hp_02_fall_2010 by Nelson Mota

Editorial

Big accomplishments such as the (re) discovery of America or Brazil happened by serendipity. In fact both Columbus and Cabral were searching something else: a maritime route to India from Europe. However this was only possible because they decided to face the unknown, traveling in search for alternative routes to the ones already established. This is often what happens with scientific research. You have to begin walking in a road that you still don’t know where is going to end. Some of these enterprises have a happy end, others do not. While apparently opposed fields of research, both space exploration and archaeology have to deal with the unknown. Moreover, they have to deal with invention and memory. In fact, in his book Histoire et verité, (published in 1955) French philosopher Paul Ricouer stated that “only a culture capable of assimilating scientific rationality will be able to survive and revive”. But he also stated that one has to be aware of our past, of our roots, “not simply to repeat the past, but rather to take root in it in order to ceaselessly invent.” Therefore, memory and invention are crucial elements to pursue a path towards progress. These are also two essential conditions to travel. One has to keep in mind his past experiences and be able to step forward when facing a different challenge. Thus, traveling becomes a good metonymy to research. The painting that we reproduce in the cover of the present issue, is titled

Traveling and Serendipity Nelson Mota N.J.A.Mota@tudelft.nl

“Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer” (Wanderer above the Sea of Fog) and was painted by Casper David Friedrich in 1818. The lonely figure of the traveler facing the horizon at the same time mysterious and seductive is a good image to translate the experience of someone engaged with a research project. This issue of Het Proefschrift is dedicated to the theme of “Traveling as research”. However, in this case traveling means not only a journey or a trip but also a voyage to our memories, both collective and individual. The contributions for this issue bring together some of the different ways where traveling can contribute to enhance research. Eva Heinen shares with us her experience in the US to reveal how she is comparing Dutch and American behavior in terms of bicycle commuting; Mehdi Saffarian presents a research in progress to make the experience of traveling by car safer; Samur Araújo shares with us his research about how traveling within our digital memories can change our interaction with the web; Rajbeer Singh Basera reports how was is transference, as a post-doc, from India to The Netherlands; Hélène Clogenson and Andrea Simonetto allow us to travel

Contents

Final Note: In this issue Rajen Akalu annouces his steping down as Promood’s president. I had the pleasure to work with Rajen in the edition of the present and the previous issues of HP and I owe Rajen my acknowledgement for his contribution making our HP journey joyful, challenging and, above all, a good opportunity to have good chats and exchange memories and inventions.

Cover

Editorial

PhD Policy

Words from the board

Inside TU

PromooD news

Heroes of everyday life

Opinion

Supervisor of the Year

State of the Art

His master’s voice

What are you doing?

From the other side

Life Post-Doc

Links

Relax Corner

Upcoming events

fall 2010

back to the 1950’s and revive the emotions of listening and dancing to the sound of Rock’n Roll; Prof. Hans Beunderman reminds TU Delft’s PhD community of the final steps in the voyage to one’s Doctoral Defence-ceremony Day; Sónia da Silva Viera, guides us through the hospitable spaces in the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering; Jelmer van Ast and Mathieu Gerard reveal an application they created to help us traveling at a conference; Madan Kumar Lakshmanan presents his nomination essay as Promood’s “Supervisor of the Year” to a central figure in his research trip – Prof. Homayoun Nikookar, whom also contributes with some considerations about how the relation between supervisor and PhD researcher should be; Prof. Wubbo Ockels shares with us some of his experiences as a former “extra-terrestrial”; we also reveal Mira Pasveer role as marketing manager for PhD students and the International Neighbour Group Delft as a contribution to make you feel more at home in Delft.

Casper Friedrich ‘ ‘Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer’ © Creative Commons

Words from the board

The French novelist Marcel Proust wrote that “[t]he real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” This year the Promood board consisted of approximately twelve PhDs. That is a lot of [critically trained] new eyes! I took the position as Chair of Promood because I wanted to gain experience managing academics. It is quite a task to manage a group of similarly neurotic individuals coming from very different academic backgrounds and working in various faculties at the university. Like many PhDs, my natural inclination in the university environment is to put my research first and place everything else a distant second. But at some point I realized that a PhD more of a journey to an uncharted destination than making yourself at home on an island. It takes effort to take responsibility for your own PhD experience and practice to not respond defensively to criticism. Both can be learned in an organization like Promood. Promood has been an opportunity for me to connect with PhDs working in vastly different ‘worlds’ to my own. I came to really appreciate the various talents the Promood board members and the contribution they brought to the group. Together, we’ve accomplished a great deal. For example, in order to reach as many

Chairman’s outgoing note… Rajen Akalu R.J.Akalu@tudelft.nl

PhDs as possible we experimented with very different activities compared to previous years. These ranged from sporting events to board games, beer tasting and speed dating. These events afforded an opportunity to socialize as well as find out the interests and concerns other PhDs were facing.

cussion and networking session. The event was both successful and well attended. There are still significant challenges ahead. Important issues such as PhD contracts and salary conditions need to be addressed. There also significant changes in organizational structure of PhD education that need to be monitored and evaluated. I’ve had the occasion to engage with all levels of the TU Delft university administration in this regard. Learning about difficulties that other PhDs have encountered has certainly assisted me making my own PhD path a smoother one. During my term as Chair I’ve never lost sight of the fact that PhDs represent two-thirds of the academic staff at this university. I took as my aim to make Promood both engaging and relevant as an association of PhDs at this university. I’m very satisfied with the result of this effort. I wish my successor Sylvie Soudarissanane bon voyage!

The highlight of the year occurred in April when we hosted a career event. Here, we connected PhDs, alumni and working professionals for a career dis-

Colophon

hp _ het proefschrift is the journal of PromooD, the independent representative body of the PhD candidates at the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft). For more information about PromooD: www.promood.tudelft.nl

hp editorial team:

colaborators on this issue:

President: Rajen Akalu

Alberto González, Andrea Simonetto, Annelies Mooij, Eva Heinen, Hans Beunderman, Hélène Clogenson, Homayoun Nikookar, Jelmer van Ast, Madan Kumar Lakshmanan, Mathieu Gerard, Mehdi Saffarian, Mira Pasveer-Aarts, Nelson Mota, Nishant S. Lawand, Patty van Woerden, Rajbeer Singh Basera, Rajen Akalu, Rodrigo Teixeira Pinto, Samur Araújo, Sónia da Silva Vieira, Sylvie Soudarissanane, Wubbo Ockels © Promood and the authors of the articles November 2010 Circulation: 1700 copies

Editor-in-chief: Nelson Mota Associate Editors: Alberto Gonzalez, social events Nishant Lawand, career development Rodrigo Teixeira Pinto , marketing Layout and Design: Nelson Mota

het proefschrift

PromooD News

events, facts, membership, ...

Once upon a time, the Internet was a place where a company would upload the content they wanted to show you, and you would have to put up with it wether you liked it or not. Then the YouTube folks came, and the Internet became a collaborative space where everyone uploaded the videos they wanted to show you. Creativity boomed and suddenly millions of videos of kittens (and a chubby Jedi boy) flooded the Net. Web evangelists call sites such as Wikipedia, Flickr, and YouTube, the ‘Web 2.0’. These websites are just empty containers, and rely on their members and visitors creativity to fill them. Until this year, when people would come to us and say ‘please organize this event’ we would note the suggestion down and do our best. Unfortunately our time and resources are limited, which meant that only a few of

Promood 2.0 Alberto González A.GonzalezSanchez@tudelft.nl

those proposals ever came into being. During 2010, our events programme has transformed and become much more collaborative.

let them use our contacts and propaganda machinery to organize and promote their idea. Around half of our events have been organized by members not in the board. Yes, definitely this year we have become Promood 2.0. This does not mean we don’t organize anything by ourselves. We are still loyal to the true “PromooD PhD Classics”: the barbecue, the printers market, and Sinterklaas. The barbecue was a great success, and Sint is already loading his steamboat in Spain!

This year we have taken a different approach. When someone from outside came and said ‘please organize a singles party’, we said ‘if you organize it, we will give you our support’. And when someone proposed a dance workshop, we were all for it, as long as they took care of everything we would

PromooD BBQ 2010

September 24th 2010, TBM Podium, TU Delft © Photos: Kevin Thomassen

fall 2010

PromooD News

events, facts, membership, ...

PromooD Career Event 2010 April 15th 2010, Delft, The Netherlands

PromooD organised a Career Event 2010 at the Berlage Hall in TU Delft’s Faculty of Architecture. This event was focused for the next step after PhD. It was planned for those who were seeking a career in academia, in industry, in a non-profit organisation, any research centre. The aim of this event was to bring together PhD candidates, alumni and working professionals from several areas discuss, exchange ideas and to encourage networking. Experienced professionals from different areas were called at this event to provide expert advice and guidance to the PhD candidates community. There were 13 different professionals invited from academia and corporate companies with the expertise from varied fields. They shared their own PhD and also gave valuable guidance for the life after it.

Nishant S. Lawand N.S.Lawand@tudelft.nl

The program started with an welcome speech from PromooD’s president Rajen Akalu which was followed by a substantive keynote speech on “Managing your career as a PhD” given by Deepa Kundur, a Professor at Texas A&M University.

refreshments and drinks to lighten up and add a friendly relaxed atmosphere. Promood’s PhD career development programme guided the people to take to their desired location in the path of their future profession. This programme of activities gave the PhD students the option to work towards their next step and develop the transferable skills at the same time.

This lecture gave the PhD student’s an insight for the future possibilities that a PhD candidate could pursue. After this speech a structured networking session was conducted. During this session all the participants had an opportunity to join in a round table discussion with the professional which they had preselected before the event. This discussion continued until the end of the program accompanied with

het proefschrift

Opinion

about research, sports, life and other subjects....

What does your bike look like? You might recall a weekly article in the university magazine ‘Delta’. Where else in the world would this be a weekly subject? You won’t be surprised that after revealing my PhD subject, “Typically Dutch” is a common reaction. Even more here in the Netherlands than outside. My PhD research focuses on bicycle commuting. As most know, the bicycle has a unique position in the Netherlands. The Netherlands has the highest bicycle share in the world. The bicycle is more or less integrated in our lives. The Dutch are born to cycle and cycle from early childhood. Everywhere is bicycle infrastructure. In short, the bicycle has obtained a big role in our transport system. Remarkably however, little research attention is given to cycling in the Netherlands; much more in countries with little cycling activity such the UK and USA. The situation between the Netherlands and the USA is very different. I tried to compare the Netherlands with the USA, in particular Delft with Davis. I was interested in the position of the bicycle in the USA and especially in the public view towards cycling and the integration in the daily life. In my ongoing PhD research, I created the opportunity to stay three months in Davis, California. The United States are known for car dependent and bicycle unfriendly. The bicycle is most often not viewed as a mode of transportation but more a way of recreation or a sports attribute. That in most cities the infrastructure in a way prevents cycling to work and being able to cycle without stress confirms this. Nevertheless, a strong movement is visible towards a better integration of the bicycle in cities. In contrast to the Netherlands, current cyclists are organized and commit themselves to make a change. The research stay did not only provide with me essential research data - I interviewed sixteen inhabitants about their commute behavior. The combination with being actively involved in another culture is essential for the comprehension of the culture. Short visits do allow to get a the most important difference, but it need time to grasp all cultural asfall 2010

Staying Abroad for Research Eva Heinen E.Heinen@tudelft.nl

Behavior is at first interpreted from one’s own culture instead of putting it in perspective of a native inhabitant pects of importance: attitudes, norms and exception to these. Behavior is at first interpreted from one’s own culture instead of putting it in perspective of a native inhabitant. To give some examples, the interviews showed a larger environmental awareness of the inhabitants in Davis. Dutch participants acknowledge the environmental benefits of cycling as well, but did not attach importance to it: “It is important for environmental reasons. I think that the driving part is one of the worse things we are doing to society. And for all kind of reasons. The air for example, not only for people riding it, but also for people breathing it” (Davis, female, 48, 3km, bicycle) In terms of health awareness and importance respondents answered a like. Everyone understood that cycling was healthy found this important, although the behavior was not necessary affected. “Exercise is important. I work in a hospital and see very often the consequences of inactivity. So that is the most important reason.” (Delft, male, 48, 18 km, bicycle)

Equally informative was experiencing the difficulties of cycling abroad. Despite that Davis is one of the cycling cities of the USA, visiting some shops by bike is hard. In addition, the large number of stop signs prevent you from having a easy ride through the city and force you to stop and accelerate at every crossing. Experiencing these (and many other) burdens in your everyday life is much more valuable than reading it or facing it on a short visit. A longer stay makes you face the real difficulties. Moreover, staying abroad provides with putting your own life in perspective. You will get new ideas and experience a life in a different situation and with different habits, which is a unique personal experience. This is helpful for your research as well. You get new ideas, concepts and consider applying different techniques. It helps you to put the research into an international perspective. I helped the professor with the data collection of one of her research. And I had the opportunity to present and discuss my work with professors and other PhD students from outside my university several times. They questioned different steps and assumptions which enriched my research. Being away from my regular working location provided me a fresh view on my work. Traveling for work is for many a dream. Getting paid while staying in a warm, friendly resort, with good food and meeting only nice and interesting people. Although everyone who has traveled for work knows it isn’t all good, it does provide you with new insights and useful experiences.

Eva Heinen (Voorburg, The Netherlands) is a PhD candidate in the Section of Urban and Regional Development in the OTB Research Institute for the Built Environment of TU Delft. 7

State of the art

bibliographical reviews and news from the scientific community

Rear Window Notification Display (RWND) Developed by: T. Holper, J. Kalsbeek, A. Mesu, G. Smink

Balance between Authority and Responsibility How Driving should Look and Feel using Automation and Augmented Feedback? by

Mehdi Saffarian M.Saffarian@tudelft.nl

Paying attention to the right thing at the right time is important for many activities. For driving, it is critical. In the Netherlands the annual costs of road accidents have been estimated at 12 billion Euros or 2.6% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (SWOV fact sheet, 2009). Regarding the efficiency, the additional time cost by congestion is estimated at about 2% of GDP in developed countries (Quinet, 1994). Currently, major changes are taking place in the way we are driving our cars. Drivers are increasingly aided by automation and augmented feedback, such as Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), Electronic Stability Control (ESC), and night vision. In the Biomechanical Engineering Department, Faculty of 3ME, TU Delft researchers are trying to answer fundamental questions about the effects of increased use of in-vehicle technologies on safety and efficiency of drivers. The tendency to use automation systems in vehicles, can either impair or improve how we distribute our attention, thus diminishing or enhancing safety. Also, considering the 8

indispensability of human involvement in vehicles, there is a growing interest in developing state of the art driving systems with humans as their integral component. One solution is that man and machine cooperate intuitively by realizing the required control forces together. The idea is to combine the use of hands and feet with inceptors like haptic steering wheel and gas pedal, and visual feedback complement. To realize this idea, thorough understanding of human motion control is required to quantify the benefit of the haptic and visual feedback. In collaboration with the Faculty of Aerospace, through a project funded by Nissan, researchers here were successfully developed and evaluated a haptic gas pedal system for cruise control application. The first commercial version of the system is known as Distance Control Assist and launched in spring 2008. Researchers are now trying to extend such solution for assisting steering system and smart lateral control of cars (Mulder & Abbink, 2010).

Autonomous vehicles do not necessarily mean progress from which humans can really benefit. “Ironies of automation” occurs where “by taking away the easy parts of human tasks, automation can make the difficult parts …more difficult” (Bainbridge, 1983). One of the key unsolved issues in the automotive industry is the balance between exploiting increasingly powerful technologies and retaining authority, with clear roles between humans and automation. Currently, a team from Biomechanical Engineering are working on making an interface for integrating human with Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control (CACC) systems, which enable both driving with tighter inter-vehicle distance and platooning among vehicles. Simulation studies show that introducing such systems into the highways can significantly increase traffic throughput and safety of the road networks (van Arem et al., 2006) due to better use of space and more homogenous driving patterns. The interface is part of the shared feedback controller to moderate authority transitions between human and the car, which is not only facilitate driver performance in regular highway driving, but also in complex and unanticipated transition scenarios, such as merging and resizing a platoon when driving with CACC systems. The validated system should eliminate both unnecessary human intervention and also over trust of the humans on the automation. Through these and its other automotive research activities, the mission of Biomechanical Engineering is to enhance drivers’ safety, road capacity and driving comfort, through tailored integration of human with technology. The work toward having dynamic and natural cooperation between human and automation is a key factor for success of future intelligent vehicles.

Mehdi Saffarian (Abadan, Iran) is a PhD researcher in the area of Human Machine Interface in the Biomechanical Engineering, 3ME Faculty in TU Delft.

het proefschrift

What are you doing?

Research abstracts from TU Delft’s phd community and research centres

Linking Personal Data: towards the web of your digital memories All our memories come from our living experiences in our environment: the people that we have met, music that we have listened to, places that we have been to. These memories support us in all our daily tasks, such as to recognize places, people, concepts, etc. Nowadays, many of us are immersed in a digital environment, living experiences that also build a memory about our digital experiences. This particular memory that we have about our digital environment, helps us to achieve many tasks inside the digital world. Many researchers have shown that to re-find information is one the most performed tasks that people do in their digital environment. Unfortunately, the tools that we have today do not reflect well our digital memory: they lead us to spreading our data among many applications and formats, consequently leading us to high mental load to re-find it. This problem is a specific variation of what is known in the literature as information fragmentation. This information fragmentation impacts directly how users re-find their data, and besides it causes loss of informa-

fall 2010

Samur Araújo S.F.CardosodeAraujo@tudelft.nl

tion and relationships among data. For example, once you have saved an e-mail attachment to your file system, you lose the information by whom the file was sent, and to later recover such detail becomes very hard. Current applications do not capture users’ digital memory, nor how users organize and link information in their minds, consequently mentally overloading the user to accomplish their tasks, especially when this involves re-finding tasks. Unfortunately, history is repeating itself on the Web, and nowadays, users’ information is being spread and encoded in many different web sites and services, again forcing users to manage applications instead of the object of interest: their personal data. For example, users use Gmail, Flickr, Facebook, Last.fm, Twitter, Delicious, etc, to manage their information but cannot manage it as a medium, in an integrated and unified way.

We envision a scenario where the Web will be a living system, composed by many entities that themselves evolve over time. The users’ digital memory itself can be conceived as a web, that together with data from other webs, such as the web of (linked) data, will form the whole cyberspace that supports the human being in their lives. In our research, we will make a step towards a web of digital memories, by using Semantic Web technology for weaving the users’ personal data into a web of data that, in level of granularity, is closer to the users’ memory. This scenario leads us to many scientific challenges from different perspectives, in understanding memory and re-finding, in knowledge representation, elicitation and integration, in privacy etc.

Samur Araujo (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) is a phd student in the web information system group, EWI Faculty in TU Delft.

Life post-Doc

and what then, after your phd?

As I set to move to The Netherlands, well-known as Holland in India, a lot of questions and uncertainties started capturing my imagination and thought process. Moreover, they made me worried about weather and food, as I was recovering from long illness and stretching working hours during all seven days of the week in last few years. This was due to demanding research conditions at Center for studies in Science Policy, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), till August 2009, and multi-tasking job as Assistant Professor at Center for Science, Technology and Innovation Policy Studies at Central University of Gujarat (CUG). If I talk about my experiences at JNU, before I put post-doctoral experiences, then I would say it was my grooming ground as a research scholar who got free, autonomous, diverse, democratic, interactive, and global academic environment. Moreover, debates and discussions on various issues were carried during nights after dinner in common dining hall of the different hostels. As I was leaving Delhi I had faced heavy rain. I left with an assumption that at least this is not going to be scenario in The Netherlands. But, a big surprise! It was raining here and that too heavily without any break with very low temperature and high speed winds those I had seen during my childhood in desert of Rajasthan, a province in northern India. At the airport, Taxi was waiting and thanks to Dr Otto Kroesen and TU Delft who have made these nice arrangements, including my residence Leghwaterstraat, 268. As I got settled down and became acquainted with few important places for survival, I set to take up next task to join the section Technology Dynamics and Sustainable Development, Faculty Technology, Policy and Management at TU Delft on 1st September. I found things very systematic but somewhat similar to what I have been went through in JNU. In addition, I found lot of similarity in both conditions, my past and present. TPM has assigned me, on first day, working desk. Further, I found some my colleagues, PHD students and professors, who also have their respec10

Explicit or Implicit Experiences Rajbeer Singh Basera rajbasera@gmail.com

tive working desks, common printer, photocopy and scanning machine. This was something new which I have not imagined that PhD students can get free printing, scanning and photocopying facilities!! Further, another something unexpected facility is coffee and tea machine for PhD students and Workers of TU Delft and that too free, cost covered by the university. I got another big difference in secretariat where I met section secretary who had handed over all stationary and other material. Moreover, she advised that any PhD student, Post Doc and Professors can take these things whenever they need by using their card to open the door without paying any money for that! So infrastructural differences make a remarkable difference in experience and work out put. TU delft is found to be with some more very good values in term of making collaborations and working with different individuals from different departments, groups and sections. This makes people here more oriented to take up real problems with industry and policy, and find out solution. Perhaps this kind of approach I missed in my earlier career. On the other hand, TU delft is somewhat less indulge in open discussions and debate what I had witnessed in past. Moreover, I could not find even a single place where night talks and discussions are organized wherein speakers can speak on particular topic and audience can put their own questions. Further, I found students are more focused on few issues which are mostly concern to their research or life but they are found clueless about diverse issues even on the Netherlands! Weather forecasting is an important way to plan everyday life and visits to different place in Europe. This is possi-

ble only through using reliable satellite data and live results on rain, temperature and wind speed. On contrast, one cannot be so sure about such weather forecasting in India, often they are not so accurate, thanks to dynamic nature of local weather. Moreover, a student cannot imagine getting the beer on the campus in JNU as it is available here in TU Delft as a common drink. Further, students have lot many drink parties which may be some slightly different then what we had hostel nights. One of the most strange experience, I could call it, is that of using word â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Bikeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; for the bicycle which so commonly used here almost majority people in TU Delft. As I was habituated to use this word for the motorbike not for what Dutch people use it. Moreover, I have again use bicycle after 12 years because I have been using motorbike before I arrived here. But, Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a learning experience that how using a bike here helps to climate and lowering air and noise pollution on the TU campus. Further, it may be long story which may describe about dissimilarities in my pre post-doctoral and post-doctoral experiences. I found a good overlap in both situations as both are multidisciplinary vibrant academic universities. The academic freedom, autonomy and nonhierarchical scenario are common in both situations. Therefore, it provides me motivation to carry on the research with making big efforts for any change. I could find that the people can communicate in English which make life easier and moving faster. Moreover, TU Delft provides a great opportunity for pursuance of great academic career.

Rajbeer Singh Basera (India) is a Post Doctoral Fellow in Section of Technology Dynamics and Sustainable Development at Faculty Technology, Policy and Management in TU Delft

het proefschrift

Relax Corner

about music, cinema, books, whatever

We grew up with the notes of evergreen glories transmitted on the radio, such as “Johnny B. Goode” by Chuck Berry. We found ourselves smiling during the nights at the disco, while songs like “You’re The One That I Want” (Grease) were played with general enthusiasm. Rock’n Roll, the to-feelgood music, the exciting dance, and the rhythm are part of us. All of them belong to us, they mean something, they remind some undefined freedom we are entitled to own. But, how could you dance on these songs? There are various styles to dance Rock’n Roll. Maybe the first images that pop up in our mind are the ones of acrobatic Rock’n Roll, with the “girl flying around”. But there are also a few more rock and roll dance styles such as 4 Four Steps Style Rock’n Roll. This is the “Saturday night fever” Rock’n Roll dance style! It is “simple”, it is social and fun!!! It also offers us space for creativity and spontaneity. It is the rock and roll that makes us dance during parties or anytime/anywhere we feel like! It is the dance our feet are claiming for as soon as a good “classical” or nowadays song is heard! On the street, in a bar, with friends. There are no limits! © Photo: Steven Cuylle

Rock’n Delft Rock’n Roll dance, music, fun! Hélène Clogenson H.C.Clogenson@tudelft.nl

Andrea Simonetto A.Simonetto@tudelft.nl

In this style each dancing figure, or move, is based on four, eight, twelve… beats. The figures range over simple turns, springy jumps, over fast and slow body movements, and combinations of all of them. The style, although not acrobatic, is for sure dynamic, powerful, and choreographic. And, the music is, without a doubt, excellent! There are a few things that make life enjoyable: Rock’n’Roll dance is one of them. It is a mix of glances, complicity, unpredictability...and laughs! And that makes it even more exciting. It is a social activity, and therefore a perfect gateway to meet with friends, as well as encountering new people. Overall, it is a good excuse to stay a bit together.

But, how could we learn how to dance Rock’n Roll in Delft? We are doing something in this direction. We are setting up a new association “Rock’n Delft” in order to organize events, workshops, and we will eventually teach an entire Rock’n Roll dance course of fifteen lessons. And all for free! We created a Facebook group, Rock’n Delft, which everybody is invited to join. This will be the meeting point for the people interested in learning and dancing Rock’n Roll or willing to help us with the association. The next events will be posted on this Facebook page, so stay tuned! To give you a sample of some future activities, November will be a month full of dance. Two workshops are already scheduled: one with the Mechanical student association Leeghwater, on Monday November the 15th and one with the Cultural Center, on a Friday evening, the date still have to be defined. Don’t hesitate to come over and try it! Consider helping us by spreading the news, showing your interest by attending the events and being part of the association. We are Hélène and Andrea; Hélène, a French PhD student at BMechE, has been dancing and teaching for about four years now, jumping from France, to Norway until here. Andrea, an Italian PhD student at DCSC has been dancing Salsa and Rock‘n Roll for quite a bit. Join the group for further information or just drop by our offices at 3mE for a talk!

Hélène Clogenson (Paris, France) is a PhD student in the department of BioMechanical Engineering at the Faculty of 3mE in TU Delft. Andrea Simonetto (Como, Italy) is a PhD student in the Delft Center for Systems and Control at the Faculty of 3mE in TU Delft fall 2010

PhD Policy

PhD Policy at the TU Delft

Your ultimate Ph”D-DAY” at the TU Delft This article intends to inform you on “the rules of the game” that are applicable to the final phase of your PhD process. This will help you plan and realize a safe landing at your Doctoral Defenceceremony Day! The early beginning of your PhD process is therefore not so much the focus of this article. This is notwithstanding the fact that “a good beginning is half of the job done”. Each PhD student should from the very first start be aware of the legal context and formal document for obtaining a doctoral degree in Delft: the Doctorate Regulations issued by the Board for Doctorates of the TU Delft. Be aware that this Board released a new version per September 2010; you can find it on the TU Delft website. So we assume that you are formally registered via the PROM 01 and 02 forms and fully informed by the time you enter into the final phase! Various sources for adequate information are available. First of all your supervisory team should guide and guard you up to the final countdown. The Doctorate Regulations contain in Part III: “The order of events in the doctoral defence procedure and the minimum time schedule”. This scheme clearly shows all responsibilities and steps to take for all actors involved. There is a special version with extra TIPS added for the PhD candidate. Furthermore the -draft version- of the Code of Good Practice for PhD’s is a useful framework to view your actions as a “professional”. It will be an essential part of the philosophy of the TU Delft Graduate School that is to be implemented in 2011, but it is already in use on informal basis e.g. in the TUD PhD Start-up Days. Any further questions? Contact the Office of the Beadle via pedel@tudelft.nl or in the Aula building. The start of the final lap is – according to the minimum! time schedule- 11 12

Hans Beunderman H.Beunderman@tudelft.nl

weeks before the defence date. This period may seem long but does include the whole process of quality assurance of your thesis! Be certain and anticipate on planning this phase well in advance together with your supervisors. The signature of your promoter on the draft thesis and form PROM 03 is an essential requirement for you to be able to book a defence date, time and location via the Office of the Beadle. Unfortunately incomplete booking requests can not be accepted by the Beadle: it will frustrate other candidates who do match their planning adequately with the regulations. The order of events then describes each subsequent step to be taken by you and/or your supervisor during this –minimum- timeframe. The seasons in the year have quite an influence on the availability of defence slots for you! In general the peak months are: January, June, September and November/December. Since PhD’s enter the TU Delft all through the year there is no formal reason for these summer and end-year peaks, but we assume that there are causes related to contracts/visa and a planning habit based on “finish before summer/new year”. This often leads to unused defence slots in the quiet months! To relax the pressure on the pre-summer peak the TU Delft decided to introduce parallel sessions in that period and to reduce the summer closure to 4 weeks: mid July to mid August. You could use this insight to plan your final phase and ceremony in the relatively quiet months! A variety of rooms may be available. In the past year all ceremonies used to be in the Senate Hall; this room has a capacity for about 200 visitors. Some-

times however there are only 10-20 people in the audience. Depending on the month of the year the Beadle may be able to offer more options: the main Auditorium (Aula/1000P), the Kronig Hall (TNW/ 40P), or the Committee Room 3 (Aula/40P). It is only fair to be realistic in your expectation as to the number of expected visitors; you might even take advantage of early availability of defence slots in other rooms than the Senate Hall! Be aware that the Senate Hall and Committee Room 3 will be redecorated during summer 2011: the TU Delft may not be able to fully satisfy your wishes in that period. The Day should be one of the highlights in your academic career: all involved in the TU Delft will strive to help realize this for you…and your supporters. Therefore be well in time to have an appointment with the Beadle for all logistic aspects during that day, including important details like the dress code for you and the Defence Committee. Likewise you are expected to meet the professor appointed by the Board for Doctorates who will chair the defence ceremony. He or she will inform you on the procedure during the defence and what is expected from you. But you can also address any point that is unclear or of special importance to you. If you as the key stakeholder in your own success, together with all involved from the TU Delft, act professionally according to these formal and informal “rules of the game” you can be confident to have a wonderful touchdown!

Prof. ir. Hans Beunderman is Vice Rector of the TU Delft with a focus on PhD policy and implementation, and a special interest in the TUDelft Graduate School project. His previous positions in TU Delft were: Dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Director of Strategy.

het proefschrift

PhD Policy

PhD Policy at the TU Delft

1st Year 1st Semestre

2nd Semestre

1st Semestre

4th Year

3rd Year

2nd Semestre

1st Semestre

2nd Semestre

1st Semestre

2nd Semestre

PhD Duration: 4 years STEP 1 & 2: Research and Thesis Writing (~ 3 years 7 months) PROM 1 PROM 2 STEP 3: Supervisor appraisal of manuscript (60 days) Minimal time schedule 11 weeks to graduation Candidate submits manuscript to supervisor approval Supervisor Approves the Manuscript Supervisor fills in PROM 3 Supervisor sets Examination Committee with aid of PROM 4 & 5 PROM 1 – Application for Registration as a Candidate for a Doctorate PROM 2 – Consent to Appointment as Supervisor PROM 3 – Supervisory approval of manuscript PROM 4 – Composition of Doctoral Committee PROM 5 – Addresses of Doctoral Committee

4th Year 12

Weeks to Graduation 7 6

Minimal Time Schedule: Duration 11 weeks STEP 4 STEP 5 STEP 6

STEP 7 STEP 8

Supervisor Approves the Manuscript Supervisor receives suggestions by the Examination Committee for changes/additions to the manuscript Beadle has received answers from all members of Examination Committee for proceeding to public defense PROM6: Approval of Thesis and its propositions Candidate has the thesis and propositions reproduced The Beadle arranges an annoucement of the graduation ceremony Candidate defends the thesis for one hour against comments and objection raised by Examination Committee

fall 2010

PhD Policy

PhD Policy at the TU Delft

Procrastination and your PhD Defense Date Rodrigo Teixeira Pinto R.TeixeiraPinto@tudelft.nl

“I love deadlines. Especially the whooshing sound they make as they pass by”. There is some debate about the author of this fantastically witty quotation – often attributed to English writer Douglas Adams – though I personally believe there is very little dispute to the fact that humans beings all love to procrastinate. Procrastination, for those not acquainted, is the art of avoiding doing something that eventually, sooner or later, will have to be done. It is absolutely normal to occasionally procrastinate and I find fascinating how, sometimes, the only way to get something done is by doing something else first. The most important is distinguishing what is really vital and cannot be procrastinated. Getting a PhD defense date and finishing your PhD are two of those vital activities. To successfully finish your PhD you will need to handle the Beadle six forms, the socalled “PROMs”. Of course, somewhere in between you will also have to do your research and write a dissertation, which is one of the prerequisites for PROM03: Supervisory Approval of Manuscript. If you have no idea about all this and you’re in your first year, it’s not the end of the world. If you’re in your second year and still clueless, stop procrastinating and go read the Doctoral Regulations now! However, if you’re already in your third year (fourth year?!) and yet you’re not aware of all this, please immediately go pay a visit to the Beadle in the Aula Congress Centre, preferably with a well prepared plea begging for forgiveness. Jokes aside, every PhD should go to the Beadle’s Office whenever there are any doubts about the legal framework needed for the completion of our doctorates. To increase awareness in the PhD community on how to get a PhD defense date, PromooD decided to come up with charts to help you better visualize the whole process. Please bear in mind that the graphics were not meant to be used without reading the original document first. So stop procrastinating and go get your copy at the TU Delft website!

het proefschrift

PhD Policy

PhD Policy at the TU Delft

ÂŠ Charts: Rodrigo Teixeira Pinto

fall 2010

漏 Photo: S贸nia da Silva Vieira

het proefschrift

Inside TU

faculties and research centers at TU Delft

Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering One of the best feelings a person can have is to work in a place that makes you feel proud of. The Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering has the characteristics that create the necessary ambience to transmit this feeling to people. These characteristics are embodied in the faculty’s entrance hall, for the significance of its scale, the visibility of different levels, the complexity that comes forward from the integration of several and very distinctive functions and the freedom to follow several paths. In addition, the visual impact of some structuring elements, such as the zebra in the floor, the continuous blue balcony in the first floor, the vertical metal columns, the two curve levelled areas, together with the permanent exhibition of collections and experimental areas such as the working tables constitute the features of a dynamic atmosphere that makes people feel interest and motivation. More to the point, a proper natural light coming from the roof structure gives the spot to a lively scenario for a play happening in a very industrial design way. Being an employee, a guest or a tourist makes you an actor in this stimulating environment. Inevitably, you become part of it. A visitor arriving for the first time at IDE Faculty’s entrance hall feels invited to pleasantly discover the space. Beyond the great hall, throughout the five levels of the building, other interesting spaces can be found. In the basement a labyrinth structure gives order to a group of spaces for the so-called dirty work functions and a group of studios surrounding the vertical connections to the upper floors. On the ground floor the big reception hall conveys basic functions for social interaction and exchange, the lecturing hall and some technical areas. On fall 2010

Travelling through the IDE Faculty

Sónia da Silva Vieira S.L.dasilvavieira@tudelft.nl

the first floor the core experimental and educational activities take place in a line of studios along the balcony and in the drawing room. Research groups on mobility and sustainability also take place. Further research on different fields of interaction in design happens on the second floor in the particularly designed studios of the Studio Lab. On the third and forth floor interesting spaces can be found where the design engineering and the product innovation management department are located. The curved walls of the departments’ corridors open small areas for group discussion, meetings and knowledge exchange. A proper illumination and some transparency give a pleasant atmosphere to these large corridors connecting other areas where experimental labs and the faculty direction can also be found. Travelling through these research departments and spaces is a source of inspiration. Research posters and drawings on the walls, exhibitions, events and the experimental character of some circumstances make people come across with ideas and concepts providing insight for their own research. Research issues such as creativity, innovation, sustainability, methodology, teams, management, aesthetics, experience, interaction, consumer and marketing research, have been addressed in the design field. A collective effort is being done to contribute to the body of knowl-

edge in design at IDE and the faculty is renown for that. Research in design is not so young anymore. It has the age of a mature person. In the last five decades, design research – covering a broad range of topics - has been done (Bayazit, 2004, Design Issues) in research departments in places all over the world. IDE Faculty exists now since more than 40 years (the 8th of January 1969); during these years the faculty got world-wide known for its forward looking education with a progressive bachelor curriculum and a high reputation of the three master programs. But also the research program has received international recognition. As one of the largest design research based faculties in the world close to 100 PhD students do all kinds of different research. The mission of the faculty “towards sustainable well being” addresses the needs of society today and the future of designers tomorrow. The faculty of industrial design engineering has the appropriate environment to contribute to the expansion of research through design. For that, IDE Faculty is worth a visit just to see and perhaps be inspired and eventually become a character in the atmosphere of this place.

Sónia da Silva Vieira (Porto, Portugal) is a PhD researcher in the department of Product Innovation Management in the IDE Faculty at TU Delft. 17

Heroes of everyday life

reflections about the life of a phd

An important part of doing research is to present your work to other researchers in the field. One way of presenting is by writing scientific papers for journals. Another way is much more exciting and comes with an important benefit: traveling to remote places. Scientific conferences are an excellent place to get immediate feedback on your work, whether it is by oral or poster presentation, but also allows you to meet interesting people. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also a great place for celebrity watching: the big names drink the same coffee as you do and almost seem like normal people. We have both been PhD students at the same group, Delft Center for Systems and Control, but on widely different subjects. Jelmer studied and developed algorithms based on the swarming principles of ant colonies, and applied this within a learning control framework. Mathieu, on the other hand, works on global chassis control of vehicles. By combining new actuators he strives to make future cars better controllable and safer. On the 14th of September, Jelmer successfully defended his thesis. Mathieu is well on

Conference Compass Jelmer van Ast jelmer@conference-compass.com

Mathieu Gerard mathieu@conference-compass.com

track to finish his thesis by the end of the year. While our work is so different, we can both be classified as systems and control scientists, explaining why we often have attended the same conferences. We share the same interest in experiencing different cultures and traveling around in countries far away. Seoul, South Korea was one of these remote places where we sat together and found out that each of us was full of business ideas. In that country of Hangul and Kimchi, we laid the foundations of our cooperation. The next 6 months, we frequently discussed many ideas in search for the one that we could develop into a business, un-

til we realized that it was there all the time, at each conference we attended. The biggest pain at large conferences is without a doubt the difficulty of finding out which presentations to see amongst the many choices. With often up to 20 sessions in parallel during up to five days, there is simply too much to see. As a young PhD student, beginning to understand the field, you are almost guaranteed to miss many interesting talks. But also as an established professor, new exciting work by these many young PhD students is easily overlooked. Aside from this, conferences are the place to meet people working on related subjects and to extend your network potentially leading to interesting collaborations, or laying the foundations for your future career. But how would you know whom to meet? For decades, the book of abstracts is the main tool for planning your way through the conference, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a pain for everybody. Paging back and forth from the program to the abstracts, folding corners to bookmark interesting abstracts, scribbling notes in the margins of the pages, using different

ÂŠ Conference Compass

het proefschrift

markings to rank the potential interesting talks, and most of all: carrying around hundreds of irrelevant pages only to throw away it all together after the conferences, losing all your notes in the process. But, hey, wait a second. Everyone has a phone, right? And these phones have become more powerful every year. Why not utilize this power for the sake of science and progress? This was exactly our business idea: to develop mobile applications that will replace the cumbersome book of abstracts and add interactivity, personalization, and many useful features that make the life of conference attendees much better. We labeled it: the Conference Compass. It turned out we had a winner. Only a month later, when we both attended a conference in the USA, we secretly used our first prototype. Something very interesting caught our attention: after each coffee break, most of the people turned to their books of abstracts and tried to figure out which presentation to see, in which session, and where the heck this session was taking place. All we did though, was

to grab our phones, click on the highlighted talk and found the location of the session pinpointed on the map. We proceeded quickly to improve the Conference Compass, making it suitable for people not used to using their phones for other stuff that just calling and texting, as well as to make it compatible with many more types of phones. We used our colleagues to test our apps and they were very excited that somebody was finally committed to relieve them from the book of abstracts. Our product evolved quickly, as did our business plan, stimulated by Yes!Delft and the course “Writing a Business Plan”. It was a challenge to combine this with our full-time PhD job, but since the first of August of this year, we are enrolled in the Yes!Delft incubator, with our very own office in the new Yes!Delft building. Things are moving fast. We work hard to offer the Conference Compass at many conferences and to improve our product in many ways. Are you a programmer, or do you have software engineers as friends looking for an exiting project? We are ready to extend

our team! Are you tired of having the book of abstracts at conferences, or are you organizing a conference yourself? Contact us, so we can improve your conference experience! Traveling the world to scientific conferences is the icing on the cake of doing PhD research. The Conference Compass makes the icing even sweeter.

Jelmer van Ast (Den Haag, The Netherlands) has finished his PhD research at Delft Center for Systems and Control, TU Delft. He now works full-time for Conference Compass. Mathieu Gerard (Delft, The Netherlands) is a PhD researcher at Delft Center for Systems and Control, TU Delft. He now works part-time for Conference Compass. more info at: www.conference-compass.com

fall 2010

Supervisor of the Year

Promood Prize for the best nomination essay

Successful professional careers are often shaped by the wisdom and generosity of a good mentor. I am fortunate to have found mine in Dr.Nikookar. As a supervisor, he is a patient listener, an empathetic guide, an inspirational and much liked mentor. As an academic, he is a popular teacher well respected by students and peers. As a top notch scientist, he is up-to date with the state-of-art in his field of research and well networked. On numerous his association has opened doors for me to collaborate with world-class organizations and researchers. As a diligent editor, he offers constructive criticism and promotes high quality technical journals. As an enthusiastic colleague, he constantly poses some very original and challenging research questions and keeps me on my toes, all the time. As an individual, he is the nicest and most affable person one can come across. These are exceptional qualities, difficult to emulate in reality, and rarely seen in academia.

Prof. Homayoun Nikookar

Promood Supervisor of the Year nomination essay by

Madan Kumar Lakshmanan M.K.Lakshmanan@tudelft.nl

Open and honest, he is an excellent role model through his deeds and words. His doors are always open, both literally and metaphorically, for endless discussions. He always has an ear for my concerns â&#x20AC;&#x201C; be it professional or private. He not only dedicates enough time, but also shows the requisite care, empathy and consideration to understand my viewpoint. This is of utmost importance in an international organization like TU Delft where many of us come from different countries and cul-

tural backgrounds. We often need such an engaging fatherly figure to shore us through difficult times. With regard to his mentorship, his approach is hands-off - he lends suggestions without dictating actions, offers support and yet encourages independence; is flexible with expectations but firm on the quality of work. I know that he only has the best of my interests in his mind! It is an honour to be associated with such a thorough scientist and I hope that my PhD work and my scientific career will be a fair testimony to his efforts.

Madan Kumar Lakshmanan (Chennai, India) is a PhD researcher in the Department of Telecommunications at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science, TU Delft.

het proefschrift

His master’s voice

contribution from the professors

It is my real pleasure and honor to receive the university-wide recognition award of ‘The Supervisor of the Year’. I would like to thank my PhD student (Mr. M.K. Lakshmanan) for his generous nomination and the Promood for its kind appraisal. Basically, the PhD program is different from the bachelor and master programs in many ways. In the bachelor program the fundamental knowledge, which is required for students to proceed in their field, is taught. The program is rigid and there is not much freedom, in particular in the core courses. In the MSc program, however, there is more freedom in the courses especially when it comes to the specialization and elective courses. Furthermore, Msc students have more freedom in the selection of their master theses. The PhD program, on the other hand, is entirely different. PhD students carry out a profound research and have freedom in picking up the courses that they may need, as well as in their dissertations topics, and generally in their PhD process. Because of this level of freedom the role of supervisor becomes more salient in the successful termination of a PhD program. In a PhD program the supervisor is not the drive of the PhD project but rather is a leader that gives direction and motivates PhD students. The PhD advisor should constantly monitor the candidate’s progress and warn him/her if he/she diverts from the PhD track. (S)He has to guide candidate for publication of his/her research results in proper venues, and assist students to present their results at prestigious conferences, symposiums and in high quality journals. A PhD advisor has to help PhD students with structural thinking and should give prompt feedback, emphasize time on task, and communicate high expectations. Furthermore, as a large group of PhD students are multi-cultural students the PhD supervisor has to respect diverse backgrounds, talents and different ways of learning of PhD students. (S)He should consider this characteristic of the PhD program as a positive feature and should treat diverse PhD students as a mix of talents. fall 2010

The Role of the Supervisor in a Successful PhD Program

program the supervisor should not be rigid. (S)He must be able to adjust to changing circumstances. Furthermore, while serious, a good supervisor should make the research atmosphere relaxed providing an environment pleasant for investigation and learning.

Prof. Homayoun Nikookar H.Nikookar@tudelft.nl

the supervisor should not be rigid. (S)He must be able to adjust to changing circumstances Usually, in different phases of PhD programs, students should carry out measurements, perform calibration, select measurements sites, purchase components and equipment, etc. These efforts need a lot of team work with other MSc and PhD students as well as with technicians and supporting staff and demands numerous logistics and related arrangements. For a successful PhD program the supervisor should enhance the teaming skills of PhD students. This in turn increases students’ experience in collaboration with each other, in group working and in the public relations with the outer world. This capability is earnestly needed when PhD students finish the program and find a job in industry or research environments afterwards. One final point is besides being knowledgeable and having a strong visionary leadership, a successful teacher in general, and a PhD supervisor, in particular, should love his/her profession and should devote him/herself to his/her job. (S)He should spend time to every student. For a fruitful PhD

Homayoun Nikookar received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Delft University of Technology (TUDelft), The Netherlands, in 1995. From 1995 to 1998 he was a post doctoral research fellow at the International Research Centre for Telecommunications and Radar (IRCTR) of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS) of TUDelft, and since 1999 serves as a faculty member of the Telecommunications Department of EEMCS of TUDelft where he is currently an Associate Professor. Dr. Nikookar is also the leader of the Radio Advanced Technologies and Systems (RATS) program of IRCTR, leading a team of researchers carrying out cutting-edge research in the field of wireless radio transmission. He has conducted active research in many areas of wireless communications, including wireless channel modeling, Ultra Wideband, MIMO, multicarrier transmission, Wavelet-based OFDM and Cognitive Radio. He has published over 100 papers, in refereed international conferences and journals. He is also the recipient of several paper awards of IEEE journals and International Conferences and Symposiums. In 2007 Dr Nikookar served as the Chair of the 14th IEEE Symposium on Communications and Vehicular Technology (SCVT) in Benelux and in 2008 was the Chairman of the European Wireless Technology Conference (EuWiT) in Amsterdam. He has been technical program committee member of several international conferences and has served as a Guest Editor of several international journals. He is a senior member of the IEEE and the coauthor of the book, Introduction to Ultra Wideband for Wireless Communications, Springer, 2009. 21

From the other side

a view on research from another perpspective

Prof. Wubbo Ockels interviewed by

Nelson Mota N.J.A. Mota@tudelft.nl

Nelson Mota (N): The theme of this issue of HP is “Travelling as Research”. You’ve made one of the most exclusive trips a human can imagine: You’ve travelled to space. 4 million kms in one week as an extraterrestrial. To what extent has this trip influenced your research interests? Wubbo Ockels (W): I think that from a purely practical point of view we’ve done a lot of experiments during the flight, and since I’ve been fighting for a more scientific approach the space flight and Man’s space flight in particular is hindered by the fact that almost every experiment is a one-off. Whereas the kind of experimentation which we did like material research, biological research, medical research is normally a kind of research where you need lots of iterations, lots of tests, and that is the reason why I think that the space research has not really kept very high levels in terms of Man’s space flight. I fought for that, I have injected the initiative of what we call “Space Mail”, which was a study where I proposed to have a small capsule such that you can at a space station – which

I was basically disappointed by Man’s space flight from a research point of view. I saw as a laboratory – on a very regular basis, say maybe each week, send down small probes. They will be studied on the ground, and then you can adjust your experiment, you can make iterations. In the proposal I investigated a little bit a typical research in material sciences and biology and you’re talking about 100 to 200 iterations! So, I was basically disappointed by Man’s space flight from a research point of view. After I have done a lot of work on how to improve the space station in this respect, like the Space Mail, but also with other things like having a laptop on board – I was the first to propose that – I also proposed that you should have young people, PhD’s on board because those are the best to do

new research. But the problem is that it contradicts with the way the Man’s space flight has developed. It has developed in a very much controlled, managed, bureaucratic environment in which you do not have the space – acting space – to find really innovative things. Furthermore, I think that it has stimulated me very strongly to think about what is it that we do next. And so I’ve worked for quite a while on a European moon program. In my vision it was so that we should start using the moon as our 8th continent. The moon is an ideal launching place. If you go to Mars from the moon it takes only 5% of the energy than if you go from the Earth. The idea was that the colony on the moon would be a robot-colony. I still don’t believe that we, as humans, like to go to other places. Our body is made for the nature of the Earth. Only if we can find the same nature somewhere else we’ll feel at home. But for the same reason we’ll not going to live in the bottom of the ocean, we will not going to live on the moon. You could have (both in the bottom of the ocean or on the moon) a robotic activity where maybe sometimes a human goes to repair something, but that’s a professional incursion, that’s not the normal living. So that was my vision. Around that time I started to become more interested in education. I became professor here (in TU delft) and then – I don’t know exactly why – I went back to the sustainability issue.

Wubbo Ockels Born in Almelo, The Netherlands, on 28 March 1946, but he considers Groningen to be his hometown. Physicist, Full professor of Aerospace at Delft University of Technology, chair “ASSET”, Aerospace Sustainable Engineering and Technology. Completed University in physics and mathematics on the basis of experimental work at the Nuclear Physics Accelerator Institute (K.V.I) in Groningen in 1973. Received a doctorate degree in physics and mathematics at the University of Groningen in 1978. Astronaut training and graduation, NASA, Johnson Space Centre, Houston 1980-1981. Dr. Ockels made his first Flight in space as European crew member during the Spacelab D-1 mission in 1985. Since 1986 until 1996 Professor Ockels was stationed at ESTEC supporting the ESA activities for future manned space flights. Since 1994, participated in preparatory studies for a European Moon programme. From 1998 till September 2003 Dr. Ockels has been Head of Office for ESA’s new Office for Educational Projects Outreach Activities. From 1 September 2003 onward has received a full professorship in TU Delft with a new chair called “ASSET” (Aerospace for Sustainable Engineering and Technology). Within this Chair Prof. Ockels continued the activities around solar racing winning the last three editions of the World Solar Challenge (2001, 2003 and 2005). In 2004 Dr. Ockels was also appointed as part time professor at the University of Groningen, Centre for Energy and Environmental Studies (IVEM). Furthermore, Dr. Ockels assists in setting up several sustainable activities such as the Frisian Solar Challenge (solar boat race) which was very successful in 2006 and 2008.

het proefschrift

Sustainability was already in my mind back in 1972 when I read the “Limits of Growth” but it came back and I start associating that with my own experience. N: Sustainability, which has become a “buzzword”. However, a lot of people still think that sustainability issues are something that will only affect the “others”. Is your interest in sustainability somehow related with your experience looking at the earth from outside, as a whole? W: What has happened to my own career – maybe also what happened to the whole society – is that I basically mirrored myself and went to look at the Earth and became concerned with it. I think that if you talk about the limits of growth, the limits will be the physical – amount of space, amount of pollution you can handle, amount of food and drinking water you can have. All physical limitations. But I’m afraid we’re going to hit another limitation which is much more fundamental. And that’s the human limitations. The humans belong to the Earth. We are stuck on the Earth. We have to accept that. And, yes, maybe a few can go with some breathing means of help somewhere else. But, just in the same way as a living parasite is stuck on a whale we are stuck on the Earth. And that’s even more fundamental. It means that the space exploration drive fails. We went to various places because of people who had the drive to search for something new. But the fundamental bases was that where you go you would have a value as yourself, in as much that you can use whatever is there. Now, why is that everywhere you go on Earth you somehow, probably with your intelligence, can survive? Because we are a product of the Darwinist evolutionary process on the Earth. But if you go to the space, if you go to the moon or if you go to Mars, no way… There is nothing! I had a drive to work with sustainability, I had a view of the Earth in perspective which I explain this way: the Earth is a spaceship; it sails through space, which is dangerous for life – you can’t live in space, and the hull of spaceship Earth is the atmosphere, which protects us. The only thing we need to learn is to act as a crew of spaceship Earth. fall 2010

you should do those things that you’re good in, better! And don’t worry too much about the other things you are not so good in. N: Do you agree that a good researcher needs to develop its worldview, through a continuous search for the unknown? Or do you think that a lonely office researcher can also deliver good and innovative research? W: I was somebody who travelled a lot. I’m tired of travelling! I just really avoid travelling. But I know that travelling is important to meet other people. I think you have to go to congresses, to symposia. You have to expose your ideas to other people and to listen to other people’s ideas. You have to drink together, eat together. It is a very important stimulus, while at the same time is a very important check to yourself, or to what are you doing. In particular, when you are working in a field where there are more people working. For instance, thinking about my ideas about time, [W. Ockels argues that “Time is a creation of life in response to gravity”]. There, where should I go? There’s no other person working on it. So here I’m a loner. It’s a pity. Basically I have one professor in Groningen, one professor in Slovakia and one friend in Amsterdam with whom I really discuss this issue. And that’s it. I would love to have gone to a congress where people talked about these things, but it doesn’t exist. And next to that I’m busy with other things. The bottom line is that travelling is not the essential. The essential is the interaction with other people. That I consider very important.

Groningen. There are some people who claim that a continuous education in the same institution results in a very endogamous experience, and thus it isn’t the best way to enlarge your research perspectives. What do you think about that? At the time when I was studying that was the normal thing to do. If at that time the normal thing was to have your bachelor here and your master there and the PhD at a third place, I would have done that. There was no particular reason. However, I must say that I’m happy that I’ve stayed in the University of Groningen. I still have a professorship there and I notated a clear difference, for instance between the University of Groningen and here, the TU Delft. Here everybody is extremely busy, and works so hard that have no time for nothing. In Groningen at the Institute where I am we take the 10 ‘o clock coffee break. And the question whether we are academic is never raised. Here is always raised. So, this maybe laid-back but more deep type of Physics is something which I’ve really enjoyed in Groningen. N: After your experience as supervisor, would you advise your students to travel as much as they can? For you, which is the role that travelling can have as a formative experience? W: I advocate normally that you should do those things that you’re good in, better! And don’t worry too much about the other things you are not so good in. So if you’re good in contacts and communication and you like to organize travels, do it! But there are other people who enjoy much more doing things at their own place and make it organized. It depends very much on the subject. For instance, if someone really wants to work out very nicely the statistics of particular measurements of nuclear physics, then you better stay at home and do your homework correctly and concentrate yourself. If you want to be involved in new experimental approaches to some kind of research, travel and get inspiration.

N: You’ve graduated and finished your PhD in the same University, in 23

links

useful things to know about

Mira Pasveer started work at TU Delft on 1 January 2008 as Marketing Manager for BSc and MSc students. Gradually she took on more and more work for PhD students as well. She now spends all of her time on PhD students. As Marketing Manager, student recruitment is part of her job. Mira has visited Boston for recruitment and will visit Beijing and India later this year. Definitely a perk, according to Mira. “I love travelling; my favourite countries are Costa Rica and South Africa. Of course it’s nice to be able to go abroad on business. Though the emphasis is then on meeting colleagues and prospective students, and you may not get to see much more than the airport and the campus”. Mira has also developed a brand new full-colour brochure for PhD recruitment purposes. Community building Just as important as recruitment is the building of a PhD community. “PhD students are a special group within the TU Delft community. Their needs differ from those of students or employees, and spread out across the university they are hard to target as a group. No wonder they sometimes feel left out. Doing a PhD is a lonely business at the best of times, so this is certainly an issue we have to address.” Mira has been instrumental in improv© Photo: Danielle Brinkhuis

Meet Mira Pasveer:

Marketing and Communications at your service Mira Pasveer-Aarts M.A.H.Pasveer-Aarts@tudelft.nl

ing communication with and for PhD students. She launched the dedicated website www.phdinfo.tudelft.nl where PhD students can find all kinds of information useful to them. She also founded the TU Delft PhD group on LinkedIn. Here, PhD students and alumni can exchange tips, tricks, information and experiences. It also features relevant news items and events. “The LinkedIn group clearly supplies a need; in just a few months we registered over a thousand members”, enthuses Mira. She is also a facilitator for the PhD Start UP, a three-day introduction course for new PhD students. The extensive course programme covers items from presentation techniques to the TU Delft code of conduct. “It is also a good opportunity to meet fellow students and to start developing your own network. The next one will be held at the

end of October”, says Mira. Service and support TU Delft aims to improve the quality of its PhD programmes and the success rate of PhD students. Increasing the sense of wellbeing of PhD students is part of that. Many of Mira’s activities are geared to do just that. “Marketing and Communications is a support service, not a goal in itself. And I enjoy delivering the right kind of service and support to our PhD community”, explains Mira. She gets a lot in return as well: “PhD students are an interesting group to work for. They are very dedicated to what they do, very busy, but most of them are always willing to help me. For example at a recruitment fair, or for a testimonial. And I find it nice that I meet them everywhere: in the Aula during lunch, at JongDelft meetings, but also at brainstorm sessions in a professional environment”. To further professionalise the PhD process, TU Delft is founding a special Graduate School. Mira is part of this project as well. She will act as project manager for the Marketing & Communications working group, so watch this space. Upcoming event Mira is currently busy organising the annual PhD event which will be held on 18 November 2010. This year’s motto is “Destination: Doctorate”. Doing a PhD can be a lonely, uphill journey. How to avoid bumps in the road and deal with unexpected delays? How to arrive on time with your luggage intact? Find out during workshops and master classes from TU Delft and outside experts. And get to meet your fellow PhD students, PhD supervisors and Mira Pasveer! For more information and/or registration visit http://phdevent.tudelft.nl.

Mira Pasveer is the Marketing Manager for PhD students within the TU Delft. Before TU Delft she had different marketing jobs at ANWB, Alex Investmentbank and Achmea. 24

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links

useful things to know about

Just arrived in Delft? Well prepared for your new working life, and that of your partner? Let the International Neighbour Group (ING) help you get in touch with fellow internationals living in Delft. With a Meeting Point and various activities our ‘hands-on’ experts will do all they can to make your stay more pleasant. As our members often say: “You really make it easier for me to be so far from home” The goal of our organization is to make it easier for foreign TU employees and especially their partners to find their way in Delft. The employee meets people at work, for the partner it is much harder to build up a social life. The ING offers them both a place to meet. Every Wednesday morning there is a Meeting Point; Coffee and tea are served; Women (and their children) from all over the world share their experiences in Holland; They get help with their questions from our hostesses. Meanwhile there is the possibility to join the Handicrafts Group. A lot of dear friendships have started there. Besides the Meeting Point and Handicraft Group there are language classes for Dutch and English during day and evening time; We have a cooking group; Once a month there is a special activity in or around Delft, like a visit to a museum; And the most favourite events are the Sinterklaas Party, the

fall 2010

The International Neighbour Group Feeling at Home in Delft Annelies Mooij Patty van Woerden pfmvanwoerden@hotmail.com

Christmas Dinner and our Potluck Party at the end of the season. The ING is an organization of volunteers. It was established by a group of women who had themselves, temporarily, lived abroad with their family. They had realized how important it was to find practical help and build up social contacts in a new country. So back in Holland they set up the International Neighbour Group. This was 44 years ago. At that time the visiting guests from abroad really needed practical help. Not only with housing and administration, but also with shopping, and getting around. Nowadays it is so much easier to be well prepared before leaving home to live and study abroad for some time. Foreign visitors at the TU Delft are no exception anymore and the English language is commonly spoken. Therefore the ING nowadays focuses on of-

fering you the opportunity to meet with people from all over the world, to learn from each other’s culture and at the same time to make you feel at home in the Netherlands. Although most of the TU visitors seem to be so well prepared starting off in the Netherlands, they still need a place to meet others, to get a social life here. The ING can be a big help! Have we made you curious? Feel free to come by! Membership is free for TU employees and their family. For more information go to www.tudelft.nl , English version and search for International Neighbour Group.

The International Neighbour Group Delft is run by volunteers. Annelies Mooij is the chairman, Patty van Woerden is the secretary of the ING.

Upcoming Events

stay tuned with Promood

Thanks to a dedicated chairman and involved board members, the past year was very successful and full of remarkable events. We organized several social activities that gathered PhDs from various horizons with different interests. For the coming year, we want to increase the frequency of our social events to be more regular and possibly a monthly one. The social activities organized last year will remain, such as meeting the Promood Sinterklaas, beer/wine tasting, Promood BBQ, beach volleyball ... New activities will be proposed, so keep up-to-date and check our website! One of the highlights of the past year was the career event. Many PhD candidates attended this event, where networking with the working environment was the main target. It was the first time we organized such an event, and it resulted in positive reactions that clearly demonstrate a demand in career orientation from PhD candidates in TU Delft. As this event was a great success, we intend to renew it this year. Workshops and small lectures from experts will be on the program. Promood is an active organization and is the official representative body for all PhD’s at the Delft University of Technology. As such, we also deal with PhD process related issues. The past year we have been involved in the establishment of the Graduate School system as part of the PhD process. It is still “under construction”, and thanks to our input,

Promood gets new chair(wo)man!

this responsibility, mainly for the great interest I have in communication in the PhD’s world and its improvement. The communication as I understand it comprises two sides.

Sylvie Soudarissanane

The first aspect is the horizontal communication. The socialization of the PhD candidate with “others of its kind” is lacking at the moment. Being a PhD is a unique experience, where we are working during four years for being the expert in our field. It is an isolating task, where often communication is absent: communication with colleagues within a section, intra-faculties, and even more inter-faculties.

S.S.Soudarissanane@tudelft.nl

The second aspect of my view of communication is vertical: the information from/to the administration. Promood is the entity that represents PhD’s at TU Delft and it will play an important role in decisions made on future PhD process changes at the TU Delft. the system is being adapted to the needs of PhD candidates of TU Delft. We are also working on difficulties encountered during the PhD process, such as reducing the PhD thesis defense time or clarifying the PhD regulations. Although I started my PhD at TU Delft in March 2007, I became aware of Promood only in 2009. I directly became a board member and focused on the PhD policy improvements. A year has gone ... and Promood gets a new chair(wo)man: me. I decided to take

Thanks to Promood, PhD candidates will have a better means of communication, both with other PhD candidates and with the university administration. The past year we were proud to count 710 members in Promood. We are however more than 2000 PhD candidates within the university. We hope to count even more members this year in our community, as a result of our new regular activities, our improved communication and our valuable contribution to your PhD!

www.promood.tudelft.nl 26

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Meet the Board

members of PromooD board 2009/2010

President Rajen Akalu

(Bristol, UK) is a PhD candidate at the Department of Economics of Infrastructures, TBM Faculty

Social Activities and Events Alberto González

(Valladolid, Spain) is a PhD candidate at the Department of Sofware Technology, EWI Faculty

Secretary and Webmaster Marko Mihailovic

(Belgrade, Serbia) is a PhD candidate at Dimes (Delft Institute of Microsystems and Nanoelectronics), EWI Faculty

Internal Affairs / PhD Policy Sylvie Soudarissanane (Orleans, France) is a PhD candidate at the Department of Mathematical Geodesy Positioning, LR Faculty

Career Development Nishant S. Lawand

(Satara, India) is a PhD student in the Electronic Instrumentation Laboratory (EI Lab), EWI Faculty

Career Development Devendiran Subbaiyan

(Tamil Nadu , India) is a PhD researcher in the department of Micro-electronics and Computer Engineering , EWI Faculty

Marketing Rodrigo Teixeira Pinto

(São Paulo, Brazil) is a PhD candidate at the Department of Electrical Systainable Energy, EWI Faculty.

fall 2010

Treasurer Yue Chen

(Zibo, China) is a PhD candidate at the Department of Microelectronics, EWI Faculty

Treasurer Anne Lorene Vernay

(Bourg St Maurice, France) is a PhD candidate at the department of Technology Dynamics and Sustainable Development, TBM Faculty

Public Relations Irem Erbas

(Izmir, Turkey) is a PhD candidate at the Department of Building Technology, BK Faculty

Legal Affairs Emiel kerpershoek

(Leiden, The Netherlands) is a PhD candidate at the Department of Policy, Organization, Law & Gaming, TBM Faculty

Marketing Marcelo Gutierrez-Alcaraz

(La Paz, Bolivia), is a PhD candidate at the Department of Electrical Sustainable Energy, EWI Faculty

Editor “Het Proefschrift” Nelson Mota

(Mesão-Frio, Portugal) is a PhD researcher at the Department of Architecture, BK Faculty