HIGH VISIT FROM ARUBA

FACULTY WORLDWIDE

On 4 October 2021, the Faculty of Engineering Technology welcomed the new rector of the University of Aruba. Professor Viola Heutger was the guest of KU Leuven within the framework of the SISSTEM project, in which both universities collaborate to develop a bachelor’s programme and a research centre in STEM. Four faculties of the Science, Engineering & Technology Group are involved in the project.

The University of Aruba (UA) is not only the most remote, but also the youngest university in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is located in Oranjestad, the capital of the 118 km² Caribbean island with a population of 115,000 inhabitants. The university began in 1988 with a single faculty and one programme. Today, UA has four faculties that offer ten programmes. Among them is the Faculty of Arts & Sciences, which counts 166 of the 792 UA students.

As a small institution, UA has always aimed at cooperation with strong international partners. In 2019, the government of Aruba joined the EU’s 11th EDF-OCT programme, making funds available for the further development of higher education on the island. This resulted in the SISSTEM project, which stands for Sustainable Island Solutions through STEM. Four of the five faculties of KU Leuven’s Science, Engineering & Technology Group com mit ted to organise a new STEM bachelor’s programme at UA and to supervise a dozen PhD students.

From the Faculty of Engineering Technology, six professors from Group T Campus and one professor of De Nayer Campus are involved in SISSTEM.

Wim Polet, prof. Eric Mijts, prof. Patrick Arens, prof. Viola Heutger, prof. Wim Dewulf en Anouk Mertens

© Julie Feyaerts

The professors of the Faculty of Engineering Technology play a double role in the project. Prof. Wim Dewulf describes them as follows: “On the one hand we support the lecturers in their work with course material, exercises and laboratory experiments. Each of us teaches also on site or online and provides labs. On the other hand, most of us are promotor of a doctoral student. These PhD students are teachers in the new bachelor’s programme at UA. They come to Leuven every year for two or three months to attend the courses at the Doctoral School of KU Leuven and acquire research experience”.

Yves Persoons

www.ua.aw/sisstem