Education

News in Brief

Better MRIsTU Delft PhD researcher Kristina Djanashvili has developed a substance that enables doctors to get better MRI scans of tumors. On 13 January, Djanashvili was awarded a doctorate by TU Delft for her work in this field.

The medical profession’s ability to trace and visualize tumors is increasing all the time. Detection and imaging techniques have improved enormously in recent years. One of the techniques that have advanced enormously is MRI. Patients undergoing MRI scans are often injected with a ‘contrast agent’, which makes it easier to distinguish tumors from surrounding tissues. The quality of the resulting scan depends partly on the ability of this agent to ‘search out’ the tumor and induce contrast. Djanashvili developed a new contrast agent with enhanced tumor affinity and contrast induction characteristics. In principle, this means that cancers can be detected sooner and more accurately visualized. The new agent is a compound incorporating a lanthanide chelate and a phenylboronate group substance.

,Underground cables

The electric company Tennet and TU Delft have signed an agreement to jointly monitor the behavior of the underground 380-kV cables that will installed in the Randstad region. The study will be conducted over a period of six to eight years. In 2008, Tennet announced its plans to install up to 20 kilometers of the new 380-kV electricity connection in the Randstad region in the form of underground cables. The cables will be laid in several separate sections along the entire route, which will be 87 kilometers in length. The aim of the study is to gain insight into the behavior of the electricity supply system once the underground cable has been incorporated into it. The study, which will be followed closely by interested parties around the world, is intended to ascertain the long-term feasibility of even longer underground cables. The experience gained during the construction and subsequent operation of the 20-kilometre cable section in the Randstad region will be shared internationally.

,Water savings

By improving the saving and re-use of drinking water in the Netherlands, a household could cut its water use in half, to approximately sixty cubic meters per year, according to a report entitled ‘Every drop counts’, which was presented last week at the Faculty of Architecture. The researchers compiled the report as part of an environmental study commissioned by the United Nations. People are simply not sufficiently aware of water use and re-use, the authors concluded.

,Symposium

Student political party Stip, and the VSSD, will celebrate respectively their 15 and 45-year anniversaries this year. The organizations will celebrate the occasion with a joint-symposium on February 19 at the Delftsch Students Corp on the Phoenixstraat. The symposium is entitled ‘Delft fixt het’ (Delft fixes it) and will feature various TU Delft engineers speaking about their careers in foreign countries. A panel will also discuss whether it is beneficial for the country if the Netherlands’ university graduates go work abroad.

,Power-naps

TU Delft’s student faculty council (SFC) has proposed the following to the TU’s Executive Board. SFC wants a campus bike repair, an ATM machine installed at the Sports & Culture Center, and a place for power-nap on campus. The bike repair shop would be run by high school students, the handicapped and TU students and offer less expensive service than Delft bike shops. The power-nap place would be a test project initially, offering a place where students and staff could take quick, 30-minute powernaps during the day. 

,Help wanted

Freelance jobs available writing for Delta’s English Pages. We seek students/staff to write articles in English, for payment, on a freelance basis. No experience necessary. We’re looking for enthusiastic, creative foreign students/staff to contribute articles, cartoons, illustrations and photographs. Interested, please send a brief introductory email to: d.mcmullin@tudelft.nl

,Feedback

If you’d like to comment on anything appearing on the English Page or on a university-related matter, or if you have a question or suggestion for us, send your emails to d.mcmullin@tudelft.nl. We welcome all feedback from our readers. Letters intended for publication should include your name and be no longer than 350 words. This edition of Delta is also available online at www.delta.tudelft.nl, where you can also access the English Page archive.

Better MRIs

TU Delft PhD researcher Kristina Djanashvili has developed a substance that enables doctors to get better MRI scans of tumors. On 13 January, Djanashvili was awarded a doctorate by TU Delft for her work in this field. The medical profession’s ability to trace and visualize tumors is increasing all the time. Detection and imaging techniques have improved enormously in recent years. One of the techniques that have advanced enormously is MRI. Patients undergoing MRI scans are often injected with a ‘contrast agent’, which makes it easier to distinguish tumors from surrounding tissues. The quality of the resulting scan depends partly on the ability of this agent to ‘search out’ the tumor and induce contrast. Djanashvili developed a new contrast agent with enhanced tumor affinity and contrast induction characteristics. In principle, this means that cancers can be detected sooner and more accurately visualized. The new agent is a compound incorporating a lanthanide chelate and a phenylboronate group substance.

Underground cables

The electric company Tennet and TU Delft have signed an agreement to jointly monitor the behavior of the underground 380-kV cables that will installed in the Randstad region. The study will be conducted over a period of six to eight years. In 2008, Tennet announced its plans to install up to 20 kilometers of the new 380-kV electricity connection in the Randstad region in the form of underground cables. The cables will be laid in several separate sections along the entire route, which will be 87 kilometers in length. The aim of the study is to gain insight into the behavior of the electricity supply system once the underground cable has been incorporated into it. The study, which will be followed closely by interested parties around the world, is intended to ascertain the long-term feasibility of even longer underground cables. The experience gained during the construction and subsequent operation of the 20-kilometre cable section in the Randstad region will be shared internationally.

Water savings

By improving the saving and re-use of drinking water in the Netherlands, a household could cut its water use in half, to approximately sixty cubic meters per year, according to a report entitled ‘Every drop counts’, which was presented last week at the Faculty of Architecture. The researchers compiled the report as part of an environmental study commissioned by the United Nations. People are simply not sufficiently aware of water use and re-use, the authors concluded.

Symposium

Student political party Stip, and the VSSD, will celebrate respectively their 15 and 45-year anniversaries this year. The organizations will celebrate the occasion with a joint-symposium on February 19 at the Delftsch Students Corp on the Phoenixstraat. The symposium is entitled ‘Delft fixt het’ (Delft fixes it) and will feature various TU Delft engineers speaking about their careers in foreign countries. A panel will also discuss whether it is beneficial for the country if the Netherlands’ university graduates go work abroad.

Power-naps

TU Delft’s student faculty council (SFC) has proposed the following to the TU’s Executive Board. SFC wants a campus bike repair, an ATM machine installed at the Sports & Culture Center, and a place for power-nap on campus. The bike repair shop would be run by high school students, the handicapped and TU students and offer less expensive service than Delft bike shops. The power-nap place would be a test project initially, offering a place where students and staff could take quick, 30-minute powernaps during the day. 

Help wanted

Freelance jobs available writing for Delta’s English Pages. We seek students/staff to write articles in English, for payment, on a freelance basis. No experience necessary. We’re looking for enthusiastic, creative foreign students/staff to contribute articles, cartoons, illustrations and photographs. Interested, please send a brief introductory email to: d.mcmullin@tudelft.nl

Feedback

If you’d like to comment on anything appearing on the English Page or on a university-related matter, or if you have a question or suggestion for us, send your emails to d.mcmullin@tudelft.nl. We welcome all feedback from our readers. Letters intended for publication should include your name and be no longer than 350 words. This edition of Delta is also available online at www.delta.tudelft.nl, where you can also access the English Page archive.

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