WELL-CONNECTED THROUGH THE CRISIS

EDITORIAL

What do the coronavirus pandemic and global warming have in common? More than you might think. Both are global hot topics, with believers and non-believers, proponents, and deniers, creating daily polemics about what is right or wrong.

Meanwhile, scientists and engineers worldwide continue to search for solutions, knowing that there is no miracle cure. Moreover, it is also clear that no individual, country, or continent can unravel this tangle on its own.

People and nations depend on cooperation, willingly or not. This requires not only good will but also good connections to build on. Connecting and developing offer ways out of the crises, they are building blocks for the future.

This magazine is called ‘ConnectING’. Our faculty is the product of connecting & developing. It is our daily work. This magazine shows the results of that work. A good example is the Technovation Hub Academy that was launched in the spring. Academia and industry are working together to stimulate the creativity and entrepreneurship of future engineers. A highlight of connectivity were the job fairs on our campuses. In their virtual form, they were on par with the live editions from the pre-Corona era.

Technovation Hub groups, coordinates, and supports our faculty’s showpieces: the student teams. Future engineers put their shoulders to an ambitious project in which they can prove their technological and entrepreneurial skills. This issue contains the exploits of the Solar Team in the iLumen Solar Race and the Moroccan Solar Challenge as well as the performance of the Formula Belgium Electric Team during the international Formula Student Competition in the summer. Both teams are closely linked with business and industry. Together, they also share a higher goal: making the public and young people aware of renewable energy and carbon-free mobility.

A man who has made the fight for climate his life’s work is Serge de Gheldere, alumnus of our faculty. He was Al Gore’s first European climate ambassador. He has already advised dozens of governments, cities, and regions in the transition to sustainable energy. The fact that he won the first Award of Alumni Engineers KU Leuven makes us particularly proud.

From climate to health is only a small step. After all, both are also connected. In this issue, we look at what our researchers have achieved in the field of robot eye surgery, personal health care systems and safeguarding privacy in the health sector. Our connections transcend the boundaries of countries and continents. Despite the corona pandemic, the number of new international students in the bachelor’s program increased by 30% this year. In the master’s programs, it even doubled. In this issue we highlight Indian and Thai students from the twinning and dual degree programmes.

In times of crisis, people and nations tend to turn in on themselves. This is understandable but it does not ensure sustainable solutions. In the spirit of never waste a good crisis, the actual challenges and difficulties should be considered as opportunities to rethink, re-imagine, and recreate our daily routines. A good connectivity can be a golden service in this respect.

Professor Bert Lauwers - Dean of the Faculty of Engineering Technology