News in Brief – Delta 15

The fifth-year industrial design student did not win the first prize however, because the jury found the design, with its “retro-look, not timeless enough”. Instead, Souhoka received second prize, with no first prize being awarded. Two other TU students shared third place: Joseph Serrarens designed a paper sandwich plate for making sandwiches on, and Nikè Jenny Bruinsma designed an ‘earworm’, a device for storing the cord and earplugs of an earpiece phone.

Spinoza Prize

Microbiologist Prof. Mike Jetten has won a NWO Spinoza Prize worth 2.5 million euros for his work on extraordinary microbes, which he discovered in unusual biotopes. He specializes in slow-growing, anaerobic bacteria. This highest scientific award in the Netherlands is awarded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research annually to a maximum of four researchers.

Nursery school

A nursery school on the TU Delft campus: many parents and prospective parents would use such a school, according to a survey conducted by the human resources department. Some 615 TU Delft employees with children aged between 1 month and 4 years, and 906 employees with as yet no children, completed the survey. From the first group, some 22 percent answered ‘yes, certainly’ to the question of whether they would be interested in a nursery school on campus, and 28 percent of the parents answered, ‘yes, probably’. From the second group of as yet childless employees, 61.1 percent answered ‘yes, certainly’, and 26.7 percent, ‘yes, probably’, to the same question. In total, 275 parents with young children were more or less interested in a nursery school on campus, and 795 of the prospective parents.

Greek students

Increasing numbers of Greek students are coming to study at Dutch universities. So far in 2012, 1400 Greeks enrolled in Dutch universities, which marks a 33 percent increase from 2011. The relatively low cost of education and low cost of living in the Netherlands are main attractions, coupled with a deflated job market back in Greece.

Boekswap

Each year students must buy stacks of new and expensive books. But this can be much more affordable, say two TU Delft aerospace engineering students, Malcom Brown and Said Idoum, whose Boekswap association has organised a book swap between buyers and sellers of university text books. Via Boekswap, students can exchange their text books. The first Boekswap was in April in the TU Library. And now, from 18 June to 13 July, students can once again hand in their old books in the library. In August there will be another chance to hand in old books, and in September the books will be resold.

boekswap.com

Conflict resolution

TU Delft councilors are calling for trainings in which employees and managers learn to deal with conflicts. The cases involve employees who feel intimated by their superiors, for example during work meetings or evaluations. In 2011, there were nine cases of sexual intimidation reported, of which two involved cases of stalking. It appears that cultural differences also play a role in cases of sexual intimidation between men and women. “There are increasing numbers of people coming here from abroad and they can have different views of what we find normal behavior,” says Jeanneke Bruggeling, coordinator and chairwoman of the commission of private counselors.