[All in the family] Three times chemistry

By: Connie van Uffelen en Marjolein van der Veldt

After graduating from secondary school, Quentin van Driel was torn as to what to study next. He was good at science, but did not want to spend his life doing calculations. Biology? That was boring. So it had to be something in between: molecular science and technology at TU Delft and the University of Leiden. After earning his bachelor’s, he is now doing his master’s in chemical engineering.

Quentin van Driel is following in the footsteps of his Grandpa Eric Houwink. Grandpa Eric started studying chemical engineering at the Technical University of Applied Sciences at Delft in 1946. What Quentin did not know at first was that his grandmother had taken the same path. Armed with a small photo album and a book about her life, he told her story.

A person of the tropics
“My grandmother, Han Bhik Hwa, was born in The Netherlands East Indies (now Indonesia) in 1926. She lived in Java during the Japanese occupation with her mother, brother, sister and baboe (children’s nurse). My great grandmother did not want her daughter to have an arranged marriage so sent her to the Netherlands. My great grandmother’s brother-in-law, Uncle Ed, arranged a job for my grandmother as a maid on one of the first repatriation ships going from The Netherlands East Indies to the Netherlands so she didn’t have to pay for the trip to the Netherlands. My grandmother did not want to come to the Netherlands because of the cold. I can still see her wearing a coat indoors to avoid the draught. She was a real tropical person.”

“Once in the Netherlands, my grandmother, who then became known as Mity, was the only woman to receive the Malinobeurs scholarship. She studied chemistry at TU Delft, but did not really have an affinity with the subject. She had to work hard and it wasn’t easy for her as, once Indonesia gained independence, the scholarship ended. Professor Kluyver, who had worked in the then The Netherlands East Indies, and his wife fortunately helped her find other funds. Two professors also offered to take Grandma Mity on as a student assistant so that she could earn some extra money.”

Few women
“There were few female students at TU Delft and Grandma Mity always had a swarm of men following her. She met my grandfather on a chemistry laboratory course. In those days, you did the laboratory courses in pairs. After my grandfather had asked my grandmother to be his course partner in a letter, she would go home with him for lunch. When they fell in love, they became known as ‘the firm’ in the Technologisch Gezelschap study association.”

“Grandpa Eric worked as an excursion leader during the Association’s anniversary. Grandma Mity was asked to join the anniversary committee and, while everyone by then knew that they were a couple, they themselves were unsure. During the anniversary dinner, their classmates switched the name cards on the table so that they could sit next to each other!”

History repeats itself
“It’s funny, when I came to study at TU Delft, I joined a few small committees at the study association. At a certain point, I was asked to take on the role of excursion leader. History repeats 55 years later. I thought it would be fun, but I didn’t do it in the end. What I did do was an anniversary committee at Virgiel so the circle is kind of round.”

“Back to Grandma Mity. She did not pass all her subjects quickly as she also had to work while studying. It took her nine years to complete her chemical engineering degree which was supposed to take five years. It’s ironic as the reason that she chose chemistry at TU Delft in the first place was that it ‘only’ took five years. Other studies took much longer. I think that because everything was so difficult, she didn’t really enjoy it.”

Differences in culture
“Things didn’t go smoothly on the relationship front either. My grandfather’s parents were conservative and were not in favour of marriage with an Indonesian Chinese woman. At the same time, my grandmother’s mother warned my grandmother about the differences in culture. These played an important role in the lives of my grandparents. After graduating, Grandma Mity did not have the opportunity to work in her profession. It was simply not done at the time for married women to work, and men were supposed to be the bread winner. Still, Grandma Mity was happy that she understood Grandpa Eric’s work. She called him her saviour in the difficult times in the Netherlands. Grandpa Eric could stand up to her mother and Uncle Ed, while Grandma Mity changed from an obedient girl into a malleable woman. All in all, it was not always easy.”

‘My Grandpa was awarded a medal by the KNAW’ 

Biotechnology
“My grandfather was passionate about his work in biotechnology. He developed his career as a biotechnologist at companies such as Philips Duphar and Organon. He ultimately became a professor at the University of Groningen. He co-developed a vaccine for foot and mouth disease and was awarded a medal by the KNAW (Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences) for his work. He later had a cerebral infarction and his brain stopped working well. He passed away in 2005.

My grandmother passed away in 2018. She saw me studying chemistry at TU Delft. She recognised a lot from her days, even if she had more laboratory courses than I do. She could study all day long and still not understand it. I recognise that. It’s inherent to studying science, and definitely in the master’s. Applied chemistry is more than just filling in some formulas.”

Making your own choice is important
“I learned some very important lessons from my grandparents. My grandmother was very open minded. She and my grandfather helped people with scholarships to study and develop, often to stimulate the cultural areas. She believed that making your own choices was important. Her children and grandchildren could always take their own decisions without being pressured. I chose chemistry because I’m interested in it. I think that that’s why I didn’t need to slave away at it as much as she did.”

“Unlike Grandma Mity, I haven’t had to struggle with prejudice. As a non-Dutch woman at a Technical University of Applied Sciences, she was often put down, and definitely by conservative professors who didn’t believe in women at university let alone in an applied chemistry course. I learned to accept everyone openly regardless of the person’s appearance. ‘Take people as they are. Treat people as you want to be treated.’ That was Grandma Mity’s life credo.”

‘Unlike Grandma Mity, I haven’t had to struggle with prejudice’