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jaargang 42, 23 maart 2000 English page

TUE: the Place to Be “TUE must compete in the international market place for graduate students,” says professor Rutger van Santen, of the TUE Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry. “There are no longer enough people in the Netherlands studying technical subjects to keep up with future demand for graduates. We are pleased to be able to attract excellent graduates and post-graduates from abroad.” According to Alina Koriabkina, a catalytical chemistry Ph.D. student who arrived in Eindhoven from Novosibirsk just a few months ago, professors like Van Santen are an important factor in this process. “I was lucky to have a choice of positions in Switzerland, Spain, France, USA and the Netherlands. It all went very smoothly, I wrote some letters and things went on from there. I chose TUE because of the interesting research that’s going on and the many opportunities to attend conferences and present your work here. I also wanted to study with professor Van Santen, who is well-known internationally. I like the project I’m working on, it’s really interesting.” Ralf Linke and Alina Koriabkina, two of the Òexcellent foreign graduates and post-docsÓ currently studying at TUE. Photo: Bart van Overbeeke Fresh Ideas International exchange of graduate students is a well-established tradition. “We want Dutch graduate students to go abroad to gain some of their research experience,” says Van Santen. “And we welcome foreign students for their fresh ideas, sometimes unique skills and input in our research groups. They are good for the university.” At the Chemical Technology and Engineering department about 55 per cent of students leave the university for a job elsewhere after graduation. Some 15% stay on as four-year graduate students (aio) and 30% go on to do the two-year post-graduate industrial design course. “Our graduates are welcome everywhere in industry,” Van Santen comments. “But not everybody who accepts a regular job leaves for good. I myself left for sixteen years and came back after a change of direction in my subject. I started out in organic chemistry and changed to catalytic chemistry during my career.” Unique Knowledge Dr. Ralf Linke from Jena, Germany, is a good example of someone bringing unique knowledge to his post-doc position at TUE. He is involved in a very specialised area of fundamental research in the physical chemistry of surfaces, namely high-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy. Linke did his post-graduate studies at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelm Universität in Bonn and gained experience with new equipment and a particular method of research to study absorption processes in surfaces. He was offered a job as a post-doc in Eindhoven, setting-up new equipment at TUE and researching the area he is especially interested in. Linke comments: “I had always wanted to live abroad, to study – but also to experience life in another country. There were times when I was living in former Eastern Germany when I was sure this would never be possible. So I was very keen to come to the Netherlands. I’m also very pleased that I’ve been able to learn Dutch. At school we were taught foreign languages, but we never had the chance to practise. Finding that it’s possible for me to speak Dutch well means a lot. I’ve even joined a local archaeological society and have taken part in digs, one of the most recent in the Smalle Haven in down- town Eindhoven.” Continuing his studies has cost Linke more than most. University studies were ‘earned’ in former Eastern Germany by spending double time in the army – this amounted to a period of three years after high school in which it was impossible to study or even keep up in your discipline. The day after his discharge from the army he was back at school. Just before the fall of the Berlin Wall, Linke managed to leave via Hungary, travel to Bonn and continue his studies there. He is still in his chosen field, even though research posts or jobs in this area are few and far between. “I always wanted to go into instrumental analysis. I want to continue with fundamental research. I hope for a research post when I finish, but I could imagine more applied research with a commercial company.” In the past, military service was also an obstacle for students in the former Soviet Unionl `”I think many students never continued their studies after military service,” says Alina Koriabkina. “Ralf must be proud that he was able to pcik up where he left off after so long in the army.” Academic City Ms Koriabkina is from a special academic city near Novosibirsk, called Academgorodok, which was founded forty years ago and has more than twenty research institutes. “My parents work there, and I was born in Academgorodok. It has a special atmosphere, I was proud to study at the university. But like everything in Russia, it’s changing. Some aspects are becoming more commercialised. My friends have left for universities all over the world, and I miss them. But some of them are near, in the Netherlands, Switzerland, England and France.” “I’ve just started in my graduate position. I think I’ll just wait and see what happens in four years time, I don’t like to dream about the future. I’d like to continue in fundamental research, but that means moving every few years. I’m not sure if I want that, it would make it difficult to keep up with friends. So a permanent job might be better.” Problem Solvers Van Santen: “We train people for jobs as researchers with commercial companies, and we train them to participate in project groups. We help people to develop into researchers who can solve problems on their own. Some of our projects are paid for by industry. It’s good for researchers to work intensively with these companies, you can see their personal growth.”/.

Amendment On last week’s English page, graduate and post-graduate students (aio’s, oio’s, twaio’s) were all mistakenly termed ‘post-docs’, which is something else again. Our apologies for this error, which was made due to unfamiliarity with the ‘aio’ system.

Cardiac Valve Research Arterial blokkage and leaking heart valves can have serious, if not fatal consequences. More than one in three Dutch citizens eventually die of heart disease. The Materials Technology capacity group at the Mechanical Engineering faculty are working on the improvement of heart valve prostheses. They are looking at the advantages of combining biological valves with artificial ones in a new plastic model. The capacity group are also working on the improvement of synthetic arteries. With the University of Maastricht they are researching how a future contribution may be made to Cardiome. This international project is gathering all the data available on the various aspects of the heart to integrate the information in a computer model. A new SG Spring A new spring, a new SG season. The Studium Generale spring program started last week. It promises to be a warm spring with lots of music, drama, film and activities. A few high points: a free style skate-demo to take place on Thursday next at 10.00 p.m. DJ workshops will be held on Thursday March 27 and April 3. Film and music events may also be expected. A full summary of all activities is to be found in ‘Sgrift’, the square, green booklet available everywhere at TUE this week. The SG office is in room 2.05.

Energy from Biomass TUE have obtained subsidies for three different projects in the field of bio-energy. This is energy from biomass – comprised of natural materials like wood and manure. The technology is seen as an environmentally friendly way to produce energy in the future. A number of faculties are involved in these projects. TeMa is researching how consumers see bio-energy and how the new technology can best be introduced in the market. Electrical Engineering and Chemical Engineering are looking at ways to remove tar particles from biogas. Study Day on Patents Some forty scientists from TUE are travelling to Rijswijk on Tuesday April 4. The ‘Bureau Industriele Eigendom’ is to inform them about how best to request patents. They will talk about the question of whether everything that can be patented by a university should be patented. Dutch universities all handle this differently. TUE requests a patent about twenty times a year, to make sure new knowledge at TUE is properly recorded. The study day is a follow-up to the ‘How to Sell Technology’ course that tries to improve scientists’ awareness of the commercial worth of their research. New York Montage Ten architecture students visited New York in December last year in connection with their graduate projects. They put all their impressions onto the canvas currently hanging over the south entrance of the main building. The canvas shows European architecture from the sixties they saw in Manhattan. The students created this arresting canvas under the supervision of Jos Bosman and artist Wendi Bakker. The nine metre wide canvas was produced by computer and then painted by hand. Photo Bram Saeys. The English page in Cursor is written by journalist Paula van de Riet. She can be reached at extension 4441. Email: engcur@stud.tue.nl