Engineering

Professor Ming Cao receives an ‘AiNed’ Growth Fund grant of EUR 2.4 million for research that will contribute to faster adoption of AI at SMEs in the technical industry in the Netherlands.

Grid congestion poses a challenge to our electricity network, and expanding the infrastructure will take time and money. ‘What we can do right now, is manage and optimize what we have as best as we can,’ says Michele Cucuzzella. For example by using peaks in electricity generation to heat and store water which can then be used to heat houses in the city at a later stage.

Charissa Roossien developed a method to measure the amount of carbon dioxide a person exhales.

What if your research requires a huge international facility, which is far away and has limited availability? Moniek Tromp has built a tabletop version that allows her to take a large part of the measurements on new batteries in her own lab.

‘In nature, most flying animals rely on flapping movements,’ explains Mauricio Muñoz Arias, assistant professor of Automation and Control Systems. Together with his students, Muñoz Arias developed a featherlight device that flaps its wings like an insect: an ornithopter.

The black dots and lines on this plastic plate conduct electricity, and are as flexible as the plastic it is on. And that is special, Ranjita Bose, associate professor of Polymer Engineering, explains: ‘It’s a conductive polymer that combines the flexibility of plastics with the conductivity of metals.’ Bose can apply this coating in any pattern, and even on delicate materials such as textile fibres or human skin.

It’s stretchable, adhesive, self-healing in case it breaks, water and freezetolerant, and it conducts electricity. PhD student Zeyu Zhang developed a so-called hydrogel under supervision of Patrizio Raffa, associate professor of Smart and Sustainable Polymeric Products. Because the conductivity changes when the material is stretched, it can be used as a sensor: stick it to your elbow and you can measure how far it bends, or stick it to a building in a seismic zone and you can measure vibrations. Even in the rain.

A small company in Grootegast produces bicycle baskets and slippers from recycled rubber. That is remarkable because, until recently, it was impossible to recycle rubber. However, Francesco Picchioni, Professor of Chemical Technology at the University of Groningen, and Ton Broekhuis, now Emeritus Professor, discovered how this could be done.

Professor Bart Besselink is a partner in a consortium receiving 2 million euros from the National Growth Fund program 'NXTGEN Highteck'to develop a new design method for mechatronic systems.

Over the coming two years, the Northern Netherlands will receive almost €6 million from the government to accelerate the training of technical talent for the semiconductor industry.

Two UG researches, both working at the Faculty of Science and Engineering, have been awarded an ERC Starting Grant: Jingxiu Xie and Gosia Wlodarczyk-Biegun. The European Research Council's (ERC) Starting Grants consist of €1.5 million each, for a period of five years. The grants are meant for outstanding researchers with the aim of stimulating cutting-edge research in Europe.

Dr. Liangliang Cheng receives a NWO OPT grant of EUR 950,000 for research on safer application of metals in 3D printing technology.

A tile on the sidewalk of Zuidhorn station, in a busy spot between the train and bus station, counts the steps of people walking on the tile, and harvests energy from their movements. At the moment, however, the tile is back in the lab of developer Professor Mónica Acuautla Meneses for an upgrade.

From September, the University of Groningen will start two Engineering Doctorate programmes (EngDs): Autonomous Systems and Sustainable Process Design. During the two-year post-master's programme, trainees will work on complex projects of chemical and high-tech companies in the Northern Netherlands.

In September, the Engineering Doctorate (EngD) programmes Autonomous Systems and Sustainable Process Design will start at the Faculty of Scfience and Engineering.

Several plant species use tiny sticky droplets to attract and trap insects. These droplets form an ideal toxin-free insecticide that could be easily washed off of edible plants. Abinaya Arunachalam built a tool to measure the stickiness of different candidates.  

Every two weeks, UG Makers puts the spotlight on a researcher who has created something tangible, ranging from homemade measuring equipment for academic research to small or larger products that can change our daily lives. That is how UG researchers contribute to the solutions for big scientific and societal challenges

Every two weeks, UG Makers puts the spotlight on a researcher who has created something tangible, ranging from homemade measuring equipment for academic research to small or larger products that can change our daily lives. That is how UG researchers contribute to the solutions for big scientific and societal challenges.

Dr. Loredana Protesescu has been awarded an Science-M grant by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) for research into antiperovskites and how they can be used for technological applications.

In his laboratory, physicist Steven Hoekstra is building an experimental set-up made of two parts: one that produces barium fluoride molecules, and a second part that traps the molecules and brings them to an almost complete standstill so they can be investigated

Light-driven molecular motors were first developed nearly 25 years ago at the University of Groningen. However, making these motors do actual work proved to be a challenge. In a new paper, UoG scientists describe improvements that bring real-life applications closer.

This year the students of the Makercie team are participating in the physical edition of the European Rover Challenge in Poland. Read more about the team and the collaboration between the RUG and Hanze UAS here.

Every two weeks, UG Makers puts the spotlight on a researcher who has created something tangible, ranging from homemade measuring equipment for academic research to small or larger products that can change our daily lives. That is how UG researchers contribute to the solutions for big scientific and societal challenges.

Prof. Henderik Willem Frijlink was nominated by the UG to receive a royal decoration on Friday 26 April

With her expertise in single-molecule techniques, Dr. Kasia Tych (GBB) will contribute to a big Grvitation-research programme

Every two weeks, UG Makers puts the spotlight on a researcher who has created something tangible, ranging from homemade measuring equipment for academic research to small or larger products that can change our daily lives. That is how UG researchers contribute to the solutions for big scientific and societal challenges.

Through this membership, the two EngD programmes in Autonomous Systems and in Sustainable Process Design at the Faculty of Science and Engineering will be added to this partnership with the 4TU from September 2024