In addition to professor Hans Kuipers (50), associate professor dr.ir. Martin van Sint Annaland (38) and assistant professors dr.ir. Niels Deen (35) and dr. Fausto Gallucci (35) will be coming to Eindhoven. Van Sint Annaland will be appointed professor for the chair of Chemical Process Intensification. In 2008 he won a Vidi subsidy amounting to six hundred thousand euros. It is very likely that a hitherto unknown number of PhD candidates will move along with them.

Kuipers will hold the new chair of Multiscale Computational Fluid Dynamics. “This is a fantastic addition to our Section”, says process engineer and vice dean prof. dr. ir. Jaap Schouten. “In the TU/e paragraph of the Chemistry Sector Plan we have already indicated that process engineering is one of our research strengths. The research conducted by Kuipers focuses on the modeling of multiphase flow and the experimental validation of those models and links up well with the research conducted within my group and that of professor André de Haan. My group focuses specifically on the design and development of new reactors, which means that these two research areas are eminently complementary.”

Battle for brains
The Twente professor Kuipers calls the request he received from Eindhoven ‘an offer you can’t refuse’. “TU/e has decided to make a significant investment in process technology and wants to become a center of gravity in that area in Europe. They have suited the action to the words and acted swiftly and firmly. For them this is a megadeal. Sometimes the battle for brains is fought at daggers drawn”, says Kuipers.

The Twente Executive Board is unpleasantly surprised by the unexpected departure of the researchers. In the University Council meeting chairman Anne Flierman said that sharp words were spoken about this. The Twente University Council posed some critical questions about the departure. In the consultative meeting pro-UT member Jan van Alsté called it an ‘underhand matter’. He wondered whether the UT should reconsider its participation in the 3TU federation if scientists are pinched from each other in this fashion. (HK)/.