‘I’m very excited about my master end project’

“I was always intrigued by science, biology, physics and maths and here at TU Delft I found the combination of studying all of those fields.

I did a bachelor’s in nanobiology and now I’m doing the follow-up master. It’s a relatively new area of research. I think it has only existed at TU Delft for about eight years now. I’m getting ready to work on my master end project, during which I will work on cell membranes using optical tweezers. In two weeks I will start the project and I am very excited, as this topic is new to me.

Besides my studies I work for a start-up called VSParticle. I did an internship there for half a year and I’m continuing to work part-time as a student job. It is a really nice place to work. The company is in the nanotechnology sector and they focus on a product that is called the G1, which is able to make elements very small. It can make small particles under 20 nanometres from, for example, silver or gold electrodes. There are a lot of applications where you can use nanoparticles because under a certain size you can create new materials as they have different physical properties.

‘I haven’t really found the one thing yet’

I am interested in astrobiology, so biology that’s not on this planet, if it even exists. I have looked into jobs at ESA or NASA just to explore and I’m really intrigued by what I’ve seen. Some of the nanobiology students that I’ve seen graduate go into completely different sectors, which shows that there are a lot of possibilities. But I think it would be unfortunate if I don’t focus on nanobiology after my studies.

I am not sure yet what I would like to do after my studies, but I’m in the phase of figuring out what I can do within this field of study. I haven’t really found the one thing yet, but I guess I still have time.”

Who are the people who work and study on campus? We meet them in Humans of TU Delft. Dot you want to be featured in this series? Or do you know someone with a good story to tell? Send us an e-mail at humansoftudelft@gmail.com  

Heather Montague / Freelance writer