ConnectING is the magazine of the Faculty of Engineering Technology of KU Leuven.
published three times a year and is intended for all students and staff of the faculty and its 7 campuses, alumni, external relations and the broad social field with which the faculty maintains a network.
publisher: Prof. Bert Lauwers, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering Technology
Board: Anja Huysmans, President, Hilde Bonte, Niels De Brier, Greet Langie, Hilde Lauwereys, Bart Lievens, Yves Persoons, Sofie Pollin, Inge Van Cauter, Louis van Hoye, Rens Vervaeke
Yves Persoons
Secretariat: Inge Van Cauter
Adress:
of Engineering Technology
de Croylaan 56, building E, bus 2203
Heverlee (Belgium)
86 (Secretariat)
Besseghir, Julie Feyaerts,
Van Droogenbroeck, Filip Van Loock
der
climate-neutral
Welive in a time of great change and challenge, an increasingly global society, driven by the exponential growth of knowledge and knitted together by rapidly evolving information and communication technologies.
The result and at the same time the driving force of all this is ‘connectivity’: between man and machine, between disciplines and specialties, between peoples and cultures, an internet of everybody and everything.
It is no coincidence that the Faculty of Engineering Technology of KU Leuven is based on the concept of connectivity. Our faculty consists of seven campuses, each of which is specialized in its educational and research domains. Their range is not limited to Flanders or Belgium, but covers the entire world.
That is exactly the essence of ‘connectivity’. Innovation no longer takes place in secret cenacles or behind closed walls. It is about finding the good ideas and practices where they can be picked up, bringing them together and then developing something new with them. Our mission is precisely to connect, integrate and transform the talents of our engineering students, professors, researchers and entrepreneurs into a leading faculty at a leading university in innovation and research.
How we do this can be found in this first international issue of our faculty magazine ConnectING. We do not just bring a selection of news from the faculty and from the campuses. We also highlight students, professors, researchers, alumni and entrepreneurs. Together they are part of the international connection of our faculty. This connection in turn results in an extensive network of 120 academic partners in the Europe and 40 in other continents. In this way, our faculty is a reflection of the world in which our students in Engineering Technology will be active. On our campuses they experience today their life and work of tomorrow.
Professor Bert Lauwers, Dean Faculty of Engineering Technology
From 26 till 28 May 2019, the deans, directors and department heads of the European Faculties in Engineering gathered in Leuven for their 11th annual networking event organized by the European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI).
At Group T Leuven Campus, the higher engineering education leaders were welcomed by Prof. Bert Lauwers, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering Technology and Conference Chair.
The2019 Engineering Deans Convention focused on universitybusiness cooperation in engineering institutes. The central theme was ‘crossing borders’. The main purpose was to discuss how and where both entities can meet and exchange ideas, knowledge and human capital. Multiple dimensions of this border concept were explored from the perspective of the students, the faculty staff, the business professionals and the curriculum.
From a student’s perspective, the border is often perceived as a unidirectional temporal barrier wherein industry employment is the logical capstone of the educational career. However, the border can also be considered as a hybrid constellation wherein faculty staff collaborates with business professionals, who can in turn take an active role in the education of future engineers. Finally, from a curriculum perspective, parties on both sides of the border need to agree on the key and the peripheral content of the
engineering curriculum. According to the deans, determining who is predominantly responsible for teaching specific and professional skills can only succeed in a meaningful dialogue between both parties.
Crossing borders refers not only to interaction, it also includes co-creation. The modern-day labour market is characterized by increasing degrees of complexity wherein different engineering disciplines are more and more intertwined. This calls for more multidisciplinary collaboration between the engineering disciplines and with subject areas outside the engineering fields. As a consequence, professional skills training should encom pass an integral part of future engineering curricula.
The Convention in Leuven created many opportunities for networking and sharing experiences. Existing informal contacts could be confirmed or institutionalized in official agreements and partner ships. For the Faculty of Engineering Technology and the Sciences & Technology Group of KU Leuven the Convention has resulted in the signing of an agreement on the exchange of students and staff with Lund University, a world top 100 university in Sweden.
Yves PersoonsOn 15th April 2019, Prof. Luc Sels, Rector of KU Leuven and Prof. Sekar Viswanathan, Vice-President of the Indian Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Leuven. Both parties agreed to intensify the cooperation in engineering education and research and to start up exchange and twinning programmes.
Priorto the signing ceremony, Vice-President Viswanathan and Prof. Sandhya Pentareddy, Executive Director at VIT, were welcomed at Group T Leuven Campus by Prof. Koen Eneman, Campus Chair; Prof Abhishek Dutta and Wim Polet, Director of The International Office.
VIT is a young private university with four campuses in Vellore (Tamil Nadu), Chennai, Bhopal and Amravati Andhra Pradesh. At these campuses more than 25,000 students are enrolled in 20 undergraduate programmes, 34 post graduate, 4 integrated MS courses and 4 doctoral programmes in Engineering, Technology, Applied Sciences and Management. VIT was among the first universities in India to implement the Fully Flexible Credit System (FFCS) which gives the students the flexibility to make their own time tables by choosing the subjects and the faculties under whose guidance they want to study. Recently, VIT received the honorary title ‘N°.1 Indian Private Institution of Innovation’.
With over 250 International Cooperation Agreements, VIT has a strong presence across the globe. In the International Transfer Programme students study 2 years at VIT and 2 years in a partner university and get a degree from it.
During the visit in Leuven, further possibilities to co-operate were discussed, such as collaboration with the VIT Graduate School in research on Artificial Intelligence, participation of KU Leuven at the VIT Higher Education Fair, the exchange of visiting professors, a Semester Abroad Programme for final year bachelors, study tours for students and the startup of a Dutch language introductory course at VIT.
Worth noting is also that VIT has its own Formula Racing Team. Pravega Racing is the official Formula Student Combustion Team of VIT. It designs and manufactures F1 prototype racecars to participate at Formula Student, the world’s largest engineering competition.
years of diplomatic
between Belgium and Thailand
OnThursday 11 January 2018, Prof. Luc Sels, Rector of KU Leuven and Prof. Gasinee Witoonchart, Rector of Thammasat University signed in Bangkok an agreement on a dual degree in Engineering Technology. The ceremony was attended by H.E. Philippe Kridelka, Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium in Thailand and many dignitaries and representatives of both universities.
Founded in 1935, Thammasat University (TU) is one of the oldest institutes of higher education in Thailand. Since its founding, TU has evolved from an open university for law and politics to an international comprehensive university offering more than 240 academic programmes in 23 colleges at 4 campuses. Today, TU has more than 36,000 students in the bachelor's, master's and PhD programmes and 7200 faculty members and supporting staff.
The official signing ceremony of the Dual Degree Agreement was opened by Prof. Bert Lauwers, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering Technology of KU Leuven. He called the ceremony a milestone in a period of 15 years of collaboration and friendship. "During this period, our Faculty and Group T Leuven Campus in particular welcomed dozens of exchange students from Thammasat University in our Inter national Engineering and Postgraduate Programmes. At our campus in Leuven, they gained not only expertise in science, technology and engineering, but they also
learnt and experienced how to be creative in their thinking and endeavours. They developed distinct entrepreneurial skills and -last but not least- they discovered a new continent and a different culture".
Research-based curricula, practice-based courses, teamwork in interdisciplinary projects and collaboration with regional and international high-tech companies and organisations. Prof. Lauwers called them the trump cards of the education and the research at the Faculty of Engineering Technology. These trump cards will also be played in the Dual Degree Programmes.
Prof. Lauwers is convinced that this Dual Degree will be considered a quality label by the students, the professors, the researchers and by the industry. Moreover, it will encourage and reinforce the collaboration between both universities.
“The Faculty of Engineering Technology has familiarized itself with international co-operation and exchange of both students and staff”, Prof. Lauwers concluded. “Students of Thammasat quickly find themselves at home at our campus in Leuven, which is the home of a truly international community of out standing engineering students.”
“More than 20% of our students in Leuven are international students representing 60 different nationalities from all continents. Our campus is a gateway to Europe and to the world”.
Eventhough the Faculty of Engineering Technology is one of the newest in KU Leuven, it boasts more than 20 years of expertise on all of its campuses in the field of capacity building projects: MMATENG, Physics, and STINT … are but a few examples in a long row. The first Tempus project with Slovakian universities started as long ago as 1991 on the Ghent Technology Campus.
Worldwide capacity development is in the DNA of our engineering technology study programmes, with dozens of projects in developing regions around Europe. Engaging in societal development – one of the priorities for any university programme – acquires an international touch through these projects.
Below we want to highlight some of the ongoing Erasmus+ capacity building projects on our campuses.
The STINT project is aimed at more institutional development in the field of internationalizing a university (www.stint-project.net/).
All eight Bosnian Universities (Croatian, Serbian and Bosnian) participate in the project, which turns it into a unique example of academic collaboration in a country with the Balkan wars still fresh in mind. Geert De Lepeleer is the project coordinator who directs the whole project group and guides the partner universities on the track towards the Bologna process and more European integration.
Actually, the STINT project has already resulted in legislative changes in the field of recognition of foreign degrees in several regions in Bosnia. Other interesting spin-offs are the student and PhD exchanges that have been set up through an Erasmus+ KA1 credit mobility project.
The Energy Engineering Technology study programme at the Diepenbeek Campus is involved (by Annick Dexters) in the capacity building project DCT-REES, with a number of South African universities. The project set-up is to create new curricula and capacity in the domain of renewable energies and DC technology. The EU partners are developing modules that include both the theoretical background and the design of applications and implementation in renewable energy sources.
The project has an additional “train the trainer” action, resulting in several short courses that have been developed so far. The project group is currently investigating how the collaboration with the South African partners can be made sustainable after the end of the project period.
Supporting non-EU universities in their evolution towards a bachelor-master structure is a frequently reiterating theme in capacity building projects. This is also true for MMATENG (Modernization of two cycles (MA, BA) of competence-based curricula in material engineering), the project that has been coordinated by prof. Peter Arras in the field of Materials Science Engineering (www.mmateng.eu). Involving universities from Ukraine, Israel and Russia in one consortium has turned out to be a challenge in view of the recent international events in Ukraine. Still, the MMATENG project group have succeeded in successfully upgrading laboratories in the target universities (especially in Ukraine and Russia), organizing trainings and publishing several papers on materials science.
Sustainability of the collaboration has been guaranteed by e.g. a PhD student from Ukraine at De Nayer Campus, bilateral projects among researchers and an Erasmus KA1 exchange cooperation with three partners from the project.
The Faculty of Engineering Technology coordinates the ambitious, cross-campus Erasmus+ capacity-building project ‘RICH-Ed: Resources for Interculturality in Chinese Higher Education’. This project aims at intercultural learning at Chinese universities. In ‘RICH-Ed’, eight partners develop educational tools to prepare students at Chinese universities for a globalised working environment and to support internationalisation staff with intercultural learning. The Chinese partner universities will test the learning materials that were developed and spread the results of the project through study programmes, curricula and scientific publications.
RICH-Ed is coordinated by prof. Jan Van Maele, in cooperation with Katrien Mertens and prof. Wim Van Petegem from Group T Leuven Campus. Geert De Lepeleer and Ellen Matthijs from the Ghent Technology Campus provide strategic administrative support and advice.
More info is to be found on www.rich-ed.com
With a Bruges Campus project team of prof. Jeroen Boydens, Venu Babu Thati and Sammy Verslype, the e-LIVES project already has an international component to it, even in our own faculty. E-Lives, “e-Learning Innovative Engineering Solutions, is currently developing e-engineering solutions and remote laboratories, to be introduced in universities in four MENA countries (Middle East and North Africa).
Our faculty contributes to the development and publication of good practices in e-engineering, and has also published a scientific conference paper in the summer of 2019. The existing contacts in Morocco, Tunesia, Algeria and Jordan have been intensified by this project, with our Bruges project team also training them in the use of open source study materials.
PRINTeL – PRomoting INnovative Teaching and Learning to enhance student-learning experience in eastern partnership countries (www.printel.am) involves a large project group of universities in Armenia, Georgia and Belarus. The project focuses on new educational technologies, specifically digitalization in education. The aim is to result in more active teaching and learning in the target universities. The partners will innovate their educational methodologies to connect with the “student-centred learning” evolution that has been going on in European university education.
Wim Van Petegem, who coordinates the project for KU Leuven, has organised a weeklong international workshop in November 2018 on the theme of “active learning”, which was successfully taken by 25 participants from Armenia, Georgia and Belarus.
Alvin Toffler, a 20th century philosopher and author of the novel ‘Future Shock’ once said: “As we move into the 21st century, not only will technology advance, but the rate at which technology advances will increase exponentially”. The technological advances with greatest relevance to the future and welfare of society involve science and healthcare. With the new Advanced Master’s Programme in Innovative Health Technology, Group T Leuven Campus responds to the latest scientific and technological developments in this rapidly evolving domain.
Thedevelopment of novel technologies has always been a big enabler in health care. Medical doctors, therapists and other health care providers make use of these technologies to identify symptoms, to perform diagnoses, to carry out surgery, to cure diseases, to enable therapy and to follow up patients. Many companies worldwide develop novel technologies to improve health care even further. The Advanced Master in Innovative Health Technology aims to contribute to this evolution by offering students the opportunity to specialize in the domain of innovative health care technologies. They will learn to design, develop and implement practical and pragmatic technological solutions. Specific for the programme is the focus on the integration of different technologies and methodologies into usable systems. Recent trends in domains such as electrical and electronics engineering, mathematical engineering, mechanical and biochemical engineering will be combined to inspire students to conceive and implement novel integrated solutions that can be tested and used by patients and health care professionals.
The Advanced Master of Science in Innovative Health Technology is a one-year programme (60 ICTS) aimed at students who have completed a master’s programme in (bio)engineering or equivalent. It consists of eight course units: six courses focusing on engineering technology, entrepreneurship as well as on topics related to the human body, one team-based projects and finally a master’s thesis and an internship. Characteristic of the programme is its international dimension, benefitting from the international network of Group T Leuven campus. This network includes universities, high-tech companies and internationally renowned institutions such as the Interuniversity Microelectronics Center (imec) and the University Hospitals Leuven.
Prof. Liz Jones, Prof. Bart Vanrumste, Prof. Luc Geurts, Prof. Vero Vanden Abeele, Luc Janssens and Prof. Manu Vander Poorten
Recent scientific and technological advancements in healthcare have created numerous new functions and job opportunities in medical technology companies, health care institutes, hospitals and research centres. These include e.g. patient identity management, health care mobility and business intelligence, applied medical research, designing, developing and testing of prototypes and installations and configuration of medical instruments.
In the field of Health Technology Assessment (HTA), there is an increasing demand for experts providing policy-makers with evidence-based information about the medical, economic, organizational, social and ethical issues related to the use of health technology.
Luc Geurts
OnThursday 31 May 2018, six prominent professors of Tianjin University (TJU), headed by Prof. Liu Dongzhi, Vice-Chairman of the University Council, were welcomed by Prof. Bert Lauwers, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering Technology. After a tour of the campus and a presentation of the faculty, a Memory of Understanding was signed by Vice-Rector Peter Lievens and Campus Chair Prof. Koen Eneman.
After the signing ceremony, TJU organized a recruitment fair to attract talented Belgian and Chinese master’s and PhD students to join the university in China.
Since 2012, Group T Leuven Campus and TJU cooperate closely. As many other Chinese universities, TJU participates in the 2+2 Double Degree Programme and each year, several students from TJU come to Leuven to continue their education.
Founded in 1895, TJU has become one of the top universities in China (no 13 in China National Alumni Ranking 2018). The university has the strong ambition to obtain a place in the list world best universities.
Prof. Koen Eneman, Campus Chair, Prof. Peter Lievens, Vice-Rector KU Leuven and Prof. Liu Dongzhi, Vice-Chairman of TJU
Structural design and structural innovation are the corner stones of the new master’s programme.
Civil engineering structures are designed with a specific purpose in compliance with environmental, legal and structural rules. Through the choice of materials, numerical simulation and construction methods, the conceptual structural design is translated into structural shapes and dimensions. The engineering challenge is to obtain an optimal structural design that meets the relevant criteria of structural strength, serviceability, energy efficiency, sustainability, etc.
This process is driven by technological innovations such as new materials, building information modelling (BIM), heating, ventilation and air conditioning technologies (HVAC).
The Master of Science in Civil Engineering Technology is a one-year programme (60 ICTS). Students are required to take 6 compulsory courses and 18 ICTS elective courses, allowing them to focus
on technologies such as Dredging, BIM, Acoustics, Coastal and River Engineering, Sustainable Materials Engineering, Precast Concrete and Dynamics of Structures. Students will also complete a professional competence module (internship) to work on a scientific project, resulting in a master’s thesis. The project can be carried out in one of the research labs at the campus or in an approved workplace.
After graduation, a wide spectrum of professional opportunities opens for degree holders. Graduates in Civil Engineering Technology can get started in various functions including design, calculation, consultancy, sales, quality inspection and research. Depending on their interest and ambition, their scope may range from technical expert to consultancy and executive functions.
Ghent Technology Campus is the only campus in the Faculty of Engineering Technology that offers this master’s programme in English.
Prof. Rik SaeyChoosing is losing, as the saying goes. As the possibilities for choice increase, choosing becomes more and more difficult. Moreover, you run the risk of making the wrong choice. And for those who want a little bit of everything, it is hopeless. In youngsters’ slang, it is called ‘fomo’ or the fear of missing out. For the future engineers, this will soon change. The Faculty of Engineering Technology is putting the finishing touch to an instrument that may solve this problem.
French fries or salad? Friend or lovers? Right or left? Juliette’s problem is that she is totally incapable of making up her mind about anything. So even at 40, she still asks her father and her friends to choose everything for her. When her love crosses the road of Paul then of Stephen, as charming and different as the other, necessarily, the heart of Juliette swings. For the first time, nobody can decide for her. This is in a nutshell the plot of Eric Lavaine’s film ‘L’embarras du choix’ (The embarrassment of choice) from 2017, starring a brilliant Alexandra Lamy.
“Many newly graduated engineers looking for the job of their life will somehow recognize themselves in this situation”, says doctoral researcher Sofie Craps. “The difference is that they are confronted with a multitude of possibilities in a grab barrel of jobs. The more choice there is, the more important it is to know ‘what type of engineer am I?’ and ‘what am I really good at?’ This is precisely the subject of the PREFER project, an acronym for ‘Professional Roles and Employability for Future Engineers’. This project aims to enhance student’s critical reflection on their professional future by identifying their strengths and growth points and by introducing them to the professional roles they may play as an engineer”.
From roles to competences
PREFER is a project in the framework of the Erasmus+ Programme of the EU. In addition to KU Leuven, TU Delft and TU Dublin are. Engie, Siemens Nederland, BDO Advisory Human Capital and the Irish energy company ESB are the business partners. The professional organizations ie-net, Agoria Flanders, Kivi and Engineers Ireland are also involved, as are the European engineering networks SEFI and FEANI.
In the first part of her research, Sofie identified three categories of professional roles for early career engineers. These are ‘product leadership’ (engineers who focus on radical change), ‘operational excellence’ (engineers who aim for process optimization) and ‘customer intimacy’ (engineers who initially come up with customer-oriented solutions)
“The next step was to test and validate this model”, Sofie continues. “This was done on the basis of a whole battery of interviews and panel discussions with students, alumni and entrepreneurs. At the same time, experts, engineers and HR managers set to work to translate these professional roles into a series of representative competences.
For example, a positive critical attitude and the ability to organize efficiently remain crucial for ‘operational excellence’, creativity and persuasiveness for ‘product leadership’ and customer focus and empathy for ‘custom intimacy’.
“Once the relevant competences had been mapped out, a start could be made with the development of the actual tool”, according to project coordinator Maarten Pinxten. “This consists of two tests in which the interests of the future engineers are linked to the different roles and the students work with the competences”.
The tool itself is a fine example of teamwork. “Together with experts from TU Dublin and BDO we made a situational judgement test with realistic cases that relate to various competences”, says Maarten. “A total of 23 cases were worked out. For each case, the participants in the test are presented four possible reactions to tackle the situation or the problem at hand. On a five-point scale, they indicate how ‘appropriate’ they think each of the reactions is. From this result, it can then be deduced to what extend the student’s response pattern deviates from that of the experts from the engineering practice and in which professional role the participant recognizes him/herself.”
“By the end of 2019, when the project ends, the tool will be validated and is ready to implement in the engineering technology programme”.
The academic year 2020-2021 will be the year of truth. Then the tool will be given a place in the faculty’s renewed curriculum, starting with the first bachelor’s stage. Prof. Greet Langie, promoter of the PREFER project, who as Vice-Dean of Education is in charge of the entire operation, already has a clear view of the implementation process. “In the first stage, the emphasis is on raising student awareness. The ‘Day with an Engineer’ is an excellent opportunity to introduce the model. For the first time, the student discovers how varied the engineering profession is. In the second stage, the company visits are an interesting occasion. There we go a step further in the direction of critical reflection. The third stage will be dominated by the concretization of the personal professional role. Thanks to the increasing contacts with the professional field and the implementation of the tests we have developed, we will encourage students to reflect critically on their values, strengths and weaknesses. This will give them an idea of the professional role(s) they feel good about and are therefore best looking forward to when they apply for a job. Finally, the prospective engineer will be able to focus on the competences that belong to the professional role(s) and thus prepare him/herself optimally for professional practice”.
From awkward to fun Let’s return now to Eric Lavaine’s film from 2017. You don’t need much imagination to transpose Juliette’s heart breaking choice to today and a remake of the movie. In the new scenario, Juliette is a final-year student on one of the faculty’s campuses. During her studies she has been working actively with the new PREFER tool. We follow Juliette in her first steps on the labour market. She has actually already been offered a job during the job fair on her campus, but Juliette still wants to roam around the big market. We will not tell the rest of the story. We only want to share the title. It is no longer ‘The Embarrassment of Choice’. The poster now features ‘The Joy of Choice’.
The PREFER project is supported by the Erasmus+ programme of the EU (Grant Agreement 575778-EEP-12016-BE-EPPKA2-KA).
More information: www.preferproject.eu
Sofie Craps, prof. Greet Langie and Maarten PinxtenCorrosion of the heat-exchanging components is one of the major operational problems in Waste-to-Energy (WtE) combustion plants. Due to its heterogeneous and complex nature, municipal solid waste, when combusted, generates flue gas with high dust and pollutant concentrations, leading to the corrosion of the heat-exchanging surfaces in the steel boiler.
Thisphenomenon limits the electrical efficiency and increases the operating and maintenance cost. At Group T Leuven Campus, Quynh Hoang is doing research that focuses on the optimisation of the energy and material performance of these combustion plants.
Quynh was born in Thanh Hoa, a flourishing city at the North Central Coast of Vietnam, about 150 kilometers south of the capital Hanoi. She remembers vividly always have been fascinated by sciences in general and chemistry in particular. In 2012, she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Hanoi University of Science and Technology.
After graduation, Quynh worked as a process engineer in two oil and gas petrochemical EPC companies, one in Hanoi and the other in Ho Chi Minh City (the former Saigon), where she carried out the process design of refineries and conducted risk assessment studies for oil and gas platforms. “There I have learnt to apply the chemical principles to practical, real-world problems related to energy, health, safety and environment”, Quynh explains. “But at the same time, I realised that I needed more knowledge and a solid scientific background”.
Thanks to a Belgium-Vietnam Bilateral Scholarship Programme, Quynh was able to pick up her study again, this time at KU Leuven, where she graduated in 2017 ‘Magna cum laude’ as Master of Science in Chemical Engineering Technology at the Leuven campus of the Faculty of Engineering Technology. As the result of her excellent marks, Quynh was awarded the Prize of the Royal Flemish Chemical Association for the most meritorious student in Chemical Engineering Technology.
Quynhs’ remarkable interest in environ mental courses with a focus on waste combustion processes and computational fluid dynamics (CFD), as well as her professional experience in chemical companies, were noticed by Prof. Jo Van Caneghem of the Materials Technology unit. So Quynh was invited to join the ChEMarRT research group at Group T Leuven Campus.
“ChEMaRTs stands for Chemistry for Energy and Materials Recovery in Thermal Systems”, Quynh continues. “Our group is dedicated to improving energy and material recovery in thermal systems by controlling the chemistry in the involved processes.
Our focus is on thermal waste processing as an essential part of a sustainable circular economy. Moreover, our group is proud of its close research collaboration with industry. The aim of our applied research approach is to provide answers to industrial, technological challenges by translating and introducing the results into existing processes. As the connection between industry and research is one of my favourite fields of interest, I immediately felt at home in the ChEMaRTS team”.
After one year with Keppel-Seghers Belgium, a company specialized in the construction of Waste-to-Energy plants, the collaboration team consisting of Prof. Van Caneghem, Ass. Prof. Vanierschot, Dr. De Greef and Quynh decided to continue the research on high-temperature corrosion in WtE. They submitted a doctoral proposal and applied for a Baekeland mandate funding, which is assigned to a ‘consortium’ of at least a PhD-candidate, a Flemish company and a Flemish university. The project was granted a four-year PhD project, starting from November 2018.
“I will build further on the results of the chemical engineering analysis by conducting a numerical CFD approach in order to provide fundamental explanations both on the particle level as on the furnace level”, Quynh declares. “More specifically, I will develop a comprehensive set of models specifically applicable to thermal waste processing with emphasis on HCI/SOx.
These models will be directly applicable to real Waste-to-Energy plants, helping us to understand the relative correlation between process parameters such as airflow and the formation and release of HCI/Sox. This way, the models can be used to control corrosion in municipal solid waste installations”.
“Moreover, I am convinced that these models may also contribute to fundamental knowledge of the thermal waste processing in general and can be used for all types of Waste-to-Energy plants. Until now, comprehensive research on thermal waste processing in the context of boiler corrosion has not been fully addressed in any prior study.”
“I hope my project will be the first to assess this lack”, Quynh concludes.
Yves Persoons
QUYNH HOANG
The European Master of Science in Sustainable Food Systems Engineering, Technology and Business at the Ghent Technology Campus has been given a new look as of this academic year. An upgrade was needed, especially in a sector in which vital issues such as food production and safety, health and sustainability are in full development. Professor Jan Van Impe, Programme Director and recently awarded an honorary doctorate from the Université Libre de Bruxelles, gives more explanation.
Whatstarted modestly in 2005 as a partnership between the Hochschule Anhalt (Germany), the Universidade Católica Portuguesa and KU Leuven-Technology Campus in Ghent, has now grown into one of the showpieces of the Faculty of Engineering Technology.
The number of new registrations tripled in three year’s time. Prof. Van Impe knows why: “To start with, we offer a fully-fledged master’s programme of 120 ECTS – thus internationally compatible at a top university as KU Leuven. Moreover, our master’s programme is situated in a domain
that is relevant worldwide. All aspects of food science and technology are covered, which means that our graduates can function in all parts of the food chain”.
“The ‘business component’ also contributes to the success. Courses such as Product Development and Product Management are very popular with students. The same can be said about the intensive cooperation with companies and research institutes”.
“Another advantage is undoubtedly the joint degree that the graduates receive. This has been a strategic choice right from the start. Students enrolling in our programme choose to learn while travelling. This not only contributes to their personal development and maturity, it also makes them popular in industry. What is important is that we keep the inflow under control. Because not everyone starts at the same level, we organize a crash course in chemistry, bio chemistry and technology to fill in any gap in prior knowledge”.
Prof. Jan Van Impe, Programme DirectorFOOD4S stands for Sustainable Food Systems Engineering.
“The new name is more than just a sign”, says Prof. Van Impe.
“In first instance, it refers to a new curriculum with which we want to keep a close eye on developments in the field. For example, we have chosen to work with a new consortium with an even larger group of international partners. After all, nutrition is a global issue and with more partners involved we can offer a larger number of international internships and master’s theses”.
“In FOOD4S we follow a two-track route. A technological track and a more computational direction. Partners with the necessary expertise and know-how have been attracted for both tracks. We assume that 2/3 of the students opt for ‘innovative technology’ and 1/3 for the computational track. The possibility of switching during the study will also be provided for. What both tracks share with each other is the research orientation. After all, you are only full-fledged academic graduate if your education is based on research”.
What is already retained is the so-called ‘professional competence module’. This is a complete practical semester in industry. Prof. Van Impe is well aware of the organizational and practical consequences of this decision, especially if the number of students continues to increase. “Finding an internship that meets our high requirements for 50 or even more students is no mean feat, especially as the content of the internship has to be different from the subject of the master’s thesis. In addition, internships require an intensive and efficient follow-up and quality control. We know from experience that students learn more in a small company than in a big one. In the consortium, we now follow the rule: four to six months for the master’s thesis and as far as possible, the same duration for the internship”.
For sixteen years, the programme has been receiving European funding, which in itself is quite exceptional. After 2020, the consortium will itself provide scholarships for students. What is also retained in FOOD4S is the service to the students. “It has been agreed with our partners that we will continue to invest in competitive grants in order to maintain the attractiveness of our programme for non-EU students as well. FOOD4S will continue to be an international master par excellence in the coming years”, concludes Professor Van Impe.
Onecould no longer question whether autonomous vessels will one day sail on our inland waterways, but one should question when this will happen”, declared Prof. Peter Slaets (Group T Leuven Campus) during the 1st International Symposium on Autonomous Inland Shipping in 2016. On 7 October 2019, the 4th edition of this symposium focused on several autonomous demonstration projects realized in Belgium, China, Norway and Switzerland.
The 2019 Symposium was organized by the Intelligent Mobile Platform (IMP) of KU Leuven in cooperation with De Vlaamse Waterweg nv and the Port of Antwerp in the impressive Port House in Antwerp.
IMP is a multidisciplinary and multicampus research group with a focus on intelligent design and control of the mobile platforms of the future. The application domains are autonomous inland shipping, robots for health and low cost indoor localization. The underlying technologies used by IMP are aerodynamics, hydrodynamics and visual light positioning (VLP). The IMP team consists of four professors, one senior staff member and four PhD researchers. On 13 November 2018, the team demonstrated the first Belgian autonomous vessel on the Yser river in Diksmuide.
While the previous symposiums mainly revealed the enormous potential – both economically and ecologically of autonomous inland shipping, the 4th edition focused on the experimental experiences gathered by various auto nomous shipping demonstration projects. About 25 scholars, researchers and representatives of companies and governmental organizations from 6 different countries explored how the research results can be linked to the requirements of industry and the policy of local and national authorities. Among the main discussion topics were: what can we learn from current autonomous ships? Why are we not seeing autonomous vessels everywhere and how in the near future a paradigm shift can be realized to reduce the transportation cost and enhance the ecological quality of inland waterway transport.
On Thursday 17 October 2019, the Agoria Solar Car Team of KU Leuven won the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge in Australia. The team arrived first after a hectic five-day race in Adelaide. This victory was a triumph for KU Leuven, the Faculty of Engineering Technology and for Belgium, because it was the first time that a Belgian team has become world champion in this demanding competition.
Inthe 15th edition of the World Solar Challenge, 44 teams from 22 countries competed against each other is Australia. The assignment was to cover a distance of 3,331 km from Darwin in the north to Adelaide in the south with a self-built solar car.
Eight time, good time The students of the Faculty of Engineering Technology did not
Willem-Jan Claes, leader of the team, explains. “Of course, we have made numerous improvements in terms of reliability and endurance. In this way, we came to the start with the fastest and most efficient solar care we have ever built. But this no guarantee that you will win. After all, the world championship in Australia is no ordinary race, it is a real challenge. You not only compete against the other teams but you also have to fight against the wind, the desert, sandstorms and the omnipresent risk of accidents. The car of our Dutch colleagues from Twente crashed due to a sudden gust of wind. And the car of our friends – and eternal competitors from TU Delft caught fire just before the finish. The pilot was really lucky to have survived the accident.”
The engineering students have been working day and night on their Bluepoint for more than one year. They designed and built everything themselves, from the battery over the solar panel to the body. “You start with a full battery, but once on the road you can only charge with the sun”, Willem-Jan says. “This applies also to the batteries of each of the team members. Everyone must remain 100% motivated and focused. Every negligence or unnoticed detail is punished”.
experience and know-how that has been transferred from team to team and that has now paid off”,
“Remarkable in this edition was how long the favorite teams stayed in one’s neighbourhood “, WillemJan continues. “That was different in the previous years. It made the championship even more exciting. Precisely because the solar cars were very similar and the teams used similar racing strategies , they had to ask the best of their cars. A few teams went over their limit, and had to face the consequences. Thanks to the many test drives, we exactly knew our limits and how we could finish without accidents”.
How glorious the achievement of the KU Leuven team might be, we should certainly also keep in mind that the students aspire more than winning a race, even if it is the world champion ship. The students are mainly concerned with raising awareness among the public and young people in particular about renewable energy and sustainable technologies. “We are entrepreneurial engineers”, Willem-Jan confirms.” Engineers with a vision. We have shown the world that Belgium and our university are at the forefront of technological innovation”.
“My semester at Olin College of Engineering was for sure the highlight of my study in engineering technology at KU Leuven. I believe universities, professors and students have so much to get out of this new educational concept. I am very grateful to Group T Leuven Campus to give me such an opportunity”, declared Gwendal Plumier after his return to Leuven. “I can recommend all my fellow students to go there and enjoy the Olin way of teaching and learning”.
W. Olin College of Engineering is a young under graduate college in Needham (Massachusetts). In the engineering community it is famous for its dynamic, small size, project-based curriculum. In 2019 Olin College appeared again in Princeton Review’s list of to colleges. Olin made the top ten in 6 different categories, including ‘Professors get High Marks’ and ‘Best Classroom Experience’.
“I found Olin College on my institute’s website, where there is a list of partner universities by country”, Gwendal continues. “As I always dreamt to study in the United States, I applied for Olin. Since I believe that engineering includes much more than just mathematics and scientific courses, I was immediately fascinated by the Olin approach, experimenting with new forms of engineering education. I chose three project-based courses, which is a learning method not widely offered at Belgian universities”.
From the first day on campus, Gwendal felt warmly welcomed to the Olin community. “Consequently, I met many students very quickly. I really liked the suite life with fellow students. It has offered me the opportunity to become familiar with American culture and way of life”.
“Much of Olin College’s curriculum is built around hands-on engineering and design projects”, Gwendal tells. “One of my projects, for instance, consisted of developing a tether that would allow a runner who is blind to communicate with his guide in trails and road runs. Long discussions with my team mates, prototypes and many trials resulted in a successful device and a manual enabling visual disabled people and their surroundings to build their own tether”.
“I also had the chance to work with design programs from the Adobe Creative suite, as well as sciencesrelated material such as electron microscopes”.
Classes are often taught by two professors side by side. A so called ‘Ninja’ – this is a student is at your disposal for assistance if needed. You can take integrated course blocks that teach engineering, calculus and physics by exploring the relationships among the three subjects. At the beginning of the first year, students receive training in Olin’s machine shop for project-based work. For example, if you take the course ‘Design Nature’, you are required to design and build mechanical toys based on biological systems, such as the click beetle’s jumping mechanism”.
“Another major advantage of studying at Olin is that you can make free use of all kinds of equipment, varying from professional cameras to textile screen printing machines. The university library is open 24 hours a day and activities are organized there every Wednesdays to share different knowledge with your fellow students. From photoshop to programming, you will learn from everyone around a nice pizza”.
Learning by doing and vice versa “Classes often take a do-learn format, with the application of concepts being taught before the formal introduction of the underlying theory. Other distinctive features of the Olin’s academic culture are freedom and trust.”
“Students often take exams on their own time, without the supervision of proctors. I did not have to take any exams, I was evaluated on my projects and on a daily basis. Preparation was needed for every class. In general, the academic atmosphere is highly informal”.
“Furthermore, Olin has an expansive view of entrepreneurship”, Gwendal continues. “Throughout the curriculum the teaching of engineering is connected to entrepreneurship encouraging students to put the customers and their needs at the forefront of everything they undertake. During my stay at Olin I had the opportunity to follow a course on ‘Entrepreneurship & Opportunities’ at Babson College, ranked the most prestigious entrepreneurship college in the United States”.
Gwendal discovered soon that learning is not limited to the class room. “As Olin College constitutes a bid and sound community, learning happens everywhere: in group experiences,
faculty-led classes, student-led independent studies and co-curriculars where students from different majors work together. Learning also happens in student clubs and organizations – ranging from highly structured engineering competition teams to service organizations, social clubs and sport teams in exploring the boundaries of knowledge and innovation working on research projects with faculty membersand – last but not least by pursuing new ideas and passions through independent studies. Believe me, learning in all of these contexts is really fun. It let students work on things they are excited about. These activities inspire creativity and equip students to use what they’ve learned. At the end of each semester, student work is celebrated at the Olin Expo, a real happening where students share the project they are most excited about. All this makes the workload quite intense, but at the same time it’s challenging you permanently. In short, the Olin experience has exceeded all my expectations”.
In Engineering Experiences 5, the 3th year bachelors in Electronics and ICT Engineering Technology of Group T Leuven Campus were asked to design an innovative embedded product. To successfully complete this assignment, students had to bring all their technical knowledge, professional skills, talents and creativity together. In addition, all teams had to be composed internationally and many projects were company-initiated. At 29th May 2019, the teams presented their concepts during Demo Day.
At the Demo Day the visitors were stumped by the variety and the creativity of the results that were demonstrated. “The projects were based on either a company-initiated proposal or on internal proposals from our research groups”, project coordinator Prof. Luc Van Deurzen explains. “We know from experience that when external assignments are involved, the student teams become more motivated. After all, there is a real customer with specific requirements regarding quality, usability, financial conditions and the transfer of the results. Moreover, companies involved may ask for confidentiality and intellectual properties. All this makes the products a true reflection of how things work in engineering practice”.
The following companies acted as a contractor/client: the Fire & Emergency Medical Assistance Service of the Brussels-Capital Region; the centre for drug addicts De Spiegel, Juvo, AWB Schots, Veloské and the Agoria Solar Team.
For the Brussels Fire Brigade, the students designed a training device that alerts the user for potential dangerous situations. During the training sessions, the instructor has to be able to adapt or influence the readings of his device, in order to simulate different situations without creating real life dangers. This was realized by wireless controlling/influencing the monitoring device or a dummy device that alerts the same users’ experience as in a real world.
The Belgian Bicycle Group Veloské asked the students to develop a new light system integrated in the frame of an e-bike. The device should include lights that automatically interacts with traffic as well as with the rider’s situation (acceleration, stopping, turning left and right). Moreover, it has to be connected with bicycle helmets with leds and equipped with a rearview that alerts cyclists if something is approaching. Finally, there should be a crash and a theft alert on the smart phone.
For the multidisciplinary therapeutic practice De Spiegel in Leuven, the students built a new scoreboard for visualizing the progress of the residents. The old-fashioned scoreboard had to be replaced by an interactive, IoT (Internet of Things) version, electronically built. By storing the data, the progression could be monitored on the smart phone and made accessible through a website.
The eye-catcher of the Demo Day was undoubtedly the ‘smart gun’. In this project, soldiers are confronted with some scenarios (such as a terrorists’ attack) in a virtual environment. Data can be captured and used to improve the preparation of real operations. Sensors are attached to a replica of a weapon for registering the soldiers’ reaction. All data are captured and wirelessly communicated to a pc/server where they can be consulted for an after-action report. In this way, the instructors are able to discuss the results of the training session with the user.
Liu Chang was not just a master’s student in Electronics Engineering Technology on Group T Leuven Campus. She was also a unique example of the China-Belgium industry and university collaboration. Moreover, she is remembered as a gifted artist, who surprised the audience of the ‘Group T goes classic’ concert with a masterly performance of Franz Schubert’s Fantasia for piano fourhanded.
Mystudy at Group T Leuven Campus was sponsored by the Chinese car company Geely”, Liu Chang explains.
“It is a multinational automotive company whose head quarters are located in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, not far from Shanghai. Geely has acquired Volvo cars in 2010 and soon at the Volvo plant in Ghent the first Chinese cars will be produced for the European market. Geely’s human resources department is more than ever looking for promising engineering talent, offering Chinese students scholarships to study abroad but also offering internships to Belgian students in China. As a matter of fact, I was a real-case example. Thanks to the company, I was able to study at KU Leuven and realise my dreams”.
After her arrival in Leuven, Liu Chang studied Dutch and French at the language institutes ILT and CLT of KU Leuven. “I know how important languages are in Belgium and in the European Union. I love interacting with people from different backgrounds, meeting and studying new cultures and customs, meanwhile promoting and spreading Chinese language and culture as well. Engineering as such may sometimes be narrow-minded, but culture on the contrary makes you feel open-minded, comfortable and full of creativity. For example, I enjoy more dealing with people than with codes, machines, chips or electrical circuits”.
Liu Chang’s mission as a ‘cultural engineer’ is to build a bridge between Asia and Europe. “For Europe, since I play the piano, I have an knowledge of classical music, its composers, arts and history. Since I love reading, learning languages and with my three years living in Leuven, I know many European writers and their works, which help me understand better the European society and people. What is more, I am always ready to meet and try things that are new to me. For Asia, I want to be an ambassador of Chinese language and culture. By the way, did you notice my dress today? It’s a Qi Pao , a traditional Chinese fashion dated back to the nineteen twenties, especially popular in Shanghai. It was the dress of that time and ladies then wore it everyday. I took four Qi Pao’s to Europe to show a beautiful yet impressive aspect of Chinese culture to my friends here”.
“But Asia is more than China. For example, I am also interested in Japanese culture. I studied Japanese for one year when I was in China and I am a big fan of Japanese literature, movie and painting”.
“It is a pity that even now in the 21th century, students are still used to form their own small groups without intending to integrate with each other”, Liu Chang says. “I am more of an adventurer tending to break through the so called ‘comfort zone’. From my three years' living in Europe, I have got good friends from Portugal, Greece, Italy, Iceland, England, Ireland, Canada and Belgium. It is such a great treasure for me. Engineers should become more open-minded not only for technology but also for culture, realising that one is no longer a person of a certain nationality or background, but a world citizen. Then they will see the similarities instead of focusing on the distinctions. That is how I understand ‘beyond engineering’”.
Yves Persoons
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“Engineers should become more open-minded not only for technology but also for culture, realising that one is no longer a person of a certain nationality or background, but a world citizen.”
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Li Qian started her engineering studies at Beijing Jiaotong University in China. In 2007 she decided to study at Group T Leuven Campus to become a Master’s degree in Electronics Engineering. It was not an obvious decision to make but it determined the course of her further life and career. Li Qian is now Pre Sales Engineer at the head quarters of the high-tech company PEC in Leuven.
CampusGroup T was my first experience abroad”, explains Li Qian. “Everything was new: the people, the food, the traffic, then weather, the scenes, the student life, you name it. But – and it needs saying everything fell into place quickly. I could count on a good support of the International Office and helpful professors, assistants and fellow students. After all, Group T Leuven Campus was and is familiar with international students, especially with those who come from China.”
Li Qian has no regretted her decision for one moment. “ Leuven is a hospitable and friendly city where I felt at home quickly. Still, engineering education is fundamentally different from I was used in China: more practical, more attention to teamwork and learning by doing. The Engineering Experiences are a good example of that. Working together on open assignments with an everincreasing degree of complexity and independence. At Group T Leuven Campus this will turn you to an entrepreneur of your own learning process”.
“My company started in 1984 in Leuven as an engineering services business, realizing complex automation projects, including mechanics, robotics, electronics and software. Now PEC has management groups in Germany, Hungary, the United States , China and Japan”.
“At PEC, we believe that innovation means more than just developing products and solutions”, Li Qian says. “I am working with customers worldwide to create new processes and to assist them in setting up successfully volumes, quality and performance. Twice a year I travel to China to meet potential clients and to explore new ways of working with technology suppliers and business partners. And – last but not least – to see my family”.
Yves Persoons
During their mission in Ethiopia Professor Sabine Vercruysse, Vice Campus Chair and Wim Polet, Director International Office of Group T Leuven Campus organized a KU Leuven Alumni Chapter Event on 18 May 2019 in Addis Ababa. Twenty Ethiopian alumni of KU Leuven were welcomed by Dr. Getu Kahsay Weldu, Professor at Mekelle University and Chair of the KU Leuven Alumni Chapter in Ethiopia.
International Alumni Chapters are informal local network. They create opportunities for the alumni to connect with each other and keep in touch with KU Leuven. The Ethiopian Alumni Chapter was the first on the African continent. It marks the growing importance of Ethiopia for KU Leuven.
Along with China, India and the Greater Mekong Area (SouthEast Asia) Ethiopa is one of the key countries in the international strategy of Group T Leuven Campus. Cooperation agreements have been established with 5 Ethiopian universities. “The cooperation efforts focus on capacity building, institutional support and the exchange of staff and students”, Prof. Vercruysse explains. “Belgian and Ethiopian researchers collaborate on themes such as ecology, sustainability and health”.
“We call upon the chapter for student recruitment and getting in touch with other potential partner universities as well as with the local economy”, Wim Polet continues. “As an embassador of KU Leuven the Alumni Chapter can open new doors to strengthen and expand our network in this promising country in full development”.
2013, KU Leuven established its first international alumni chapter in Shanghai, China. Today, the university has thirteen international alumni chapters. Thailand, Ethiopia, Vietnam – all established in 2018 and Beijing are the most recent additions to the list.
“Alumni chapters are an important asset for KU Leuven”, says Vice-Rector for International Alumni Policy Peter Lievens, who is also responsible for alumni policy. “Internationalisation is very high on the KU Leuven agenda. Two key aspects of our current strategy are recruiting more students from abroad and promoting international mobility. And as more KU Leuven alumni go on to build international careers, we strengthen our global network”.
“This where the international alumni chapters come in”, says Martine Torfs from the Alumni Office at KU Leuven. “They create opportunities for our alumni to connect with each other and constitute a direct link with the alma mater. We also call upon the chapters for cooperation, student recruitment, academic policy, or to establish links with the partner institutes and the local economy. But we engage with our international alumni in other ways as well. We send newsletters, organize alumni trips or invite alumni to join us for education fairs in their country. We also reach out to former PhD students, postdocs, and visiting scholars because they are members of the KU Leuven community as well. They are all ambassadors for our university”.
Katrien BollenFrom left to right: Prof. Deng Xinghua; Prof. Koen Eneman, Campus Chair; Martine Torfs, Head of the Alumni Office KU Leuven; Prof. Peter Lievens, Vice Rector of KU Leuven; Prof. Guan Zhongliang, Vice President BJTU; Wim Polet, Director International Office Group T Leuven Campus; Prof. Zhu Hengjun; Prof. Liu Shaoqing, Director of the Center of International Education BJTU and Prof. Guo Xuemeng, Secretary General of the BJTU Alumni Association.
On August 24 2019, the KU Leuven Alumni Chapter Beijing was officially installed in the Chinese capital. The next day there was already a first important event: the 20th anniversary of the Double Degree Programme in Engineering Technology of KU Leuven and Beijing Jiaotong University. Both ceremonies were the crowning glory of a quarter-century collaboration between both universities.
development of the collaboration and the friendship between our universities”.
In his speech, Vice President Guan announced a scoop. BJTU is planning to set up its own European Alumni Association with Belgium as the hub and KU Leuven as the centre.
In
2000 the first four Chinese students graduated from the then University College Group T in Leuven. They started their engineering studies at Beijing Jiaotong University (BJTU) and came after one year to Leuven to complete their studies. They were the first to obtain a Double (FlemishChinese) Degree in Engineering Technology. Meanwhile, more than 250 students from over a dozen Chinese universities have followed in their footsteps.
During the memorial ceremony, Professor Guan Zhongliang, Vice President of BJTU, emphasized the importance of the double degree programmes for the universities involved. “The past 20 years have flown by, but we are determined to continue this momentum. The new KU Leuven Alumni Chapter Beijing will help to ensure that the informal network of alumni that already exists will help really come to the fore by playing an active role in the further
Professor Peter Lievens, Vice Rector For International Policy of Ku Leuven immediately accepted the proposal and promised the initiative full support. “It is yet another proof that we are on the right track with our Truly International Strategy”, the Vice Rector concluded.
