ComputersPeter Gitau, the executive director of Viafrica, a foundation based in Kenya that supports organisations in Africa in the use and administration of ICT, visited Delft last week to oversee the shipment of hundreds of Dell computers to his foundation.
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TU Delft’s human resources and finance departments will replace their old computers next month, which is great news for students in Africa. Viafrica ensures that these secondhand computers enjoy a second life in schools in Tanzania and Kenya. Gitau helps select the best computers, which are then tested before being packed on pallets and shipped to Africa. Since 2003, the foundation has distributed 4,000 secondhand computers to 95 schools in Africa, with approximately 80 percent of these computers donated by TU Delft. Computers bearing the TU Delft logo will also soon be distributed to schools in Sierra Leone.
,Nano lab
Last week the minister of Education, Culture and Science, Ronald Plasterk, was in Delft to open the state-of-the-art Van Leeuwenhoek Laboratory, which is a joint initiative by TNO and TU Delft. This high-tech complex for nanotechnology fulfils a major priority in the Dutch government’s innovation policy. The complex offers a range of cleanrooms and vibration-proof laboratories, capable of accommodating more than 300 users. With 6,000 m2 of lab space and 3,000 m2 of cleanrooms, the Van Leeuwenhoek Laboratory is one of the largest nanotechnology research facilities in Europe. The complex also features a space dome, which captures and channels sunlight, moonlight and starlight into a large vacuum chamber that replicates the conditions found in space (low temperatures, vacuum). Researchers are thus able to meet demanding scientific challenges, such as testing and calibrating extremely sensitive aerospace instruments.
,Fraud squat
Minister Ronald Plasterk intends to crack down on the abuse of study grants. Students found to be committing fraud will be fined. At issue is the fact that Dutch university students who live with their parent while studying receive a monthly grant worth 93 euro, while students living independently receive 260 euro per month. Some students however pocket the 167 euro difference between grant amounts by stating that they live independently, while in fact they live with their parents.
,Bacterial gold
A TU Delft student team won a gold medal and the Best Information Processing Project Award during the international Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition at MIT in Boston. The TU Delft team developed bacteria that can pass on messages or signals to other bacteria in their environment, like a baton is passed in relay races. In this way, the bacteria can process information. This was the second time TU Delft participated in the iGEM competition. Last year TU Delft’s team won a gold medal for its ‘bio thermometer’. This year some 1,000 participants from countries ranging from Brazil and the USA to China and Australia were in Boston to compete in the 2009 iGEM Jamboree. The team from Cambridge University (UK) was the grand prize winner of the BioBrick Trophy. The Cambridge team engineered a bacterial biosensor that changes colour depending on the concentration of chemical input.
,New student flats
Duwo has started construction on a new student housing complex on Balthasar van der Polweg. The flats, which are set to open in 2011 and will provide housing for 405 students, are part of a larger plan to build 1,400 student flats on the TU Delft campus in the coming years. A number of building projects aimed at creating more student housing are currently underway, including the De Vries van Heijstplantsoen (294 student flats), Mijnbouwplein (95 flats) and Rotterdamseweg (267 flats) building projects.
,Feedback
If you’d like to comment on anything appearing on the English Page or on a university-related matter, or if you have a question or suggestion for us, send your emails to d.mcmullin@tudelft.nl. We welcome all feedback from our readers. Letters intended for publication should include your name and be no longer than 350 words. This edition of Delta is also available online at www.delta.tudelft.nl, where you can also access the English Page archive.
Jaap Dawson, Bagijnhof 23. Buurman van het studentenhuis op nummer 17
Meneer Dawson heeft het in 1997 gewaagd om naast een studentenhuis met drieëntwintig jongens en meisjes te gaan wonen. Het lot wil dat de kamers van twee grote muziekfanaten in dat huis direct grenzen aan zijn huis. Over de muziekoverlast zegt hij: “Sinds de laatste keer dat ik bij de studenten langs ben geweest hoor ik nauwelijks meer iets van het ge-dj en getrommel van die jongens.” Hij benadrukt dat hij zich stoort aan harde geluiden in het algemeen en hij begrijpt niet dat de studenten zelf niet gek worden. Dawson zorgt altijd dat hij een weekend weg is als het studentenhuis in november zijn jaarlijkse huisfeest houdt. Hij heeft in zijn beginjaren zo’n nacht proberen vol te houden, maar is en was niet zo gecharmeerd van het overheersende lawaai van 22.00 uur tot 8.00 uur ‘s ochtends. “Het is wel minder baldadig geworden”, zegt Dawson. “Geen rotzooi of pis op mijn dak na zo’n feest.” Dawson wijt de geluidsoverlast vooral aan de kwaliteit van de scheidingsmuur. Hoe kan het ook anders, hij doceert aan de faculteit Bouwkunde. Al gauw begint hij over de filosofie van architectuur en somt een lijst van boeken en literatuurlijsten op. In de loop van het interview voor deze rubriek raakt meneer Dawson in gesprek met zijn buren. Met als resultaat dat hij een rondleiding door de stad geven gaat aan de liefhebbers.
Computers
Peter Gitau, the executive director of Viafrica, a foundation based in Kenya that supports organisations in Africa in the use and administration of ICT, visited Delft last week to oversee the shipment of hundreds of Dell computers to his foundation. TU Delft’s human resources and finance departments will replace their old computers next month, which is great news for students in Africa. Viafrica ensures that these secondhand computers enjoy a second life in schools in Tanzania and Kenya. Gitau helps select the best computers, which are then tested before being packed on pallets and shipped to Africa. Since 2003, the foundation has distributed 4,000 secondhand computers to 95 schools in Africa, with approximately 80 percent of these computers donated by TU Delft. Computers bearing the TU Delft logo will also soon be distributed to schools in Sierra Leone.
Nano lab
Last week the minister of Education, Culture and Science, Ronald Plasterk, was in Delft to open the state-of-the-art Van Leeuwenhoek Laboratory, which is a joint initiative by TNO and TU Delft. This high-tech complex for nanotechnology fulfils a major priority in the Dutch government’s innovation policy. The complex offers a range of cleanrooms and vibration-proof laboratories, capable of accommodating more than 300 users. With 6,000 m2 of lab space and 3,000 m2 of cleanrooms, the Van Leeuwenhoek Laboratory is one of the largest nanotechnology research facilities in Europe. The complex also features a space dome, which captures and channels sunlight, moonlight and starlight into a large vacuum chamber that replicates the conditions found in space (low temperatures, vacuum). Researchers are thus able to meet demanding scientific challenges, such as testing and calibrating extremely sensitive aerospace instruments.
Fraud squat
Minister Ronald Plasterk intends to crack down on the abuse of study grants. Students found to be committing fraud will be fined. At issue is the fact that Dutch university students who live with their parent while studying receive a monthly grant worth 93 euro, while students living independently receive 260 euro per month. Some students however pocket the 167 euro difference between grant amounts by stating that they live independently, while in fact they live with their parents.
Bacterial gold
A TU Delft student team won a gold medal and the Best Information Processing Project Award during the international Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition at MIT in Boston. The TU Delft team developed bacteria that can pass on messages or signals to other bacteria in their environment, like a baton is passed in relay races. In this way, the bacteria can process information. This was the second time TU Delft participated in the iGEM competition. Last year TU Delft’s team won a gold medal for its ‘bio thermometer’. This year some 1,000 participants from countries ranging from Brazil and the USA to China and Australia were in Boston to compete in the 2009 iGEM Jamboree. The team from Cambridge University (UK) was the grand prize winner of the BioBrick Trophy. The Cambridge team engineered a bacterial biosensor that changes colour depending on the concentration of chemical input.
New student flats
Duwo has started construction on a new student housing complex on Balthasar van der Polweg. The flats, which are set to open in 2011 and will provide housing for 405 students, are part of a larger plan to build 1,400 student flats on the TU Delft campus in the coming years. A number of building projects aimed at creating more student housing are currently underway, including the De Vries van Heijstplantsoen (294 student flats), Mijnbouwplein (95 flats) and Rotterdamseweg (267 flats) building projects.
Feedback
If you’d like to comment on anything appearing on the English Page or on a university-related matter, or if you have a question or suggestion for us, send your emails to d.mcmullin@tudelft.nl. We welcome all feedback from our readers. Letters intended for publication should include your name and be no longer than 350 words. This edition of Delta is also available online at www.delta.tudelft.nl, where you can also access the English Page archive.
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