© Portrait: Sam Rentmeester
‘In Rotterdam, we have bundled our forces to foster a safe, healthy, prosperous and attractive city and society’
Delft matters. And Rotterdam matters. This edition features a must-read interview with mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb and professor of environmenta l technology and design Arjan van Timmeren about the resilience of the city. It is a powerful reminder that if you want to go far, you have to do it together. Both men insist on the value of cooperation, with the mayor highlighting the need for togetherness among politicians and citizens, and the professor advocating collaboration between humanities, STEM, and social science to bring about major systemic changes. And don’t forget about business, because employment is the driving force behind the economy and all those fossil jobs will have to be replaced by green ones.
That is why the people, businesses, and organisations of Rotterdam have bundled their forces to collectively foster a safe, healthy, prosperous, and attractive city and society. In Delft, we’re no strangers to meaningful cooperation. Take SAM XL, for example, the expertise centre for Smart Robotics and Manufacturing Automation. Here, researchers from TU Delft and beyond work with companies to drive the development of smart production methods.
The European STUNNING project recently built the lower fuselage section of a demonstrator aircraft, using composite material. After all, the port sector is not the only one that needs to go green: new materials and methods can create sustainable jobs throughout all industries. For society to successfully make the transition to a circular economy, technology needs to shed its black-box image. Dreamteam Emergence aims to bridge the gap between technology and the general public by exploring the intersection of art, science, and technology. Art in particular offers opportunities to provide insight into successful but misunderstood technologies, if you ask the team of students from TU Delft and the Hague’s Royal Academy of Art. You can catch them at the Highlight Delft festival in February.
All this is just a sneak peek at this issue full of regular features and surprising reads, from acacias in Namibia to drones in the jungle. Delft Matters: for and by our global community, as we strive to generate impact for a better society together.
Professor Tim van der Hagen
Rector Magnificus TU Delft
