Dies Natalis 2015

Held on January 9, 2015, it is one of the most important events on the annual calendar. This year the theme is Intelligent Cities – Sustainability and Big Data and celebrations include a tour of the university’s most interesting projects on sustainability and an Academic Ceremony.

Addressing the rapid urbanisation of cities around the world, the seminar looks at how technology is a catalyst for social, economic and ecological development and the critical role it will continue to play in the future.

Presentations include a talk on Carbon Neutrality, Adaptivity and Circularity by Professor Andy van den Dobbelsteen of the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment. Professor Geert-Jan Houben of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science will speak on The Science of Social Data, and the keynote address for the morning will be by Anthony Townsend, visiting professor at NYU and author of the book ‘Smart Cities: Big data, Civic Hackers, and the quest for a new Utopia’. Ten university researchers will also pitch their work briefly. Additionally, they will give a demo or show a poster about their research.

Following that, guests will be able to join live demonstrations of these concepts across the university campus. They will visit the Pret-a-Loger sustainable house project, as well as various projects at the D:Dream Hall. “It’s an excellent opportunity to showcase to our partners how our students contribute to the development of Intelligent Cities,” said Prof Karel Luyben, the Rector Magnificus.

The afternoon will be dedicated to the Academic Ceremony. The Foundation Day lecture will be on the theme of the year and will be given by Professor Arjan van Timmeren of the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment. Another highlight of the annual ceremony is the awarding of an honorary doctorate, which will be given to Anthony Townsend this year.

The two events have been carefully designed keeping in mind the different outreach. “In the morning we will be welcoming experts on Intelligent or Smart Cities from within and outside the university. In the afternoon we would like to welcome all our TU Delft colleagues, especially new colleagues who have never been to an academic ceremony before, and all scientific staff of TU Delft who are involved in research on the different topics related to Intelligent Cities. We also hope to welcome as many professors as possible in the cortege,” said Wendy Bastit of the Communications Department.

The ceremony will be held in English. Those who wish to attend are asked to register on their website.