morphology of the will provide the information enabling depart­ment where I can add quality to Oosterschelde’s tidal outlet, the respective worlds look like and the creation of sand engine solutions projects.” bathymetric and hydrodynamic around the world. The exceptional thing data was combined with process- what drives them.” to me is the way in which the research Aarninkhof worked on major inter– based models. This study into the meets everyday practice. Of course, it national projects including the port history and future of the Ooster­ is fabulous that we can cooperate in development in Khalifa, Abu Dabi, schelde provides an impression involved in water projects.” This refers this manner. In this sense, TU Delft is where strict environmental require­ of a basin that has undergone to a multidisciplinary approach in Getting people enthused very close to the business community.” ments applied due to the nearby coral radical change in recent centu­ which engineers, ecologists and social His time in Delft made Aarninkhof, reef. “If we, as a team, can accurately ries due to human intervention. scientists chart their joint interests who is originally from the province Adding quality predict and monitor the impact of It will take a couple of centuries in order to arrive at the best solution of Twente, more assertive and open. The transition from Deltares to Boskalis dredging on the nearby reef, thereby before the morphological effects for nature, technology and society. Alongside professional knowledge he provided him with an opportunity safeguarding it - then we have added of these interventions have run Enthusiastically, he adds: “It is enorm­ learnt to work in groups which has to work on the intersection between something. Here too, it is the same their course. ously interesting to be searching for tremendously benefited his current know­ledge development and practical multidisciplinary cooperation between joint interests with such diverse parties.” work. “Bouwen met de natuur is pre- application. “I loved being involved with engineers and ecologists that brings eminently something that involves civil engineering again in the broadest success. It completes the circle. This is “The idea isn’t to turn an ecologist into cooperation. It’s about getting people sense of the term. If you tackle it right, what I’d like to pass on to educational Details of other doctoral an engineer or vice versa, but we do enthused about finding the best there are an awful lot of options at institutions: collaborate cross faculty, dissertations can be found at: aim help them understand what their solution. And everyone involved has a company like Boskalis. You have be conscious of the wider context. This http://repository.tudelft.nl respective worlds look like and what to be open. The idea isn’t to turn an to have an entrepreneurial approach can make the difference between being drives them.” ecologist into an engineer or vice versa, to be able to do this sort of thing. right and getting your way.”

2 Contact • July 2013 Alumnus Stefan Aarninkhof: New at Science Centre Delft is the flooding disaster simulator, a 3D presentation of the events of 1953. Colourful images reveal the depth and dynamics of “It’s all about being able to wild water and visitors can take a virtual aerial tour of the area affected so they can see what happened. make people enthusiastic.” Which proves to be a moving experience. 1953 flooding disaster at the Science Centre Delft

ixty years ago, on the first of February, the dykes broke in over 400 places in the provinces of Zeeland and Zuid Holland. What was the disaster like? SThis has now been visualised in detail by combining a virtual 3D landscape with flooding models.

The spectacular visualisation should provide water managers and emergency services with improved insight enabling them to make the right decisions in a timely manner should another, similar disaster occur.

Bezoek de watersnoodrampsimulator! Deze bon geeft 1,50 korting op de entreeprijs van het Science Centre Delft. Geldig tot 1 oktober 2013.

The Science Centre Delft is part of TU Delft and is located on the Mijnbouwplein. Further information: www.sciencecentre.tudelft.nl

MSc Watermanagement to go online

On 1 September 2013, TU Delft will start a virtual campus he MSc Watermanagement as AeroSpace Structures & Computational The development of Virtual Campus on the basis of the current pilot project for online chosen as the only complete Mechanics and the MSc Engineering Courses is absolutely crucial to TU education. The latter comprises the conversion TMSc on the basis of this field’s and Policy Analysis. Delft due to competition with other international reputation, its staff’s universities which are set to provide an of the existing MSc subjects into online experience with online education in The online courses developed will increasing number of place and time- subjects. The Executive Board select­ed their part-time study programme, be provided during the 2013-2014 independent study programmes and the MSc Water­manage­ment to the OpenCourseWare they provide, academic year when the virtual MSc courses. be the only full MSc study the Double Degree programme with Watermanagement will also start. programme to participate the National University of Singapore The Virtual Campus Courses can and the various bilateral educational also be taken individually outside in the pilot. exchanges with foreign universities. the organisational framework of an MSc study programme. The advantage Education for Watermanagement in is that this makes individual subjects Delft makes heavy use of Collegerama globally available enabling students (video lectures) and videoconferencing. from outside TU Delft to incorporate Further information Other study programmes subjects subjects from Delft into their own www.watermanagement.tudelft.nl were selected from include the MSc curriculum.

July 2013 • Contact 3 Entrepreneurial CEG staff

Entrepreneurship and TU Delft

U Delft emphatically stimulatesxxxxxxxxxxxx entrepreneurship. The Delft Centre for Entrepreneurship, the Valorisation Centre, YES!Delft, YES!Delft Students and the Climate KIC all provide education aimed at entrepreneurship. TFor bachelor students there are, for example, three entrepreneurship-oriented minors. Master students can choose from an extensive range of subjects such as the courses ‘Turning Technology into Business’, ‘Starting New Ventures’ and ‘Ready to Startup’. The latter deals with all manner of entrepreneurial aspects and the participants write a business plan. Master students can also opt for the Master Annotation Entrepreneurship. They then have to take a number of entrepreneurial subjects, take part in an Entrepreneurship Annotation Week whereby they, among other things, visit various companies and incubators, and they complete a graduation project with extra After graduating, CEG stu­ emphasis on entrepreneurship. TU Delft PhDs and members of staff can take the two -day entrepreneurship a mechanism with six large hydraulic dents end up in all sorts masterclasses. These are organised by the Delft Centre for Entrepreneurship in collaboration with Delft TopTech cylinders. Fast measuring and control of positions. Some of and YES!Delft. technology continuously monitors the them start working for ship’s movements and immediately There is not only a wide range of subjects for budding entrepre­ passes this data on to the cylinders the government or the neurs, they can even find all manner of support in Delft. YES!Delft, which compensate for the movement. business community while for instance, provides ten masterclasses including an individual The staff can transfer from the static others conduct research development study and development processes aimed at enabling platform using a gangway.” or start their own company. first-time entrepreneurs to successfully start businesses called YES!Pro. The organisation also organises networking meetings and offers Global We spoke to three graduates coaching. The YES!Delft incubator allows technical entrepreneurs to “It’s going really well. Since its incep­ who successfully lead their avail themselves of office & meeting spaces, a business lounge and tion, the company has grown 100% own companies. a lecture hall for presentations and meetings. YES!Delft also organises drop in consultancy where specialists in year on year and we have built 16 the fields of, for example, intellectual property, finance or subsidies answer questions from first timers. New is Ampel­mann platforms which we lease Two of the latter are true the LaunchLab. This programme was specially developed for (young) professionals and scientists who’d like to on a project basis. The platforms have start a technical company. During the three-month programme, they develop a business model surrounding their enabled hundreds of thousands of spin offs, companies that concept. Important aspects include testing the business concept on the market, determining financial feasibility safe transfers. Our company’s strength translate educational and and cataloguing potential clients. is that we are technically excellent, research projects into our staff are interested in service and commercial products. always help our clients co-concept­ua­ Ampelmann’s Jan van der lise well. We work around the world for all the major oil companies and Tempel developed a plan for wind contractors. At the moment, we a safe transfer platform for are contemplating opening foreign offshore applications whilst Idea born at Berlin bar branches in, among other places, the studying. He detailed it Far East. Furthermore, we continue to work on innovations and the optimi­ together with a number of sation of the existing systems.” other students and started leads to successful a company. Rutger de Graaf Other roles of Deltasync carried out “When I look back at the past few company years, I notice that the doctoral research into the challenges kept changing. sustainable application of nsuring staff can safely transfer conducting PhD research into opti­mi­ founded the Ampelmann There were five of us to water in urban areas and from a ship to an offshore struc­ sing offshore wind turbines’ support Company in 2008. start with and I spent a founded a floating urbani­ Eture is the core business of the structures - took part in the Offshore In preparation he lot of time on substantive sation consultancy. Johan Ampelmann Company, which Jan van Wind Energy Conference. A method for and his team issues. We now employ der Tempel started in 2008. In recent safely transferring maintenance staff attended the 140 staff and plan to Breukink’s Knaek has no years, the business grew annually by from a boat to offshore wind turbines ‘Writing a develop until we employ direct link to his studies. 100% and plans are currently being was presented there. Together with a business plan’ 300. This demands a different He started Knaek - that developed for branches abroad. colleague from Delft, Jan decided they lecture and took management approach and other creates discount cards for It all started in the summer of 2002 in could do a lot better and they came up various workshops roles. For example, we now have a students - whilst studying Berlin. Jan van der Tempel - who was with the basic idea for the Ampelmann and training sessions at Yes!Delft. Human Resources department, bring in whilst having a beer outside a Berlin bar. external knowledge and expertise and Transport, Infrastructure Compensating for movement my role is now more that of a ‘visionary and Logistics. His company Prototype “The problem facing people transferring leader’. I enjoy these role changes. is currently the market Back in Delft, Van der Tempel decided from a ship to an offshore structure is Obviously, they involve hard work. leader in the field. to detail the concept with a team of that the ship moves on the waves while You have to grow into your role and students. In 2004, they completed the structure is static,” explains Van continuously improve your skills that a scale model which they subjected der Tempel. “If the waves are small, aren’t up to scratch yet, for example to extensive laboratory testing over transferring is still an option, but if by taking courses.” the following year. The good test the waves get bigger it becomes an results occasioned the next step: the extremely risky manoeuvre. We solved construction of a full-size prototype. that problem by creating a platform When the latter successfully withstood that compensates for the ship’s move­ Further information Jan van der Tempel testing in the port of Rotterdam and ment. To this end, we utilised the www.ampelmann.nl on the North Sea, Van der Tempel un­der­carriage of a flight simulator,

4 Contact • July 2013 Working on floating cities New professorships

for the World Expo in Shanghai and which produces food for the urban Prof. (Pieternel) P.F. Levelt Rotterdam’s city council was also highly population.” Chair Remote Sensing of the Earth Atmosphere interested. This made us decide to found Deltasync.“ Small steps We can properly chart the ozone layer, airborne “Rotterdam responded enthusiastically pollutants and greenhouse gases using satellite Floating pavilion to our vision which we entitled the technology. It is however very important to under­ “Rotterdam was our first major assign­ ‘Blue Revolution’ and cities such as stand that these three subjects are inter­related. ment. The council wants to lead in the Jakarta and Manila are also interested. This is why air quality policy and climate policy field of climate adaptation and asked Naturally, we won’t be able to instantly shouldn’t be seen as separate issues. What provides­ us to carry out a number of studies gain ground for this new approach to positive effects in one field can lead to negative and to design a floating pavilion for urbani­ sation.­ We have therefore decided, effects in another. Satellite measure­ments can be the Stadshavensgebied [urban harbour in collaboration with our existing net­ used to gain more insight into such complex relationships between air areas]. This pavilion was built in the work partners, to work towards our goal quality and climate, and thereby contribute to smart choices concerning Rijnhaven in 2010. In the meantime, we in small steps. For example, we strive air quality and climate policy. Furthermore, satellite instru ments­ are have worked on countless assignments to have built a floating neighbourhood increasingly good at quantifying certain sources of emissions and hilst conducting research for including recently providing consultancy where we can conduct research in five they can therefore play an important role in the future in monitoring his PhD, Rutger van de Graaf and support to the development of six years’ time. And it would be great if a adherence to (international) policy in these fields by providing an Wand a team of students took floating homes in the Harnaschpolder small floating town had been built five objective comparison of the environmental performance of the indi­ part in a competition. Their design for near Delft. In contrast to many other years after that.” vidual countries. a floating city won and there was so consultancies and design agencies, we much subsequent interest that they initiate our own research. For example, Convincing people Prof. ir. W.G.J. van der Meer basically had no choice but to start around our fifth anniversary we studied “There are a number of reasons why Innovative Water Purification Processes a company. By now, Deltasync is a the utility and necessity of floating we have been so successful so far. successful consultancy and design construction. Is it more than a cool First of all, we received great support Sixthousand years ago, simple filtration sufficed to agency in the field of floating con­ innovation?” from the Valorisation Centre and supply drinking water and keep customers happy. struction. Yes!Delft. We were also lucky that Nowadays, drinking water companies have to pull Spatial problems we came into contact with innova­tive out all the stops to do the same. This is caused “Although I sold marbles in the play­ “The study led us to conclude that in civil servants and visionary admini­stra­ by the increasingly rapidly changing world. For ground as a kid, it was by no means the long term there will be too little tors. Mayor Opstelten in Rotterdam example, the sector faces climate change, threats self-evident that I was going to become land available for functions such as and Councillor Vuijk in Delft were to drinking water sources, increasing demand for an entrepreneur,” says Rutger van de living and food production. Not only are enthu­siastic supporters of our plans sustainability and low societal costs, suffers from Graaf. “Actually, it more or less just increasing numbers of people moving almost from the start. We would have the retreating role of government and increasingly critical customers. happened to me. In 2006, during the to cities around the world, but most had a much harder time without that It is necessary for drinking water companies to prepare for this second year of my PhD research at of these urban areas are located in enthu­siasm. It also made us realise development by embracing new technologies. Membrane filtration the Faculty of Civil Engineering at TU deltas with the most fertile soil. The that achieving your ideas is not so enables the creation of 100% pure drinking water from any source. Delft, Royal Haskoning organised the expanding cities are also leading to much dependent on brilliant concepts, Combined with the right type of piping the drinking water will remain Deltacompetitie [Delta competition]. considerable loss of good agricultural but much more on your capacity to pure even during transport. Thanks to these measures, the drinking I decided to compete together with a land. This spatial problem can be solved convince social parties of your ideas.” water company of the future will be able to retain and expand the number of students. We developed a by substantiating further urbanisation level of quality we are currently accustomed to. design and a development strategy for with floating cities and sea-based a floating city on the IJmeer [lake] and agriculture. You can then close the won. This led to huge media interest cycles. You can, for instance, use Further information Prof. ir. T.J. Heimovaara and we were busier than ever. We were waste water from the traditional city www.deltasync.nl Chair Geo-Environmental Engineering invited to discuss a floating building as fertiliser for sea-based agriculture The awareness has developed that many natural processes in the subsoil make a major contribution to our prosperity and quality of life. This has led to these subsoil ‘ecosystem services’ being utilised Unique discount card for a number of socially relevant activities. It is the positive applications of subsoil ecosystem services that I am interested in. This chair’s research focus­ es on the opportunity of using natural, biological for student towns processes in the subsoil for civil and geo -engineering applications. Among other things, we hereby examine the option of creating sand­ Fold-out booklet issued them in four cities, once again stone from sand in-situ using micro-organisms so we can improve dyke Breukink continues: “I got the idea for in conjunction with local students. By stability. Another project is looking at combating the corrosion of steel the discount card in Spain. Someone now we do so in 28 student towns at pipes and concrete walls by using micro-organisms in the subsoil to there showed me this credit card- home and abroad. This year, we also deposit minerals. sized, fold-out booklet. He wanted launched the Knaek as an app. This to use it for a marketing campaign. not only provides discounts in all the Back in Delft I realised a booklet like participating cities, but maps also show Prof. ir. Z.B. Wang that had potential as a discount card. you which locations provide discounts.” Chair Morphodynamics of Lagoons and Estuaries The standard ones look like credit cards and the drawback is that you New customer base The morphological development of tidal basins is have to go online to see the discounts “The card’s strength is that we emphatic­­ studied from multiple perspectives. Field observa­ available. So almost no one does. ally base ourselves on students’ wishes. tions are used to describe the morphology and The Knaek has a magnetic stripe yet Together with student repre­sent­atives empirical relationships are deduced which can be is made like a small booklet which in the various towns we ensure that utilised to estimate the changes to tidal basins lists all the discounts.” every Knaek has at least five appealing due to, for example, certain human interventions. discounts that students will talk to Morpho­logical changes to tidal basins are caused hilst studying Transport, Interesting each other about. The card appeals to by water flows that transport sediment. By study­ Infrastructure and Logistics, “Interesting discounts are crucial companies because they can tap into ing these processes on the basis of the laws of physics we can gain WJohan Breukink started the to a discount card’s success. So a new customer base every year.” improved insight into these morphological developments. In recent years Knaek, a discount card for students. not a measly ten percent discount, a lot of progress has been made using the process-based modelling of Last year, his company Knaek Promo­ but, for example, the second item Growth morphodynamic developments in tidal basins. Morphodynamic research tions distributed 340,000 cards in free. And not one off discounts, but Over the coming years, Breukink over the coming years should try to bridge the gap between the empiri­ almost 30 student towns across the ones that are valid for a year with no wishes to expand even further with cal considerations and modelling, on the one hand, and process-based Netherlands, Belgium and Spain. limitations. It was with this message more cards and more towns. He is considerations and modelling on the other. A bridge between the two I took to com­panies in and around currently working on a German Knaek would lead to a paradigm shift in our insights into the morphodynamic “I don’t really come from an entre­ Delft together with fellow stu­dents and a card for French speaking student development of tidal basins on various scales. preneurial background,” says and friends. You often had to convince towns in Belgium as well as new pro-­­ Breukink. “But apparently I can people, but in the end we had enough ducts such as insurances, travel spot opportuni­ties on the market companies who wanted to take part discounts and festivals. bang on time. I had a consultancy and were willing to pay to feature in when I was 16 comparable to the the booklet.” Club van Delft which used school children as consultants. I also ran Together with students Further information Further information a webshop for soldiers with my “The discount cards proved to be a www.knaek.nl www.intreeredes.citg.tudelft.nl business partner at the time.” success and the following year we

July 2013 • Contact 5 China recently became the world’s largest From top to bottom: he research budgets are large, trading nation. It is not surprising then that the laboratories are exception­ CEG has many ties with China that have often Professor Guang Ye receives Tally well equipped, labour costs guest professorship certificate are low and a generation of young existed for decades. A lot of the time, these from Professor Sun Wei researchers are eager to get to work. consist of personal contacts and projects. But (Academy of Engineering in An interesting partner. In addition, there are also more structural ties such as the China), Southeast University. China is very interested in research research centres in China which opened late from Delft. To reach international level due to the societal problems last year. Reception in 2012 by the with water, spatial development and President and Vice President the environment, but also because of Beijing Jiaotong University The question that arises how does today’s cooperation with a top institute can (BJTU). Second from left be very important when it comes knowledge exchange relate to our future Professor Ingo Hansen. competitive position? to Chinese government funding. Con­verse­ly, there is a lot the Nether­ Rob Goverde flanked by lands can learn from China and the two guests from Beijing country is starting to become a peer Jiaotong University. when it comes to research.

Cooperation with China is nothing new. The first Chinese student graduated from CEG and professors started travelling to China in the 1930s. After a relatively quiet period, the influx of students started at the close of the 1990s. In 2012, CEG had 53 Chinese students (roughly 2%) and 126 staff (almost 1%). After graduating or receiving their PhD they provide valuable contacts. Cooperating with In both China and the Netherlands there is a desire for more structural a global power cooperation. This is why, to start with, three new research centres were opened last November in the field of Geodesy (Wuhan), Water (Nanjing) and Urban Systems & Environment (Guangzhou). Not coin­cidentally research fields that TU Delft is very strong in. Projects are also underway as part of larger, The rise international, structural cooperations. Geodesy: Wuhan and Hong Kong Ramon Hanssen, Professor of Geo­ desy and Remote Sensing explains that the University of Wuhan, which has thousands of students, is the centre for geodesy in China. He of China regularly travels there are a guest professor just like his predecessor Professor Teunissen did, and he also supervises PhDs there. “The ties have existed for some 25 years and since the late 1990s we regularly exchange students and PhDs. Alongside Wuhan, where a research centre has now been set up, Geodesy also maintains close ties with Hong Kong Polytechnical University. We exchange students and conduct joint projects in the field of (satellite)monitoring of climate change and the hydrological situation in Tibet.”

This is an interesting cooperation for Geodesy also because it is becoming increasingly difficult to find funding for the instrumental aspects of research in the Netherlands as this does not provide immediate output. Hanssen: “In China this is much easier, more­ over they have very advanced tools at their disposal. Scale is also of interest - the Chinese won’t shy away from using 1,000 people to con­ duct a measurement if so required, also because labour costs are low.”

Hanssen is also of the opinion that we should anticipate developments. “Scientifically speaking things move forward rapidly with such a huge partner. In some fields, China is surpassing us, while in others it is a long term investment. A new global player is emerging with its own agenda. We should keep thinking about what we can add.”

6 Contact • July 2013 Coastal research: In the Netherlands there are now six Transport Cultural differences takes time. The real challenge is in Nanjing and Shanghai projects being carried out that are Alongside the research centre, there Collaborating with an entirely different working with the people there and Over the past ten years, Marcel Stive, part of the programme.” Since the is a sustainable agreement between culture sometimes leads to surprises. making sure you get good results. Professor of Coastal Engineering, end of last year, Wang is a Yangtze the NWO and the National Natural Marcel Stive: “It is very interesting to How doesn’t really matter that much. has seen China’s interest in TU Delft Scholar (also translated as Cheung Science Foundation of China (NSFC). try an understand Chinese culture. I think we should stay critical when gradually expand. A development Kong Scholar) professor, appointed A joint call resulted from the problems Because the Chinese are, generally founding new institutes to shape the related to the fact that the quality by the Chinese Ministry of Education. developing due to global urbanisation, speaking, much less direct, what isn’t cooperation.” of Chinese universities and research for example in the field of mobility, said is sometimes just as important institutions has recently started being The appointment is exceptional as, and focuses on the theme of ‘The as what is said. We have to learn More than knowledge assessed. Stive: “If you wish to bear over the last 15 years, only 20 pro­­fes­ Application of Operations Research in to understand that.” The example There is a lot to be learnt in China, the name State Key Laboratory you sors from China and abroad have been Urban Transport’. Three of the seven he provides is that China has very besides knowledge exchange. Such have to prove that you have contacts appointed­ at ECNU. “And there is also research projects approved were hierarchic structures and that it is, as the alignment of scientific findings with top international research insti­ for instance, not common for a PhD and their innovative translation into tutes and that you are on par with the student to have insight into the research practice.­ China is very good at that. latter. This then makes you a member as a whole. “This perhaps also has Stive: “The Netherlands struggles to of the group of institutions that benefits Marcel Stive, Professor to do with the enormous level of create links between politics, know­ most. Naturally, students from China of Coastal Engineering, has competition. No one talks about it, ledge and the business community.­ have been coming here for over 100 seen China’s interest in TU but the members of a group some­ We used to engage in development­ years and we have also always been Delft gradually expand. times don’t work together, the way cooperation and had govern­ment-level welcome there.” we do in the Netherlands, but keep contacts, but the business community each other in the dark.” had to find its own way to join in. Stive and his colleague Professor In China they understand that you Wang, both have appointments in “Due to the hierarchic structure it is have to be active at all three levels the framework of the 111 project, also just not done for a student to simultaneously.” Hanssen thinks a Chinese government initiative to critically exchange ideas with a lecturer there is still a lot to be learnt from attract top foreign researchers to or to take the initiative themselves,” China’s huge ambitions and would Chinese universities. Stive: “In fact, adds Ramon Hanssen. “Something that love to carry out projects as part of a the coastal research centre in Nanjing is highly valued in the Netherlands.” larger team. “In general, the Chinese is the initiative’s concretisation. In the He also mentioned the difference in think big a lot more than the Dutch autumn, my Chinese PhD students will decorum that occasionally gets in the do. As far as that’s concerned, our carry out experiments there. It is very way of contact. “A research centre attitudes could be complementary.” interesting; they have unique facilities has a completely different dimension which run at a tenth of the cost. We than personal contacts. This means It is clear that there are countless exchange students and staff, and also an NWO [Netherlands Organisation submitted by Transport & Plan­ning. there is a lot of decorum involved. (increasing) links with China. Inter­ publish together. Furthermore, Wang for Scientific Research] project about The areas of attention they cover are Whereas sober-minded Dutch people national knowledge exchange pro­ and I annually provide a week’s worth the development of flats in estuaries­ urban traffic control, urban emer­gen­ immediately start talking about the motes the development of knowledge, of lectures to PhDs and their partners as part of the Chinese-Dutch Joint cies and traffic control for large-scale content, there it is also important that but how cooperation will eventually at Hohai University (Nanjing). The Scientific Thematic Research Pro­gram­ urban networks. a great institute is created where big translate into scientific and economic research centre allows us to concretise me (JSTP), which we participate­ in.” names come to preside over openings. results over generations remains to and embed all the ties that exist.” There are also links between China Naturally, we participate in this, but you be seen. Are we sharing our know­ Sustainable materials: and Delft in the rail field. Professor do have to find ways to communicate.” ledge with potential competitors Part-time Morphology Professor Wang Guangzhou Ingo Hanssen is a guest professor or with partners for collaboration? - who grew up in China and - as one of In Guangzhou, Structural Engineering at Jiaotong University in Beijing The latter proved impossible at the This question should perhaps be the Top 3 students in his province was is collaborating with the South China (BJTU) and the latter had two post­ Geodesy and Remote Sensing research studied from a European perspective. chosen to study in the Netherlands - University of Technology (SCUT) at a docs in Delft. At China’s initiative we centre and so he withdrew from that Stive: “I think it is very important to also has a special appointment at the research centre. Just like at the other are assessing how to further shape East China Normal University (ECNU) in TU Delft research centres in China the the collaboration between the two Shanghai. “That university was ori­gin­ idea is to appoint multiple PhDs there. universities. Rob Goverde, assistant ally set up to train teachers,” explains Urban development in China is very professor: “Railways are booming in Are we sharing our knowledge Wang. “And has high status in the field rapid and TU Delft can help to make China. High-speed lines are being built of estuarine and coastal research. It that development sustainable enabling all over the place and knowledge is with potential competitors or has cooperated with the ECNU’s State continued growth. A project in the desperately needed. There are a lot of Key Laboratory of Estuarine­ and Coastal field of sustainable concrete that was interesting projects for us to engage with partners for collaboration? Research for years. There is currently submitted by Guang Ye, associate in and the BJTU conducts thorough a project underway about the effect of professor at Structural Engineering railway research.” human activity on the eco-morphology has been approved. Alongside his of rivers and estuaries that is part of the appointment in Delft, Ye is a visiting The collaboration is in its infancy, project. “During the final phase things continue to cooperate with such an Programme Strategic Scientific Allian­ces professor at Wuhan University. In but Goverde applauds concretisation. were modified unilaterally that were of up-and-coming super power. If we between China and the Nether­lands. cooper­ation with Tongji University, “We receive an enorm­ous number of fundamental importance to me. As far don’t do so now, we will have missed This strategic cooperation between Structural Engineering is also carrying requests from Chinese students and as that is concerned the Chinese are our opportunity. We should in any the Netherlands (through the KNAW out a major project as part of the PhDs or postdocs who wish to come sometimes very assertive.” Hanssen is case demonstrate how we convert [Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts National Basic Research Program of to Delft. If we can do so through the lucky in that he has his own contacts knowledge into prac­tical innovations. and Sciences]) and China (through China (973 Program: 2011CB013800). university in China we will know which thanks to his guest lecturer position. That is our biggest challenge and MOST) intends to broaden and deepen The Chinese PhD working on it is people with which skills will be coming “You have to strike a balance between gives our business community an Sino-Dutch scientific cooperation. supervised together with Tongji. here.” high and low profile. Founding things opportunity we should strive for.”

On 31 January 1013, the Faculty of CEG celebrated Chinese New Year. Well over 300 guests enjoyed Chinese snacks, drinks Chinese New Year and decorations, demonstrations of Chinese crafts and Chinese performances. Organiser Tianqi Li, a PhD student at Petroleum Engin­ “In China we celebrate New Year with family, but that’s impos­ “I got the impression that our guests really appreciated the party eering and also vice-chairman of the Associa­ sible for all the Chinese students and staff in Delft. There is and they were very interested in China. The seven-person organ­ tion of Chinese students and scholars in the a large community of some 800 to 1,000 Chinese students in ising committee has worked really hard on this since December.­ Delft of whom almost a third study at CEG. This party provided Some guests were already looking forward to next year!” Netherlands (ACSSNL) was enthusiastic about a good opportunity to celebrate with Chinese friends, but also the evening. to showcase Chinese culture and traditions and to exchange The Year of the Snake ideas with one another. The Year of the Snake is characterised by strong undercurrents in society and dramatic events which can influence the course This year, we also wanted our guests to have an experience. of history. The fall of the Berlin wall and the attack on the World Which is why, alongside the traditional snacks, there were Trade Centre both took place during the Year of the Snake also performances and Tai Chi, calligraphy, paper and shadow for example. The snake is an animal that waits patiently, but puppet demonstrations. Visitors could also participate in a will definitely strike if it thinks the time is ripe … The character typical Chinese quiz - Lantern riddles - and win prizes. Some also stands for beauty, happiness and joy, and is sometimes people discovered their Chinese name and wrote Chinese for affection­ately referred to as the ‘little dragon’ by Chinese the first time!” people.

July 2013 • Contact 7 Making smart use of natural processes is Professor of Geo- environmental Engineering Timo Heimovaara’s motto. His group conducts research into, among other things, bacteria that convert loose sand into sandstone and soil organisms that prolong the lifespan of steel sheet piling.

It has not taken Heimovaara and his fellow researchers long to find well over five million euros for this research into ‘ecosystem services’.

Name: Timo Heimovaara Making smart use Heimovaara, son of a Dutch mother and a Finnish father, studied soil chemistry in Wageningen. He did his PhD at the University of Amster­ of natural processes dam where he developed an innovative method for measuring the water content of the unsaturated soil zone. He subsequently worked at the latter institute for three years as a postdoc studying, among other things, pesti­ tilising natural subsoil with Deltares and Visser & Smit Hanab exactly the right spot at the right time. Nowadays, landfill sites have to be cides and metal pollution in processes­ is nothing new,” - which allowed us to bind the gravel This is why we are still conducting all contained in perpetuity to prevent the subsoil. “Usays Heimo­vaara. “Agri­ together inside a few days so the manner of studies. For instance, how rainwater gaining entry and leaching culturalists­ have been doing so for drilling company could carry out its long do the bubbles of nitrogen remain out undesirable substances. I don’t In 1996, he shifted to the thousands of years and drinking water work risk free.” in the soil? How much calcium is requi­ believe in everlasting containment. business com­mu­nity by companies have been using the soil’s red to give sand sufficient strength and Together with waste companies and joining engineering agency filtering capacity to purify surface water Alternative what is sufficient strength really? Which the Ministry of Infrastructure & the IWACO, that later became for decades. More recent applications “The drawback of the original method, waste products can we use to give to Environment, we are studying whether Royal Haskoning, as a consult­ can be found in the field of soil reme­ whereby we injected both cultivated the soil bacteria as treats?” non-containment combined with the ant. There he primarily worked diation­ where, for the past twenty years bacteria and nutrients into the subsoil, accelerated decomposition of organic on in situ soil remediation. or so, it has been standard practice to was that it released ammonium, a sub­ Sheet piling materials using micro-organisms might have micro-organisms tackle pollutants. stance you have to remove from the “Naturally, we are not only studying be an option. Our idea is to use the Heimovaara subsequently Whether they be oil pollution under a soil afterwards. That not only made sandstone creation. In collaboration infiltration and recirculation of water spent two years working for petrol station or trichloroethylene under things expensive, but also environ­ with Havenbedrijf Rotterdam [Port of - if need be combined with aeration - a soil remediation company a dry cleaners. I am convinced there mentally unfriendly. This is why we Rotterdam Authority] and VOPAK, we to speed up the biological stabilisation that primarily worked for are a lot more options. The countless sought out methods without this type of are carrying out research into options of waste. We expect to be able to industrial companies. subsoil micro-organisms are part of drawback. We now have an alternative for prolonging the lifespan of steel improve the percolate quality to such There he was continuously all manner of processes which we are which involves the injection of calcium infra­structure such as sheet piling and an extent that future treatment will no challenged to come up with largely unaware of at the moment.” acetate or calcium nitrate. The bacteria storage tanks. If, for instance, a quay longer be necessary.” smart solutions for the best present in the subsoil convert these wall is to last 50 years, the port author­ possible and cheapest results. Trick sub­stances into calcium carbonate ity now opts for seven centimetre thick Linking knowledge fields “As a group we try to catalogue those and nitrogen gas.” sheet piling, just to be on the safe side. “In our research we cooperate with In 2007, Heimovaara returned processes which have potential for Even if corrosion were to occur, that Wageningen University & Research to academia as associate geotechnical and civil engineering Countless options thickness would ensure that the quay Centre, Utrecht University, the professor of sustainable soil applications. We subsequently study “Being able to reinforce sandy soils wall does not develop leaks. All that Nederlands Instituut voor Ecologie system services at the Geo- how we can stimulate the micro-orga­ offers countless options. It can be steel costs a lot of money and energy. [Netherlands Institute of Ecology], Engineering department. nisms concerned to do their ‘trick’ used to increase the soil’s load-bearing That is why we are studying whether TU Eindhoven and the Centraal Bureau Since July of 2012, he is the when, where and in the way we want capacity and weak links in the dunes micro-organisms could be used to voor Schimmels [Fungal Biodiversity full professor of Geo-Environ­ them to. An important precondition for can be reinforced. The technology can combat erosion so you could make Centre]. What characterises all mental Engineering. this is cost effectiveness. One of the also be used to prevent flow slide and do with thinner steel.” our research projects is that they processes we have, by now, pretty to combat erosion-prone spots. And, demand both civil engineering and Heimovaara is married and much got under control is the rein­ further down the line, we may perhaps Tooth plaque biotechnological knowledge. Linking the proud father of three forcing of sandy soils using bacteria.” be able to use it to tackle piping. This Heimovaara continues: “When old sheet these two areas of knowledge is daughters. In his spare time is the phenomenon that water leaks piling is removed from the ground you relatively new. I have high expect­ he likes to play tennis and Tasty snack underneath a dyke through a sand often see that certain parts of it are ations and luckily so do others. hockey. He has also coached To demonstrate what he means, Heimo-­ layer. If this continues unchecked, covered with a hardened crust which his daughter’s hockey team vaara grabs a saucer of sand that has the water will start to transport sand has protected the underlying steel. We have a 3.6. million euro research for years. a lump of sandstone in the middle. “We which will create a channel under the That crust is formed by soil bacteria budget as part of the STW Perspect­ made this piece of sandstone our­selves dyke that can, over time, lead to the which produce something akin to tooth ives Programme. STW funds three by feeding bacteria a tasty snack that water barrier collapsing. By bonding plaque. This biofilm nestles between quarters and the business community, has calcium dissolved into it. Thanks the sand you can prevent channels the steel and the surrounding soil, including Deltares, the Havenbedrijf to this ‘feed’ the bacteria grow really developing without changing the and slowly turns into a type of tartar. Rotterdam, VOPAK, Witteveen & fast and form bicarbonate that deposits sand’s permeability.” At the moment, we are studying how Bos and Tauw, supplies the rest. and binds the individual grains of sand we can stimulate micro-organisms to The budget for the landfill research COLOPHON together. The technique was applied in Under control create such a ‘tartar’ layer across the amounts to 1.5 million euros. STW 2010 during the construction of a gas “The more complex applications, entire surface of the sheet piling. Does funds two thirds of this and the landfill Production Faculty of Civil Engineering pipeline underneath the Waal [river] such as preventing piping, will only the steel need to be pre-treated for sector a third. At present, our group and Geosciences Text Nathalie Hanssen, Peter Juijn, Ina Dijstelbloem Design using directional drilling. Due to the be serious options once we have instance or is there something in the has nine PhDs, one postdoc and five and layout Heike Slingerland BNO Photo­ presence of a gravel layer there was a complete control of the technique. soil we can adapt?” masters students. Our plan is to further graphy Ina Dijstelbloem, Sam Rentmeester risk of drilling fluid leaking away and After all, when it comes to safety expand our position by forging ahead. Printed by Edauw+ Johannissen, The Hague © 2013, Faculty of Civil Engineering and the bore hole collapsing. A member of and human lives we have to have full Landfill sites We have sufficient mass now and can Geosciences our research group, Leon van Paasen, control of sandstone creation so that Other research we are conducting publish on a massive scale to garner developed a method - in conjunction we can have the process take place in involves landfill site sustainability. widespread attention for our research.”

July 2013 • Contact 8