International edition 2, december 2020

Quarterly • October - November - December 2020 • Delivery Office 3000 Leuven 1 • P919663 

Magazine of the Faculty of 

Engineering Technology 

INTERNATIONAL 

Special edition 

December 2020 

Salma Nachi and Nikte Van Landeghem 

VR HEALTH GAME WINS FIRST 

KU LEUVEN KICK AWARD 

• Leading Ladies of SEFI 

• TechInVent for enterprising 

engineers 

• Erasmus Mundus in Imaging 

and Light Extended Reality 

• Ambassadors Chair 

• New engineering curriculum 

• Agoria Solar Team is European 

Champion 2000 

• Collaboration in the South 

• KU Leuven Chapter Beijing 

1

AGORIA SOLAR TEAM KU LEUVEN 

WINS EUROPEAN SOLAR CHALLENGE 2020 

CONTENT 

• Editorial 3 

• Faculty news 4-11 

• Educational development in focus 12-21 

• Students in focus 11-25 

• Professors in focus 26-29 

• Research in focus 30-33 

• Faculty worldwide 34-40 

• Alumni in focus 41-44 

COLOPHON 

ConnectING is the magazine of the Faculty of Engineering Technology of KU Leuven. 

It is published three times a year and is intended for all students and staff of the faculty 

and its 7 campuses, alumni, external relations and the broad social field with which 

the faculty maintains a network. 

Responsible publisher: Prof. Bert Lauwers, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering 

Technology | Editorial Board: Anja Huysmans, (Hilde Bonte) Kris Henrioulle a.i., 

Dorine Bruneel, Niels De Brier, Koen Eneman, Chrisje Haenen, Hilde Lauwereys, 

Yves Persoons, Sofie Pollin, Inge Van Cauter, Louis van Hoye, Bart Vanrumste, 

Rens Vervaeke | Editor: Yves Persoons | Editorial Secretariat: Inge Van Cauter 

Editorial Adress: 

Faculty of Engineering Technology 

Willem de Croylaan 56, building E, box 2203 

3001 Heverlee (Belgium) 

+32 53 72 71 86 (Secretariat) 

connecting@kuleuven.be 

www.fet.kuleuven.be 

Photos: Yasmina Besseghir, Delphine D’haenens, Tine Desodt, Julie Feyaerts, 

Rob Stevens, Tom Talloen, Johan Van Droogenbroeck, Filip Van Loock. 

Layout & Printing Office: 

artoos group – www.artoosgroup.eu 

4 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 

4 ISO 14001 

4 100% GREEN POWER 

PRINTED CLIMATE NEUTRALLY CERT. NR : 00000-0000-0000 

2

EDITORIAL 

2020: A YEAR OF 

DISRUPTION AND RENEWAL 

The pandemic outbreak of COVID-19 has disrupted virtually 

all aspects of human life. It has broken rhythms and 

routines, shattered patterns and norms, and exposed the 

best and worst of humanity and human institutions. Universities 

and institutes of higher education worldwide were not spared 

either. 

On 16 March 2020, KU Leuven switched overnight to digital 

education. At the same time, the development of a mixed 

educational model was started, based on the principle ‘online 

when possible, on-campus when necessary’. This mixed model 

went ‘live’ on 21 September. In the first weeks, the user numbers 

on the digital learning platforms and the livestream service broke 

all records. Both professors and students quickly found their way 

to new forms of work, tools and technology. 

In our Faculty, ‘Going Digital’ was accompanied by another 

radical operation: the implementation of a new engineering 

curriculum. This not only focuses on mastering the technology, 

but also on numerous other qualities and capabilities that 

companies expect from an engineer. At the same time, students 

are given more responsibility for their learning process, the 

possibilities for personalizing their study programme are 

increased and contacts with professional practice are intensified. 

The aim of the operation is to educate versatile and creative 

problem solvers and developers, who think across disciplines, 

and for whom lifelong learning is an indispensable part of the job. 

In this issue, we pay ample attention to the curriculum reform 

and to one of its most illustrative emanations: the Engineering 

Experiences. 

Despite the pandemic crisis, our Faculty’s international activities 

continued in 2020. This is evidenced by the cooperation 

agreement with two new partner universities in India and China, 

a top position in the board of directors of The European Society 

for Engineering Education (SEFI), an Honour Award from the 

Society of Manufacturing Engineers and the participation in 

international projects in Aruba, Ethiopia and Ukraine. Furthermore, 

Technovation Hub has joined the Design Factory Global Network 

and the Solar Team became European champion with its selfbuilt 

solar-powered racing car. A new Erasmus Mundus Master 

in Imaging & Light Extended Reality was launched at Ghent 

Technology Campus. Two international students won the first 

KU Leuven KICK Award with their innovative project and alumnus 

Lin Zhang became the first president of the new KU Leuven 

Alumni Chapter Beijing. You can read all about it in this issue. 

Contrary to expectations, the number of international students 

continued to grow. On the Leuven Campus, there is even an 

increase by 22%, mainly due to female newcomers. The fact that 

students from all over the world still find their way to our faculty 

is a source of hope. 

COVID-19 has turned the world upside down. In a number of 

respect, the malignant virus has also activated and accelerated 

necessary innovations. The spectacular digital transformation in 

education is a prime example of this. This turnaround was 

necessary anyway, not because of the virus, but to educate 

suitable engineers and professionals for the 4th Industrial 

Revolution currently taking place. 

Professor Bert Lauwers 

Dean of the Faculty of Engineering Technology 

CONNECTING 

3

FACULTY NEWS 

DEAN PROF. BERT LAUWERS 

CONTINUITY IN PROGRESS 

The calm determination with which Dean Prof. Bert Lauwers has united, expanded and 

strengthened the Faculty of Engineering Technology over the past four years has been 

rewarded. He was re-elected with brio on 10 February 2020. Keeping course where possible, 

adjusting when neccessary, will be the adage of his second term of office. 

An adage is an idea or a wisdom that 

has established its value. It is 

generally endorsed that Prof. 

Lauwers’ policy falls under this heading. 

Strategic objectives such as the profiling of 

the study programme, the styling of the 

multicampus programme and further 

internationalisation are in full swing and 

have already led to new insights and 

impulses for further developments. 

“The most far-reaching enterprise is and 

remains the programme reform”, according 

to Prof. Lauwers. “Colleagues of all 

campuses have buckled down to the 

renewal of the curriculum. This exercise 

has set an unprecedented dynamism in 

motion. We set off for a trajectory of at 

least another four years, of which the 

outcome should not only be a clear-cut 

profile of the programme, but also a true 

multi-campus faculty every campus can 

identify with”. 

Valorisation 

During Prof. Lauwers’ first term of office, 

no less than six new additional programmes 

saw the light of day: postgraduate and 

international master’s programmes. Each 

of them has great potential for 

internationalisation and lifelong learning. 

Over the past four years, the number of 

PhD students has increased exponentially. 

According to Prof. Lauwers, the inclusion 

of a ‘valorisation’ component in each PhD 

has undoubtedly contributed to this 

growth. “In any case, it has taken the PhD 

student out of his/her ivory tower and put 

him/her with both feet in the work field. If 

we can now convince the companies of 

its added value, we are on the right track 

here too”. 

Participation 

The new curriculum offers students an 

unprecedented range of opportunities to 

develop, i.e. to orientate themselves more 

broadly or to delve further into elective 

packages and multicampus modules. 

Prof. Lauwers also wants to give new 

impetus to student participation at both 

local and faculty level. 

As far as human resources policy is 

concerned, according to Prof. Lauwers 

the next coming years it will not be easy 

to find suitable profiles for vacant or new 

positions. “That is why I do not think it is 

wise to link educational work methods too 

strongly to statutes”. 

Breakthrough 

Internationally, Prof. Lauwers has 

contributed to a breakthrough. “The influx 

of foreign students into the Englishlanguage 

bachelor’s programme has 

increased considerably in recent years. At 

the same time, we are seeing a growing 

number of international master’s 

programmes. What the impact of the 

corona crisis will be here remains to be 

seen. As far as international cooperation 

is concerned, I am in favour of a limited 

number of strategic partners in different 

regions for the structural mobility of 

students, professors and researchers”. 

Prof. Lauwers also wishes to pursue a 

similar ‘quality first’ policy in the 

relationships with the industry. “It comes 

down to making the expertise available on 

our campuses even more accessible to 

regional enterprises. The other way round, 

I also want to inject even more business 

know-how into our study programmae via 

guest lectures and part-time positions for 

seasoned entrepreneurs”. 

Transparent policy and management will 

remain a priority for the Dean in the 

coming years. “A well-oiled internal 

communication is indispensable in this 

respect. A large university as well as a 

multicampus faculty counts numerous 

active administrative and advisory 

committees. Their interoperability may be 

further optimised. The regionalisation of 

the education committees is already one 

step towards enhanced effectiveness”. 

Policy team 

On 11 May 2020, the Faculty Council 

approved the composition of the faculty’s 

new policy team. In the coming years, the 

Dean will be supported by two Vice 

Deans. Prof. Dorine Bruneel, former Vice 

Chair at Ghent Technology Campus, 

succeeds Prof. Greet Langie as Vice Dean 

for Education. Prof. Koen Eneman, former 

Chair at Group T Leuven Campus, takes 

on the task of Vice Dean for International 

Affairs. With both Vice Deans, Prof. 

Lauwers is surrounded by experts who 

have earned their spurs in the field. 

A seasoned dean, Prof. Lauwers knows 

first-hand that the implementation of a 

widely supported faculty policy takes time 

and energy and cannot be rushed into. A 

good guideline here is Vincent Van Gogh’s 

alleged quote : ‘great things do not come 

about on impulse, they are the result of 

many smaller things being brought 

together’. A multi-campus faculty is no 

exception. 

Yves Persoons 

4

SOCIETY OF MANUFACTURING ENGINEERS 

LAURELS PROF. BERT LAUWERS 

On 10 March 2020, 

the Society of 

Manufacturing 

Engineers (SME) 

announced its 

annual International 

Honour Awards. 

The prestigious Eli 

Witney Productivity Award was granted to 

Prof. Bert Lauwers, Dean of the Faculty of 

Engineering Technology, for his high-level 

contribution to manufacturing production, 

research education and scientific 

publications. 

SME is an association of professional 

educators committed to promoting and 

supporting the manufacturing industry. 

SME helps manufacturers innovate, grow 

and prosper by promoting manufacturing 

technology, developing a skilled workforce 

and connecting the manufacturing 

industry. 

“We are proud to recognise the 

distinguished honourees for their essential 

and ongoing efforts in this vital industry”, 

said Sandra L. Bouckley, Executive 

Director of SME. “Our five awardees have 

changed the landscape of manufacturing 

and SME, making both stronger, more 

advanced and inclusive than ever before”. 

Yves Persoons 

CONNECTING 

5

FACULTY NEWS 

PROF. KOEN ENEMAN, VICE DEAN FOR INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS: 

DOING MORE WITH 

FEWER PARTNERS 

Strengthening the international position of the Faculty of Engineering Technology. That will 

be the Vice Dean’s challenge for the next four years. It doesn’t seem like a titanic task at first 

thought. Does the faculty not yet maintain close contacts with universities in more than 40 

countries? Can students not yet swarm out to 140 Erasmus destinations? What more does the 

Vice Dean aspire? 

“ Not more, but differently”, Prof. 

Eneman answers. “Internationalisation 

should no longer be 

measured in terms of the number of 

partner institutions. In line with the Truly 

International concept in the strategic plan 

of KU Leuven, we want to evolve towards 

a limited number of strategic partners in 

specificly demarcated regions for 

structural cooperation and mobility of 

students, professors and researchers”. 

Integration 

Prof. Eneman studied Electrical 

Engineering at KU Leuven. After his PhD 

in Applied Sciences, he worked as a 

researcher and post-doc at ESAT-SCD 

(the current ESAT-STADIUS research 

center) and at the Research Group 

Experimental Oto-rhino-laryngology of KU 

Leuven. In 2004, he joined the then Group 

T University College as a lecturer and 

researcher at the e-Media Lab. In 2012, 

he was promoted head of the engineering 

department. In this position, he smoothly 

steered the integration of the university 

college into KU Leuven in 2013. As 

campus chair, he transformed Group T 

into a leading international campus of the 

young Faculty of Engineering Technology. 

Therefore, it did not come as a surprise 

that the dean addressed Prof. Eneman to 

take on the new appealing position of 

Vice Dean for International Affairs. 

Legacy 

“Internationally, the faculty’s campuses 

travel at different speeds”, Prof. Eneman 

notes. “This is partly a legacy from the 

pre-integration era that cannot be ignored. 

It is not in itself negative either. On the 

contrary, every campus has its 

international trump card. In Ghent and 

Bruges, for example, there is expertise in 

international research. De Nayer Campus 

and Diepenbeek Campus are well 

acquainted with Internationalisation at 

Home. Geel Campus has experience in 

collaborating with developing countries. 

And at Group T Campus, an original 2+2 

formula has been established for the bidiplomination 

of foreign students. In 

Leuven, you can also follow the entire 

engineering programmes in English. 

Meanwhile, international master’s 

programmes have already started at 

Ghent Technology Campus, at De Nayer 

Campus, and will be soon at Geel 

Campus. Erasmus is well established 

everywhere, both in student mobility and 

in capacity building projects. So there is 

no shortage of initiatives. What is required 

is a faculty international policy to 

coordinate and optimise them”. 

In this respect, the new Vice Dean feels 

strengthened by the circumstances. “The 

EU’s Erasmus programme is currently 

undergoing a thorough rethink. There is 

the earlier mentioned strategic policy of 

KU Leuven with the establishment of a 

university-wide Global Exchange Network. 

In the context of the curriculum reform, 

the Faculty itself is providing for a stronger 

6

embedding of education in the 

international policy. The message is 

always the same: quality takes precedence 

over quantity. Long-term structural 

cooperation becomes much more 

important than one-off or short-term 

initiatives”. 

Organisation 

“You don’t pursue a policy on paper. A 

policy supposes management and 

organisation”, continues Prof. Eneman. 

“The new organisational structure is still 

being developed. It should make it 

possible to share expertise on the 

campuses and deploy it on a faculty level. 

The current task force on 

Internationalisation, which is mainly 

operational, can continue to function. The 

expertise group will be transformed into a 

Faculty Council for International Policy, 

reinforced with representatives of the 

permanent education committees to 

strengthen the link with education”. 

“International recruitment remains a 

priority”, confirms Prof. Eneman. “As far 

as upcoming engineering talent is 

concerned, the Flemish market has 

reached its limits. Every year, there are 

some shifts in the student populations, 

but currently growth has to be sought in 

tapping foreign sources, in a wellconsidered 

and selective manner”. 

Research 

In the Vice Dean’s policy, there will also 

be room for research. “All research 

groups already have their own international 

network and no longer need to be 

convinced of the importance of 

internationalisation.z There is already a 

great deal of consultation and cooperation 

within the research departments of the 

Science, Engineering and Technology 

Group of KU Leuven. The faculty’s 

international policy will play a facilitating 

and supporting role here in order to 

further develop international research at 

our campuses”. 

Yves Persoons 

Prof. Koen Eneman 

CONNECTING 7

FACULTY NEWS 

THE LEADING LADIES 

OF THE EUROPEAN SOCIETY 

FOR ENGINEERING EDUCATION 

‘Driving Engineering Education to Meet Future Challenges’. 

The European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI or 

Société Européenne pour la Formation des Ingénieurs), the 

largest and most important network of all those involved in 

training engineers on this continent, is flying this flag. 

Since October 2019, Prof. Yolande 

Berbers (Faculty of Engineering 

Science) heads this prestigious 

organisation with Professors. Tinne De 

Laet (Faculty of Engineering Science) and 

Greet Langie (Faculty of Engineering 

Technology) at her side as directors. They 

tell the story of SEFI and the course they 

will take. 

The new president takes off immediately. 

“KU Leuven was co-founder of SEFI in 

1973 and has all these years played a 

prominent role in the management and 

operation of the organisation. Our 

university delivered several chairs, but as 

far as we know it is the first time that three 

female KU Leuven professors hold a seat 

on the Board of Directors, consisting of 

22 directors”. 

The Leuven triad obviously is not caught 

unprepared. Prof. Yolande Berbers 

previously held the position of Vice- 

President of SEFI. Prof. Tinne De Laet has 

been Director and Chair of the Special 

Interest Groups on Engineering Education 

Research for three years. And Prof. Greet 

Langie was Chair of the Special Interest 

Group on Physics and is currently 

Committee Chair of ‘Capacity Building’. 

Education 

“SEFI is not an association or exclusive 

club of engineers”, explains Yolande 

Berbers. “Our core business by the way is 

not engineering per se, but education for 

engineers. Numerous actors play a role in 

this versatile task. Engineers, obviously, 

but also educational developers, 

supporters, technologists, researchers and 

providers. Our members include not only 

some 120 universities and institutions of 

higher education, but also rectors, deans, 

professors, students and representatives 

of both professional associations and the 

industry. We can state that SEFI gathers 

some 1 million engineering students and 

150,000 academics. By unceasingly 

working on innovation and excellence, we 

strive to improve the image of the 

engineering profession and highlight the 

indispensable role that engineers play in 

business and society”. 

Priorities 

“SEFI’s scope is so wide and 

comprehensive that one inevitably has to 

make choices,” Yolande Berbers 

continues. “That is why five priorities have 

been set. These include questions such 

as How do we make engineering 

education (more) attractive to young 

people? How do we close the gap 

between education and work? How do 

we stimulate students’ and graduates’ 

mobility in Europe and in the world? How 

do we introduce digitisation into education 

and which educational technologies do 

we preferably adopt? And finally yet 

important, how do we put engineering 

education on the map as a field of 

research? After all, it is clear that 

educational innovation in the long term 

may have an impact, provided it is 

underpinned by sound scientific research. 

In the education industry, too, research 

and development are inseparable”. 

How it works 

“SEFI acts at different levels”, says Prof. 

Tinne De Laet. “The field work takes place 

in the so-called ‘Special Interest Groups’. 

There are currently eleven such groups 

with themes ranging from ‘Mathematics’ 

and ‘Physics’ to ‘Ethics’ and ‘Gender and 

Diversity’. Each group frequently 

organises workshops and study days 

where experiences and best practices are 

exchanged. 

There is also the ‘European Engineering 

Deans Council’ and the annual ‘European 

Convention for Engineering Deans’, of 

which the 2019 edition took place in 

Leuven. The high mass is undoubtedly 

the ‘SEFI Annual Conference’, where all 

findings are presented and imperative 

policy decisions of the institutions are 

clarified”. 

As a European organization, SEFI plays 

an important role in projects such as 

ERASMUS+ and HORIZON 2020, for 

example Prof. Greet Langie’s PREFER 

project. “PREFER stands for ‘Professional 

Roles and Employability of Future 

Engineers’. It aims to help future engineers 

identify their strengths and growth 

potential and to familiarise them with the 

professional roles they may play in their 

future careers. It is worth mentioning that 

the competence tests resulting from this 

project will be implemented in 2020-2021 

in the renewed education programme of 

the Faculty of Engineering Technology. 

This example illustrates that SEFI’s 

accomplishments find their way into 

educational practice”. 

Heading 

The Leuven triad does not lack ambition. 

Key concepts in the course to be followed 

are: strengthening, deepening and 

broadening. 

8

Prof. Greet Langie, Prof. Yolande Berbers and Prof. Tinne De Laet 

Prof. Yolande Berbers wants to use the 

presidency to further develop SEFI as an 

organisation, both quantitatively and 

qualitatively. In practice, this means 

attracting more members and engaging 

more top universities. For example, she is 

planning a ‘Tour de France’ in order to 

gain a firmer foothold among our southern 

neighbours. 

Prof. Tinne De Laet will further concentrate 

on the ‘Special Interest Groups on 

Engineering Education Research’, more 

specifically on a better matching of supply 

and demand and a more efficient flow of 

research results throughout and outside 

the organisation. Vital supporting tools are 

the bimonthly ‘European Journal of 

Engineering Education’, the monthly 

electronic newsletter, the SEFI Annual 

Reports and a wide range of papers. 

Prof. Greet Langie sees her mission as 

essentially broadening, and wants to 

make the European organisation a 

credible player on the world stage. “SEFI 

already engages with global organisations 

like UNESCO, the World Federation of 

Engineering Organizations, the 

International Society for Engineering 

Education and the American Society for 

Engineering Education. It is time to 

sharpen the viewer’s focus on the East, 

on China, India and South-East Asia 

amongst others. The network that the 

Faculty of Engineering Technology has 

built up there may serve as both a starting 

point and an entry point. Because here 

too, the saying goes: when the tide is out, 

the beacons are set”. 

One thing is certain: these are busy days 

for the Leuven triad. The ladies’ response 

is unanimous: “We did not come in this by 

chance. It is the culmination of many 

years of dedication”. 

Jelle De Borger, Yves Persoons 

CONNECTING 

9

FACULTY NEWS 

Prof. Davy Pissoort Prof. Frank Leferink 

10

AMBASSADORS CHAIR 

AWARDED TO PROF. FRANK LEFERINK 

This year, KU Leuven Campus KULAK granted Bruges 

Campus its first Ambassadors Chair of the Faculty of 

Engineering Technology. The title has been awarded to Prof. 

Frank Leferink, Chair of Electro-Magnetic Compatibility 

(EMC) at the University of Twente and also technical advisor 

at Thales Netherlands and manager of the Thales Network of 

Excellence on EMC. The ambassadorship is the culmination 

of many years of collaboration with the research group 

Mechatronics at Bruges Campus. 

Prof. Leferink. “That is why we are making 

every possible effort to make EMI 

management as much risk-based as 

possible. This requires an interdisciplinary 

approach covering the entire life cycle of 

the product or system. This involves 

chance and risk analysis, risk reduction, 

verification and validation. The aim is to 

build in an inherent EMI-robustness from 

the early design phase”. 

“ The Ambassadors Chair is actually 

an initiative of KULAK, our sister 

campus in Kortrijk”, says Prof. Davy 

Pissoort, specialist in electrical and 

electronic systems at the M-Group. 

“Every year, KULAK awards this title to an 

internationally renowned academic whose 

research is closely related to what 

happens on campus. By proclaiming Prof. 

Leferink as Ambassador of 2020-2021, 

we hit two targets with one shot. Frank is 

not only a global authority in one of our 

group’s main research topics; he also has 

both feet firmly in business practice. This 

symbiosis is virtually the DNA of education 

and research on our campus and, by 

extension, the faculty. The recent 

European ITN project “PETER” on 

electromagnetic risk management is a 

good example of this”. 

Invisible forces 

Prof. Leferink specialises in electromagnetic 

interference, or EMI. He describes his field 

of expertise as follows: “We all know EMI 

when the sound from a loudspeaker is 

disturbed by a series of beeps coming 

from a mobile phone. Pretty annoying, but 

not bad in itself. It becomes problematic 

when crucial high-tech equipment in cars, 

aeroplanes, hospitals, nuclear power 

plants or just in your own home turns out 

to be sensitive to EMI. While with 

conventional devices the risks are usually 

visible or audible, with high-tech devices 

or systems the situation is rather different. 

Invisible forces can be at work there. This 

means that as electronic devices become 

more complex and the user more 

dependent on them, the risks increase 

accordingly. What’s more, there may be 

several EMIs simultaneously interfering 

with each other”. 

“Until today, most engineers are not 

sufficiently aware of the importance of 

proper EMI risk management”, Prof. 

Leferink continues. “This has to do with 

the fact that the education initially still 

functionally aims at rapid R&D and 

production. This puts risk factors to the 

back burner. The tragic accident involving 

an electric wagon in Oss two years ago is 

a sad example of this. Just as it was 

entering a railway crossing, the brakes 

failed. Four children died. Not safe enough 

for passenger transport, the TNO research 

centre arbitrated after the disaster. The 

cart was equipped with the risk protection 

of a forklift truck for moving goods”. 

Risk management 

“Complete immunity for EMI is a noble 

goal, but not feasible in practice,” says 

The scope of the research is virtually endless. 

Nearly all industrial sectors are 

involved and interested: shipping, 

aerospace, transport and transportation, 

defence and (cyber)security, 

telecommunications, banking and 

insurance, micro-electronics, etc. No 

wonder Prof. Leferink sees a ‘bright 

future’ for his profession. 

Game changer 

For the M-Group at Bruges Campus, the 

Ambassadors Chair is both an important 

boost and an asset. “Electromagnetic 

compatibility (EMC) has been in the centre 

of our attention since the beginning of the 

90s”, confirms Prof. Pissoort. “Key 

concepts here are reliability, robustness 

and safety in complex and/or rough 

conditions. Thanks to our cooperation 

with the manufacturing industry - large 

companies as well as SMEs - we have 

become an integral part of the economic 

life in the region and beyond. With the 

help of our new ambassador, we can 

significantly increase our impact on 

industry and social life. In that respect, the 

future looks bright for the M-Group”. 

Yves Persoons 

CONNECTING 

11

EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN FOCUS 

FACULTY OF 

ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY: 

RENEWED 

CURRICULUM 

IS OFF AND 

RUNNING! 

How do you put an education programme on the map that 

allows young talent to grow and blossom into versatile 

engineers? How do you maximise the benefits of a multicampus 

faculty? These were the challenges that the Faculty of 

Engineering Technology faced three years ago when it decided 

to reinvent the engineering technology programme. The first 

bachelor’s year was launched this autumn. Prof. Greet Langie, 

former Vice Dean for Education and pioneer of the ‘Gideons 

gang’ of programme reformers, and Jeroen Buijs, former Vice 

Campus Chair at Group T Leuven Campus, explain. 

Our companies - and by extension 

our society - are asking for 

versatile, inquisitive and creative 

‘problem solvers’ and developers,” says 

Prof. Langie. “Engineers deployable on 

many fronts. Engineers who can link 

disciplines in order to come up with new 

solutions and put them into practice. We 

are therefore starting the programme with 

a solid polyvalent engineering programme 

for all the students on our campuses. (This 

new programme does not apply on 

Campus Diepenbeek.) Their entire 

programme now rests on four pillars. In 

the first pillar, ‘Engineer and Science’, 

we lay a foundation and students 

immediately see how the sciences are 

applied in technology. The ‘Engineer and 

Technology’ pillar also starts with a 

polyvalent training that forms the basis of 

the four graduation tracks in the bachelor’s 

programmes and ends with specialised 

training within the eight master’s 

programmes. In ‘Engineer and World’ 

we broaden the students’ horizon. And in 

the ‘Engineering Experiences’, 

everything comes together. Students are 

challenged to think up and work out 

concrete technological solutions like a real 

engineer. It goes without saying, that this 

also includes skills such as team work, 

communication and an entrepreneurial 

spirit. What’s more, from now on these 

so-called ‘professional skills’ will be 

structurally integrated in the new 

curriculum and supervised by experts”. 

Wide range, extensive choice 

“All this ensures that students will 

encounter concrete technological issues 

from the very beginning of their studies,” 

continues Jeroen Buijs. “Another 

innovation is that from now on, students 

can take their curriculum more into their 

own hands. The range of specialisations, 

options, electives and modules on six of 

our seven campuses is such that everyone 

will find something to suit him/her. In 

addition, switching between campuses 

from 2020 onwards is child’s play. 

Nevertheless, those who prefer to stay on 

their familiar campus also benefit. In the 

multicampus modules, everyone at each 

of our locations can go beyond campus 

boundaries to immerse him/herself 

12

Jeroen Buijs and Prof. Greet Langie 

completely in his/her interests. Remaining 

mentally mobile does not necessarily 

imply physically changing campus”. 

“We take a similar approach internationally. 

Of course, we continue to encourage 

students to participate in international 

exchange programmes. We are already 

doing this successfully. At the same time, 

however, we are also fully committed to 

expanding the range of English-language 

education on all our campuses”. This 

way, we want to attract even more 

international students and create a real 

‘internationalisation at home’. Flemish 

students are also reaping the benefits of 

this. They learn to cooperate with other 

nationalities and deal with diversity, which 

contributes to their education as all-round 

engineers. For both Flemish and 

international students it offers a training 

ground for developing communicative 

and intercultural competences”. 

Professional practice 

“Last but not least, from 2020 onwards 

the relationship with the industry is being 

significantly intensified, which goes hand 

in hand with our aim to train entrepreneurial 

engineers,” explains Prof. Langie. “You do 

not just learn from a book; but also from 

experience. For example, by spending a 

day with an engineer right from the start. 

By visiting companies on a regular basis. 

By working together in projects. And by 

creatively taking on assignments 

originating directly from the professional 

practice. 

When new entrants instantly can look out 

on the finality of it, the education 

programme will also become more 

attractive. Even those starting an 

engineering programme are still not fully 

or not at all aware of how varied and 

fascinating the engineering profession is. 

Therefore, we want to highlight this even 

more and better. Our message to young 

people is clear: on each of our campuses 

you can indulge today as the engineer of 

tomorrow”. 

Yves Persoons 

CONNECTING 

13


ENGINEERING EXPERIENCES: 

ANTICIPATING PROFESSIONAL 

PRACTICE 

The renewed education programme of the Faculty of Engineering Technology focuses not 

only on the mastery of technology, but also on many other qualities and capabilities expected 

of an engineer. A striking novelty in the programme is the ‘Engineering Experience’, which in 

the first bachelor’s year alone accounts for 9 ECTS. What does this programme component 

stand for? And what is there to experience? Christel Willemaerts, coordinator at Group T 

Leuven Campus, gives the answer. 

“ An engineering experience is both a programme component 

and a work method”, Christel explains. “It belongs to the 

category of alternative educational work methods that aim 

to encourage problem-solving skills, independence and creativity 

as well as to convey professional competences such as 

communication, teamwork, entrepreneurship and critical 

reflection. What makes the Engineering Experience special is that 

it ‘touches’ the students and is therefore memorable -thus 

instructive. Pine and Gilmore, who coined the term ‘experience 

economy’, make a distinction between ‘absorption’ and 

‘immersion’. 

Whereas classical project work often involves absorption, an 

experience provides immersion, a ‘total experience’ that also 

appeals to emotions and thus provides greater and longer 

memory value. What makes an engineering experience haunting? 

To begin with, the attractiveness of course, but other factors also 

play a role: the challenge, the element of competition, the reward 

or -simply- the fun. Engineering experiences make learning 

more fun”. 

Deployment 

“In the experience of engineering, you can go all the way,” 

Christel continues. “You are challenged to tap all your knowledge, 

skills and attitudes and bring them together. Furthermore, you 

can use your own talents or competencies acquired elsewhere. 

This occurs in assignments of which the outcome or result is not 

always fixed in advance. The more open the assignment, the 

more you can apply your creativeness”. 

“Not only the degree of openness varies, so does the approach: 

individually or in a team. Furthermore, the complexity and 

authenticity, i.e. the degree of involvement of the companies, 

increase as the programme progresses. Important is that a 

concrete result or a tangible product is expected from the 

student or the team. This learning by trial and error greatly 

contributes to the intensity and learning potential of the 

experience. The ultimate goal of the Engineering Experience is 

to be a reflection of the future professional life”. 

Educational learning activity 

Engineering Experience 1 in the first bachelor year consists of 

four educational activities; an integrated lab, a project, spatial 

insight & CAD and a series of supporting seminars focusing on 

professional competences. “Within, students learn the 

methodologies and skills required to cope with increasingly 

complex assignments and challenges in the course of their 

studies”, says Christel. 

The Integrated Lab consists of carrying out delineated hands-on 

assignments involving various disciplines. The experiments cover 

gravity acceleration, mass acceleration, microscopy and 

electrochemistry. The project is an open assignment that 

contains elements from the specialisations from which the 

students have to choose after the first year. The student teams 

will build a part of a large Rube Goldberg machine; an ingenious 

device that produces a mechanical chain reaction that reaches 

its goal at the end. “Making chain reactions not only creates 

tension and suspense, but is also very instructive”, Christel 

notes. “Energy conversion, friction resistance, strength 

calculation, sensors, actuators, materials, construction 

techniques ... the students can really show everything they have 

to offer”. 

Spatial insight & CAD is about reading, interpreting and 

developing technical drawings. These are used in the examples 

and designs that have to be carried out in the project. 

Professional competences 

The seminars Professional Competencies are an essential part of 

Engineering Experience 1. “Here the students are familiarised with 

the scientific framework and acquire specific skills such as writing 

14

Christel Willemaerts 

skills, project management, presentation techniques, group 

dynamics and creativity”, Christel explains. “A faculty team of 

experts has been put together to provide input. The competencies 

are practiced within the project and the Integrated Lab”. 

“The experts are also responsible for the coaching of the 

students. The same coach supervises the student, or the team, 

throughout the entire Engineering Experience. Within the same 

component, the coach cannot simultaneously teach or supervise 

the subject matter of the project. 

In this way, there is no mixing of roles and the students clearly 

identify the right recipients for their questions”. 

Onward journey 

The new curriculum, including Engineering Experience 1, started 

in September 2020. “The experts are already working hard on a 

follow-up trajectory that will make the students’ track records 

visible throughout their study programme,” Christel reports. “In 

time, this should result in an e-portfolio linked to a personal 

development plan in which the students can set their own 

learning goals and bring in proven competencies. Immediately 

after their studies, they will have a CV supplement at their 

disposal to demonstrate their starting competences. And -last 

but not least- they will have an instrument to keep documenting 

their development throughout their career. After all, learning 

never stops. The real engineering experience begins when they 

start practicing the profession. Our task is to anticipate this in 

the best possible way”. 

Yves Persoons 

CONNECTING 

15


Chrisje Haenen 

16

TECHINVENT: 

NEW PROGRAMME FOR 

ENTERPRISING ENGINEERS 

As of the academic year 2020-2021, the Postgraduate Programme in Innovation & 

Entrepreneurship in Engineering is split up. The existing programme will remain identical in 

structure, but will from now on only consist of in-company projects. The new counterpart aims 

at bachelor’s and master’s students who want to realise an ambitious team project or have 

their own start-up in mind. Coordinator Chrisje Haenen presents the Postgraduate Tech 

Innovations in Ventures and Teams (‘TechInVenT’). 

“ With TechInVenT we merely want 

to guarantee the continuity of 

our student teams”, Chrisje 

Haenen explains. “The Agoria Solar Team, 

Formula Electric Belgium, Innovived, 

CORE, Flacra and iGEM have become the 

flagships of our faculty and the Science & 

Technology Group. Students who want to 

follow their example come to TechInVenT. 

But there is more. After their studies, 

several team members effectively stepped 

into entrepreneurship and started their 

own company. Such potential 

entrepreneurs are our second target 

group. What both groups have in common 

is drive and passion for innovation and 

entrepreneurship. As engineers, they 

want to leave their study and career paths 

and take their future into their own hands. 

Even though in many ways this means a 

leap into the unknown”. 

Tailor-made 

“Unfamiliar grounds require good 

preparation,” continues Chrisje Haenen. 

“TechInVenT wants to make sure that 

prospective engineers and entrepreneurs 

do not skate on thin ice. That is why we 

offer them a virtually tailor-made 

programme, in which not only technology 

but also professional skills are covered. 

We additionally provide intensive coaching 

by professionals”. 

The main part of the programme consists 

of the team or start-up project (44 ECTS). 

Students who opt for the team project 

learn the tricks of the trade from an 

existing team, which gives them plenty of 

inspiration to start their own team project. 

Those who choose the start-up project 

can count on support and coaching to 

develop a business plan that will enable 

them to spread their wings after the 

programme. “But even those who do not 

yet have a concrete business idea in mind 

and still are enthused by entrepreneurship 

will find at TechInVenT the breeding 

ground in which new ideas can 

germinate,” notes Chrisje Haenen. 

Technovation Hub Academy 

The programme also embraces a series 

of workshops provided by business 

partners of the Technovation Hub 

Academy, and a package of elective 

courses, together accounting for a 

minimum of 12 ECTS. 

“Technovation Hub was established in 

2016 with the aim of supporting the 

student teams within the Science & 

Technology Group and giving new 

initiatives a chance,” says Chrisje Haenen. 

“Launched in September 2020, the 

Technovation Hub Academy organises 

hands-on workshops specifically for 

TechInVenT students on topics such as 

product design, artificial intelligence, 5G, 

IP, legislation and digital marketing. To 

this end, we call on the services of 

experienced professionals”. 

The optional courses enable future team 

members and starters to personalise the 

programme even more. “ Students indeed 

complete this part based on their personal 

preferences”, Chrisje Haenen confirms. 

“From the immense range of courses 

offered by KU Leuven, they choose what 

interests them or what they think they will 

need for their project; it is all up to them. 

Learning to be an entrepreneur starts with 

entrepreneurship for your own learning”. 

Yves Persoons 

www.techinvent.be 

CONNECTING 

17


EDTECH: BOOSTING COLLABORATION 

BETWEEN EDUCATION, TECHNOLOGY AND 

ENTREPRENEURSHIP 

Europe represents the world’s second largest market for education. In order to keep pace 

with the rapid technological developments, there was an urgent need for cooperation between 

the main stakeholders: teachers, researchers and entrepreneurs in the field of education and 

digital technologies. In June 2019, the first European EdTech Network (EETN) was established. 

Professor Wim Van Petegem, Policy Advisor Learning Technologies at the Faculty of 

Engineering Technology – KU Leuven, tells the story. 

Prof. Van Petegem leaves no doubt 

about it: “The new EdTech Network 

is a unique opportunity for European 

universities and companies, big or small, in 

the EdTech industry to network, share and 

collaborate. EETN will help us to enhance 

end enrich our experiences in EdTech, 

from research to innovation and business. 

Together we can make a difference in the 

EdTech scene and improve education all 

over Europe and beyond”. 

EETN is a three-year project funded by 

the European Commission within the 

Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership for 

Higher Education Programme. Four 

leading European universities – IE 

University in Segovia (Spain), University 

College London, KU Leuven and Oulu 

University of Applied Sciences (Finland) 

– decided to join their efforts, using their 

knowledge and broad experience in the 

field of EdTech, in order to create a 

collaborative space for all the players on 

the European EdTech scene. 

Quadruple purpose 

“The purpose of the new partnership is 

fourfold”, Prof. Van Petegem explains. 

“First of all, we want to support EdTech 

start-ups and entrepreneurs by providing 

them with the results of research. This is 

closely in line with the second objective, 

namely the promotion of entrepreneurship 

in the field of education and training by 

supporting innovators in gaining quality 

and competitiveness. All this must lead to 

effective collaboration where experience, 

good practices and knowledge are 

shared. And finally, it is our goal to give 

innovation a boost by promoting ICT 

tools, pedagogies and methodologies”. 

Collaborative learning 

EdTech is a flag that covers many loads. 

From online learning, artificial intelligence 

in education, smart schools, virtual and 

augmented reality applications to lifelong 

and customized learning. The red line 

through all this is the idea that teaching 

should be learner-centred, more flexible 

and focused on 21st century skills. 

“At KU Leuven, we are primarily involved 

with collaborative learning”, Prof. Van 

Petegem notes. “Collaborative learning is 

commonly illustrated when groups of 

students work together for understanding, 

meaning or solutions or to create a 

product of their learning. It includes 

collaborative writing, group projects, joint 

problem solving, debates, study teams, 

etc. Over the past 10 years, technology 

has become an indispensable factor. The 

Internet has allowed for a shared space 

for groups to communicate. Virtual 

environments have been critical for people 

to bridge long distances, but still feel like 

they are part of the group. 

Some examples of how technology has 

been increasingly integrated include 

‘Collaborative Networked Learning’ 

(CNL), which occurs via electronic 

dialogue between self-directed colearners 

and experts, while 

Computer-Supported Collaborative 

Learning (CSCL) uses technology in a 

learning environment to help mediate and 

support group interactions in a 

collaborative learning context. Nowadays, 

collaborative learning is evolving fast as 

companies start taking advantage of 

unique features offered by virtual work 

spaces – such as the ability to record and 

map the flow of ideas, the use of 

3D-models and virtual worlds mind 

mapping tools”. 

Good chances 

“Throughout the lifetime of the project, we 

are going to organize various activities that 

will allow us to exchange knowledge and 

experiences between the staff and the 

members of our partner organisations, as 

well as external experts, entrepreneurs and 

other universities from all over Europe and 

beyond”, Prof. Van Petegem concludes. 

“We will have good chances to meet 

during our events and collaborate online 

and to learn more about best practices 

and methodologies used around the world 

to enhance innovative education”. 

Prof. Van Petegem is already proud that 

prominent high-tech companies such as 

IMEC and EPYC have joined the online 

network. “Our ambition is to become a 

leading platform where ideas, solutions 

and information can be exchanged 

between all our partners to boost the 

development in the EdTech sector in 

whole Europe. Moreover, we hope that 

our events will affect other, indirect 

beneficiaries, eager to improve education 

and entrepreneurship through technology 

by connecting with likeminded peers”. 

www.eetn.eu 

18

Prof. Wim Van Petegem 

CONNECTING 

19


INTERNATIONAL, 

INTERDISCIPLINARY 

ÁND INTER-FACULTY 

THE NEW ERASMUS MUNDUS 

MASTER IN IMAGING AND 

LIGHT IN EXTENDED REALITY 

(IMLEX) 

Ghent Technology Campus has a long tradition in Erasmus 

Mundus European master programmes. From September 

2020 onwards, students can take a brand new programme 

that leads to an Erasmus Mundus MSc degree in Imaging 

And Light In Extended Reality. 

The Faculty of Engineering 

Technology has joined forces with 

the University of Eastern Finland, 

the French Université Saint-Etienne and 

the Toyohashi University of Technology in 

Japan to set up an international study 

programme with a focus on the future 

technologies in photonics, imaging and 

lighting. The IMLEX master offers courses 

to the cutting edge of new technologies 

in these fields. 

The IMLEX programme did not appear 

unexpectedly. The research group in light 

and lighting technology at the Ghent 

Technology Campus, led by Prof. Peter 

Hanselaer, has focused for more than 20 

years on research in different aspects of 

lighting technology. The research group 

hosts the “Groen Licht Vlaanderen vzw” 

and works together with a well-developed 

network of companies active in the sector 

of light, lighting and energy. 

By creating a curriculum linked to these 

research topics, Prof. Peter Hanselaer 

wants to attract excellent students and 

PhD researchers to apply the research in 

practice. The IMLEX study programme is 

a two-year master’s programme where 

students take a mobility track from Finland, 

to Ghent and Saint-Etienne and then 

Toyohashi, each for one semester. In the 

first semester students meet with all basic 

aspects of imaging and lighting, as well as 

photonics and optics. They continue their 

study in either Saint-Etienne for the 

imaging specialization or at our Faculty of 

Engineering Technology for the lighting 

specialisation. These specialisation 

courses are elaborated in-depth in 

semester three in Toyohashi University of 

Technology. The “engineering techology” 

profile is guaranteed by a company 

internship and several cases in 

collaboration with industry. Semester four 

is devoted to a master’s thesis, which can 

be taken at any of the partner institutions 

or selected research institutes or 

companies. 

The curriculum organised at KU Leuven 

includes five course modules on lighting 

science, lighting technology, lighting 

metrology, lighting design and lighting 

business. Because engineering students 

also need to prepare for a study period in 

20

©TineDesodt 

Japan, a course in Japanese language 

and culture is included, as well as a 

course unit on academic writing. Here lies 

another innovative aspect of the IMLEX 

master’s course: not only the international 

and multidisciplinary approach is typical, 

the semester on lighting is also an “interfaculty 

semester”. The Faculty of 

Architecture is collaborating with the 

research group in lighting to cover the 

aspects of lighting design in the study 

programme. Prof. Bruno Depré will teach 

the course on lighting design. 

IMLEX responds to a realistic demand 

from industry, as is proven by the large 

number of associate members, most of 

them companies (e.g. Trilux, Etap, 

Engie…). The graduates of this study 

programme will contribute to the next 

industrial revolution of Industry 4.0, where 

augmented reality will play a dominant 

role. The massive interest in this field is 

demonstrated in the first application 

round for the academic year 2020-2021: 

116 candidates have submitted an 

application to date. 

Hilde Lauwereys 

www.imlex.org 

CONNECTING 21

STUDENT IN FOCUS 

Nikte Van Landeghem and Salma Nachi 

22

VR HEALTH GAME WINS 

FIRST KU LEUVEN KICK AWARDS 

Under the slogan ‘From idea to impact’, KU Leuven KICK team organized its first challenge in 

the spring of 2020. The assignment was to develop a business plan that addresses a social 

problem in an innovative way. The CheckR team of Nikte Van Landeghem (Master in 

Electromechanical Engineering Technology, Group T Campus) and Salma Nachi (Master in 

Pharmaceutical Sciences) won the Student Award and the Audience Award. 

KU Leuven KICK is part of KU Leuven Research & Development 

(LRD), the university’s tech-transfer office. “Our task is to 

promote and support entrepreneurship in the university 

community”, coordinator Tine Van Lommel explains. “In doing so, 

we also aim at student-entrepreneurs. We help them translate their 

innovative ideas into a feasible business model, ready to be 

implemented in a start-up. Any student with an innovative idea will 

find a listening ear and a helping hand with us”. 

Early detection 

For the first KICK Challenge, forty-five teams submitted an 

original idea. Eighteen were given permission and support to 

develop it further. Six of them made it to the finals to compete 

for three grand prizes. With the Student Award and the Audience 

Award, Nikte and Salma were prominently present on the 

honorary stage. 

The duo departed from the following facts: “Belgium is thirty 

percent slower at detecting preventable diseases compared to 

other EU countries. This phenomenon can be attributed to the 

fact that Belgians between 20 and 40 years old get less than one 

check-up a year. At the same time, the same population goes 

at least three times to the pharmacy over the same time period. 

This led us to the idea: why shouldn’t the pharmacist play a key 

role in the early detection of risk patients? After all, pharmacists 

are highly qualified health professionals. However, the main 

challenge here is that pharmacists do not have enough 

information about their patients, and the time available for each 

patient is rather limited. If we could provide them with a tool to 

check a number of relevant parameters in a simple and fun way 

to increase patient participation, this would be an important step 

forward”. 

Gaming at the pharmacy 

These ideas resulted in the CheckR kit, which consists of a VR 

headset, a controller and a heart sensor to measure several 

cognitive, muscular and cardiovascular parameters such as 

heart rhythm, blood pressure, memory, vision and motoric skills. 

Salma explains how it works in practice: “The pharmacist 

proposes to the client to play a VR game for about five minutes 

during which memory and motoric skills are monitored. Via the 

sensor, cardiovascular parameters are tracked, while other 

relevant data are measured with the VR headset and controllers. 

After the game, the pharmacist can give feedback on the client’s 

general state of health and -if necessary- refer him or her to the 

doctor or hospital”. 

“Both the risk patient and the pharmacist benefit from our kit”, 

Nikte continues. “The potential risk patient is informed in time 

and the pharmacist can count on more and satisfied customers, 

which may result in a higher turnover. Moreover, he or she can 

build up a network with colleagues, doctors and hospitals. The 

healthcare system as well as the economy could benefit, because 

employees stay healthy and can work longer”. 

Feasible and profitable 

Meanwhile, Nikte’s and Salma’s plans for the short and longer 

term are ready. “We are going to start strengthening our team 

and bringing in additional competencies”, says Salma. In 2021, 

we hope to be able to launch our start-up and gain foothold in 

twenty pharmacies in Belgium. We plan to systematically 

increase that number until we have 10% of the pharmacies in 

Belgium as customers. Our financial model is based on a rental 

price of 150 euro per kit per month. If we achieve the range of 

10% that represents a revenue of 76.500 euros per month, 

which, after deduction of costs, would yield a profit of 26.000 

euros. We also want to expand our service with a user platform 

for our customers and a personal assistance system for high-risk 

patients based on gamification technology. 

In the end, the ambition of both student-entrepreneurs extends 

beyond quick profit. As committed young entrepreneurs, they 

dream of introducing their affordable detection technology in 

developing countries, where the health system is often inadequate 

and where prevention is infinitely more life-saving than elsewhere. 

Yves Persoons 

CONNECTING 

23

24 

STUDENT IN FOCUS

ENGINEERING STUDENTS OF 

KU LEUVEN WIN EUROPEAN 

SOLAR CHALLENGE 2020 

The Agoria Solar Team of KU Leuven continues to pile up the victories. After a 

first place in the Carrera Solar Atacama in Chile and the world title in the 

Bridgestone World Challenge in Australia, the team finished first in the European 

championship in Zolder (Belgium). Now it is looking forward to the Sasol Solar 

Challenge in South Africa in February 2021. 

The Agoria Solar Team consists of 19 engineering 

students of KU Leuven with a mission. They aim 

to do more than just building the most efficient 

solar racing car and winning championships. By 

developing a race car that combines the innovative ideas 

of bright engineering talents with the Belgian and 

international technologies, the team wants to inspire 

young people to take an interest in science and 

technology and raise awareness of renewable energy 

among the public. “With the support of our Belgian and 

international business partners, we are convinced that 

we can act as a catalyst in the process of making 

commercial solar-powered electric vehicles available to 

the general public”, says team leader Paul Van 

Hemeldonck. “We strive to show the world that Belgium 

is still in the frontline of innovative technology. We also 

want to show that we are entrepreneurial engineers and 

worthy ambassadors of our university and its faculties of 

Engineering”. 

Two cars 

In September 2020, the Solar Team took part in the 24 

hours race with two solar cars: the Bluepoint built in 

2019 and the Punch 2, developed by the former solar 

team. The Bluepoint, which became world champion in 

Australia last year, crossed the finish line in Zolder with 

the highest number of laps. “We owe our victory to a fast 

car and a well-thought-out race strategy”, explains 

Romanie Cnockaert, strategist of the Solar Team. 

“During the race, for example, it is permitted to recharge 

the battery twice. We chose to charge only once, which 

allowed us to drive laps for an extra hour. In this way, 

we improved the record for the highest number of laps 

in 24 hours by a fourth”. 

The Punch 2, built in 2017, crossed the line in sixth 

place. “That has everything to do with the age difference”, 

says race engineer Kenneth Goovaerts. “For each 

addition, the cars are equipped with the latest 

technologies and these are changing rapidly. That’s 

exactly why the Solar Team builds a brand new solar car 

for the world championship”. 

Next adventure 

The victory at the European championship is the third in 

a row for the KU Leuven Solar Team. In 2018, the team 

finished first after a grueling race through the Atacama 

desert and mountains in Chile. The following year, the 

team became world champion at the Bridgestone World 

Solar Challenge, a challenging race of more than 3,000 

km through Australia. Currently, the team is preparing 

for the next adventure: the Sasol Solar Challenge in 

South Africa in February 2021. 

Yves Persoons 

CONNECTING 

25

PROFESSOR IN FOCUS 

EDUCATING FOR A 

SUSTAINABLE ARUBA 

The Science & Technology Group of KU Leuven is involved 

in an ambitious project to launch a three-year bachelor’s 

programme in Science, Technology, Engineering and 

Mathematics (STEM) at the University of Aruba. 

This is an initiative of the Aruban 

government that is part of the 

eleventh EDF-OCT Programme of 

the EU. Professors and researchers of KU 

Leuven will guarantee the capacity 

building in Aruba that is needed to 

develop a research-based education 

programme. At the Faculty of Engineering 

Technology, seven academics have 

committed themselves to give substance 

to the curriculum and also to supervise 

four PhD students. We spoke with Prof. 

Jo Van Caneghem and Prof. Maarten 

Vanierschot of Group T Leuven Campus. 

Sun-drenched pearl of the Caribbean. 

Tropical, hospitable, vibrant with exotic 

beaches and culinary delights. The travel 

agencies are making use of superlatives to 

promote an island of barely 180 km² with 

115,000 inhabitants. No matter how small 

and paradisiacal this distant part of the 

Kingdom of the Netherlands may be, Aruba 

does not escape the global challenges of 

our time. Sustainability is one of them. 

“Small islands such as Aruba are very 

vulnerable in this respect”, Prof. Vanierschot 

explains. “Not only because they are 

particularly sensitive to ecological and 

economic shocks, but also because they 

lack the human resources and expertise to 

tackle such complex problems.” 

“Waste is a telling example of this”, Prof. 

Van Caneghem continues. “Every year, 

the island attracts more than 1 million 

tourists. They leave tons of waste behind. 

The immense cruise ships that moor in 

Aruba do exactly the same thing. At the 

moment, everything ends up in the socalled 

‘Parkietenbos’ (Parakeet Forest), a 

euphemism for a gigantic landfill that is 

literally and figuratively reaching its limits. 

But it doesn’t stop there. Since the island 

does not have any fresh water resources, 

drinking water has to be produced in a 

fuel powered osmosis plant, which makes 

the island completely dependent on fossil 

fuel. It is in this context that the SISSTEM 

project came into being and started 

recently”. 

Four faculties 

SISSTEM stands for ‘Sustainable Island 

Solutions through Science, Technology, 

Engineering and Mathematics’. Initiators 

at KU Leuven are among others Honorary 

Vice-Rector Prof. Georges Gielen and the 

Honorary Dean of the Faculty of 

Bioscience Engineering Prof. Nadine 

Buys. Four out of five faculties that are 

part of the Science & Technology Group 

are involved in the project. For the Faculty 

of Engineering Technology these are 

Professors Jo Van Caneghem, Maarten 

Vanierschot, Wim Van Petegem, Bart 

Vanrumste, Wim Dewulf, Gorik De 

Samblanx and Koen Eneman. 

“Our task is twofold”, Prof. Vanierschot 

says. “On the one hand we support the 

local lecturers in their work with course 

material, exercises and laboratory 

experiments. Each of us teaches also on 

site or online and provides labs. On the 

other hand, most of us are promoter of a 

doctoral student. These PhD students are 

all teachers of the new bachelor’s 

programme. The intention is that they will 

come to Leuven every year for two or 

three months to attend the courses at the 

Doctoral School and acquire research 

experience”. 

Two components 

Prof. Van Caneghem gives an explanation 

of the new bachelor’s programme. 

“The curriculum covers three years 

(180 credits) and consists of two 

components: a common component and 

a specialization component. The common 

part includes a general foundation in 

STEM fields (60 credits) and five modules 

on sustainability in small island developing 

states (30 credits). From the 2nd semester 

of the 2nd year onwards, students 

specialize in either Bio-environmental 

Engineering, Informatics and Data 

Science or Technology & Engineering 

(90 credits). Each year of the programme 

contains a practical experience – 

integrative projects and a thesis – that 

ensures the application of the students’ 

knowledge”. 

“As to the target group, the new 

bachelor’s programme does not only 

focus on students from a scientific or 

technical education background. Also 

students with other backgrounds are 

welcome. For them a foundation year in 

STEM or a remedial summer school 

is organized”. 

Cooperation 

In September 2019, the first 13 students 

started in the first bachelor’s year. “We 

will continue to support and coach their 

teachers throughout the entire three-year 

programme”, Prof Vanierschot says. 

“After that, the programme should be able 

to stand on its own two feet so that the 

bachelors can easily move on to the 

multidisciplinary Master’s programme in 

Sustainable Island Solutions that is currently 

under construction. In any case, we hope 

that we can lay the foundations for a 

sustainable cooperation in the longer term”. 

Yves Persoons 

www.ua.aw/sisstem 

This project is funded by the European 

Union. The contents of this article are the 

sole responsibility of KU Leuven. 

26

Prof. Jo Van Caneghem and Prof. Maarten Vanierschot 

CONNECTING 

27

PROFESSOR IN FOCUS 

‘BEGA KWA BEGA’ – 

KAREN VANCAMPENHOUT: 

SHOULDER TO SHOULDER WITH 

UNIVERSITIES IN THE SOUTH 

“A baboon ate my experiment” is but one of the remarkable quotes in the interview with 

Prof. Vancampenhout when she is talking about one of her research students in Ethiopia, 

working on a project on the Enset crop (‘Ethiopian banana’). 

TThe origin of Prof. Vancampenhout’s 

engagement in Africa lies in her 

master study at the Faculty of 

Bioscience Engineering of KU Leuven. 

Inspiring professors such as Seppe 

Deckers, Rony Swennen and Roel Merckx 

convinced her to go for the major of 

“tropical agriculture”. In 2002 Karen took 

a semester at Mekelle University in 

Ethiopia, researching for one of the very 

first VLIR-UOS projects there. 

The rest is history: the saying goes that 

once you’ve slept under African skies, you 

always want to go back. Very quickly after 

the start of the first project, Karen realised 

that in Africa, the relevance of university 

collaboration is enormous and scientific 

beacons can be moved to a point where 

a true difference is achieved for students, 

staff, the university and the whole 

community involved. 

Africa has been the focus of the research 

of Prof. Vancampenhout ever since. And 

the potential for progress is enormous. 

Working on “false bananas”, she noticed 

that there was hardly any research in this 

field. Rather than researching the “500th 

paper on corn”, Eastern-Africa’s soils and 

crops have always remained Karen’s 

foothold. 

The relevance of almost 20 years of 

collaboration in the South 

“UOS – inter-university cooperation in the 

South, (the programme started by VLIR 

over 30 years ago) - has a far-reaching 

impact: it concerns relatively small and 

low-budget-projects, but the potential is 

enormous. It is here that I learned that 

small projects with good ideas can 

snowball into much larger collaborations” 

Prof. Vancampenhout explains. 

“Mekelle University is a nice example: 

when I arrived in 2002, it was just a few 

buildings, now the campus is hardly 

recognisable. The VLIR-UOS projects 

played an important role in the international 

development of the university, as they 

proved excellent ‘landing platforms’ for 

other projects and initiatives. Hence, the 

return on investment goes well beyond the 

initial project goals. The capacity building 

can start a dynamic where faculty, young 

PhD scholars, students and the community 

can seize new opportunities. 

Enthusiastically, Prof. Vancampenhout 

explains the added value of the university 

cooperation in the South: “Some may say 

that the VLIR-UOS projects are not 

cutting-edge science, because they rarely 

use the latest analytical toy. But they aim 

to find simple solutions to complicated 

problems and challenging conditions, to 

me that is the essence of engineering. 

The multitude of high-quality papers and 

PhDs that have originated from VLIR-UOS 

papers prove that those projects are 

scientifically relevant and challenging. The 

projects are by no means a work of 

charity; it is a collaboration between 

academic partners with benefits for both. 

Small grants can in addition go a long way 

in the tropics, so actually these projects 

are very cost-efficient if it comes to the 

input/output ratio. The long-term outcome 

of small VLIR-UOS projects cannot be 

underestimated.” 

ENSET 

For many years now, Enset (the “Ethiopian 

banana”) has played a dominant role in 

the research of prof. Vancampenhout. 

The Enset project in Arba Minch, Ethiopia 

started with a visit of a local rector Dr. 

Feleke Woldeys to our Geel Campus in 

the framework of a VLIR-UOS project in 

2011. The initial talk in the car to and from 

Geel resulted in a second TEAM project 

that helped pave the way for a 10-year 

interuniversity collaboration project. The 

Enset as a contingency crop in the 

highlands of Ethiopia is a case of what 

collaboration with the south can bring 

about in a local community and illustrates 

that what started with one project may 

result in a fully-fledged longterm program. 

Enset looks like a type of banana plant 

(hence the popular name “false banana” 

or “Ethiopian banana”) and is 

multifunctional: parts of the stem can be 

cooked or fermented, the leaves can be 

used for cattle feed, the fibres for textiles. 

he Enset-project demonstrates how 

scientific research –through VLIR-UOS 

projects in the South– can have a direct 

societal impact. 

28

“VLIR-UOS projects also lead to 

opportunities for North-South 

collaboration. Currently, we are 

brainstorming with partners from a South 

Initiative project in Tanzania, to evaluate if 

Enset can be introduced as a climate 

smart agronomical strategy for regions 

that are too high above sea level for 

banana cultivation” adds prof. 

Vancampenhout. “At the same time, the 

project in Tanzania also came up with a 

new concept, which we named 

‘landscape inclusivity’. It explores how the 

spatial organisation of a landscape may 

either enhance or diminish opportunities 

for vulnerable groups in society, such as 

people living with disabilities or 

singleheaded households. For example: 

the Kihamba home garden systems near 

the Kilimanjaro are a good illustration of 

an inclusive landscape. Sustainable land 

management has created a situation 

where people there do not have to move 

far from their house to their fields or to a 

drinkable water source, and there are 

multiple options to gain an additional 

income with resources close to the house. 

Unfortunately, there are also examples of 

landscapes that increase inequality for 

vulnerable groups. There is almost no 

research in how to curb non-inclusive 

landscape organisation to reduce inequality 

and enhance inclusion in local communities. 

A huge task is waiting there”. 

The future outlook 

VLIR-UOS type of projects are often 

scrutinised: budgets need to be defended 

to the government, and sometimes the 

appreciation by colleagues and 

universities can be low. But Karen defends 

this model of collaboration with vigour 

and enthusiasm: “this is a very crucial and 

rewarding way of international 

collaboration, the capacity building effect 

is enormous as is proven by the numerous 

projects in many countries. VLIR-UOS 

projects play a crucial role in the careers 

of young academics in the South, there 

are no limits to what these people can do 

when given the chance. Investing in 

academia in the South is therefore one of 

the most sustainable forms of enhancing 

global development goals. 

Nevertheless, young academics at KU 

Leuven sometimes shy away from 

collaboration with the South, as the 

longtime investment in new collaborations 

is in conflict with the short-term goals of 

their tenure tracks. Hence, there should 

be alternative ways of rewarding 

international involvement in the South in 

the evaluation criteria of young academics. 

Prof. Vancampenhout concludes: “Our 

university is very serious about 

internationalisation and inclusion, and we 

therefore should continue to honour and 

celebrate her long tradition of sustainable 

partnerships with the South by engaging 

new colleagues and creating new 

collaborations. It has been a true privilege 

to contribute to that tradition and to be 

welcomed by so many fantastic people 

into a range of truly spectacular countries. 

It has shaped both my academic career 

and my personal growth.” 


Prof. Karen Vancampenhout 

CONNECTING 29

RESEARCH IN FOCUS 

Esmael Kedir 

HOW TO SAVE THE SIGHT 

OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE? 

Glaucoma is a chronic eye disease that leads to irreparable damage of the visual field. 

It affects more than 60 million people worldwide. Only an early diagnosis can prevent 

blindness. However, this requires expensive and non-transportable equipment, which 

means that a large part of the population in developing countries is deprived of this aid. 

Esmael Kedir, PhD student at the e-Media Research Lab of Group T Leuven Campus, 

has developed an affordable and mobile solution. At the annual conference of the 

European Association for Visual and Eye Research, he won the Best Paper Award in the 

Glaucoma Category. 

30

Esmael comes from Oromia, a region in Western 

Ethiopia. He went to school there and then studied 

Computer Science at Haramaya University (BSc) 

and Addis Ababa University (MSc). After graduation, 

Esmael became lecturer at Jimma University, a partner 

university of KU Leuven. The collaboration between the 

two universities brought Esmael to Leuven in 2016, first 

as a predoc, then as PhD student at Group T Leuven 

Campus. 

“As a miracle there was a project that was, as it were, 

written for me”, Esmael explains. “As you know, the 

e-Media Research Lab is specialised in human centred 

systems that can be applied in various areas such as 

health care, learning, arts and entertainment. Shortly 

before my arrival, a proposal had been received from the 

Ophthalmology Department of the Leuven University 

Hospitals to develop a visual screening tool for the 

detection of a malignant eye disease: glaucoma. Not 

only did this offer fit in perfectly with the activities of the 

lab, it also enabled me to contribute to a better health 

care in my home country”. 

Silent thief 

What exactly is Glaucoma? Esmael describes it as 

follows: “Glaucoma is caused when pressure builds up 

inside the eye, damaging the optic nerve that connects 

the eye to the brain. If it is not treated in time, it may 

cause irreversible blindness. It is thought that 4.5 million 

people across the globe are blind because of glaucoma, 

making it the third highest cause of blindness worldwide. 

The condition is difficult to diagnose because symptoms 

do not appear straight away. Instead, they develop slowly 

over many years. That is why glaucoma is called ‘the 

silent thief of sight’. This means that many patients only 

seek treatment when they notice they are losing their 

sight, when significant damage has already occurred. 

Prevention through early detection is the only effective 

remedy for the time being”. 

“That’s exactly where the problem lies”, Esmael 

continues. “In many countries, the detection equipment 

is not available to the inhabitants of poor rural areas. This 

gave us the idea to come up with an affordable and 

mobile solution. After a thorough study of the devices in 

the University Hospitals in Leuven, we decided to develop 

an Android app for a smartphone that can function as an 

alternative Glaucoma Easy Screener (GES)”. 

Virtual Reality 

Esmael’s tool consists of a virtual reality head set, a 

smartphone and a gaming joystick. “The smartphone 

sends light signals that vary in size and intensity to the 

headset. The test subject uses the joystick to indicate if 

he/she has observed something in the visual field. If it 

turns out that certain signals are systematically not or 

incorrectly responded to, the local nurse knows that 

something is wrong. What is more, the tool allows him/ 

her to determine where in the visual field the problem 

arises. The nurse can then refer the person in question 

to the hospital for the treatment of the disease in the 

making.” 

For his research, Ismael works closely with the 

Ophthalmology Department of the University Hospitals 

in Leuven and the Medical Centre of Jimma University in 

Ethiopia. Several versions of his application have been 

tested and validated in Leuven. In addition to the clinical 

validation, usability tests have been carried out at Jimma 

University. The results are promising. In terms of 

specificity and sensitivity, Esmael’s tool easily achieves 

85 to 90% of what the professional equipment in 

university hospitals can do”. 

Affordable technology 

Other critical success factors of Esmael’s tool are its 

user-friendliness and cost. “A complete test run on site 

takes about 10 minutes: 2.5 minutes for the test itself 

and the rest for explanation. The cost of the complete 

set, including the smartphone, is 200 euro, which is only 

a fraction of the price of the specialized equipment in 

hospitals”. Esmael is convinced that he has developed 

an affordable, accessible and effective testing platform 

that can significantly improve the quality of life and 

prospects of countless potential eye patients in Ethiopia 

and elsewhere in the world. “Even if the silent thief of 

sight is still sneaking around in the poor rural areas, he 

will soon be faced with an unexpected strong resistance”, 

Esmael concludes. 

Yves Persoons 

CONNECTING 

31

RESEARCH IN FOCUS 

ROYAL VISIT TO 

ALAMIRE INTERACTIVE SOUND LAB 

On 4 February 2020, H.M. Queen Mathilde was a guest at the Alamire Foundation, the 

interdisciplinary study centre of music in the Low Countries, located on the site of Park Abbey 

in Leuven. The programme featured a performance of Prof. Toon van Waterschoot’s Alamire 

Interactive Sound Lab (Group T Leuven Campus). 

32

Prof. Toon van Waterschoot 

The Alamire Foundation was founded 

in 1991 and set up as a joint venture 

between KU Leuven (Research 

Group Musicology) and the Musica 

impulse centre. Purpose of the foundation 

is to coordinate and stimulate the 

research of early music, more in particular 

the rich Flemish polyphony. Special 

attention is paid to identifying and 

conserving this valuable heritage and 

making it accessible to performers and 

the public. The recently restored Norbert 

Gate of Park Abbey in Leuven houses the 

Library of Voices, where precious musical 

manuscripts are unlocked, digitised and 

prepared for performance by professional 

ensembles. The latter happens in two 

sound labs. In the Alamire Analytical 

Sound Lab by Prof. Bart De Moor, the 

complex stratification of polyphonic music 

is unravelled. The Alamire Interactive 

Sound Lab of Prof van Waterschoot 

concentrates on interpreting the 

polyphony in acoustic reconstructed 

historical spaces. Research is done in the 

Library of Voices in collaboration with the 

research department ESAT-STADIUS. In 

the House of Polyphony, the public gets 

to hear the results of the exploration. It 

houses its own concert hall and owns a 

collection of historical musical instruments. 

Acoustics 

Prof. van Waterschoot and his team 

investigate sound, not only as a physical 

phenomenon, but also as a carrier of 

information in communication, between 

people and between man and machine 

and environment. This resulted in a 

multidisciplinary research methodology in 

which engineers, mathematicians, 

musicologists and implementers work 

together. A subdomain of this research is 

the so-called “archaea acoustics”, more 

specifically, the reconstruction of church 

acoustics in the late Middle Ages and its 

impact on the implementation of the 

Gregorian and polyphonic music in the 

Low Countries. 

I Fiamminghi 

From the 15th century onwards, popes, 

princes, courtiers and noblemen greatly 

admired the stars of the new polyphonic 

music, also kown as the ‘Flemish 

polyphony’. The ‘Fiamminghi’ were the 

idols of their time, with true cult figures like 

Guillaume Dufay, Johannes Ockeghem, 

Josquin Des Prez, Jacob Olbrecht, Pierre 

De la Rue... Peter Alamire (Nuremberg 

1470 - Mechelen 1536) -after whom the 

Leuven Foundation is named- made them 

‘world-famous’ with exquisitely illuminated 

copies of their work; the European 

dynasties’ most important business gift 

for a long time. Petrus Alamire was 

actually named Imhoff. His stage name 

refers to the pitch A and the notes lami-re. 

Since 2018, H.M. Queen Mathilde 

is the Patroness of the Alamire Foundation 

in Leuven. 

Yves Persoons 

CONNECTING 

33

FACULTY WORLDWIDE 

A SUCCESS 

STORY 

IN UKRAINE 

In June 2019, the Erasmus+ Joint Project ‘Higher Engineering 

Training for Environmentally Sustainable Industrial Development’ 

(HETES) has been selected as a ‘success story’ by the 

Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport & Culture of 

the European Commission. Project coordinators Prof. 

Philippe Saey and Geert De Lepeleer of Ghent Technology 

Campus proudly look back on their achievement. 

“ Like most countries of the former 

Soviet Union, Ukraine carries a 

heavy burden from the past”, Prof. 

Saey explains. “An outdated heavy 

industry, pollution of soil, water and air 

and a higher education system that is not 

adapted to current and future challenges. 

On its own, no country in the world can 

cope with all these problems. A globalized 

economy and environmental and climate 

issues require international cross- 

European cooperation. For Ukraine, this 

implies a complete industrial transformation 

to ensure a sustainable future. 

Therefore, the country needs an adjusted 

higher education system that trains 

engineers and scientists equipped with 

the necessary knowledge and skills to 

respond effectively to these challenges”. 

Four objectives 

“This immediately brings us to the 

essence of our project”, Prof. Saey 

continues. “The development of a country 

like Ukraine stands or falls with highquality 

higher education. The purpose of 

our project was to improve the relevance 

of engineering education toward 

challenges of current and future industrial 

transformations aimed at sustainable 

development and climate stabilization. 

More specifically, we focused on four 

objectives. First, we wanted to develop a 

training course covering environmentally 

sustainable sectors such as Mining, 

Metallurgy, Energy, Machine Construction 

and Mechatronics. A second objective 

was the integration of multidisciplinary 

environmental issues into the existing 

engineering curricula. Further, we 

envisaged the installation of an Interfaculty 

Sustainable Development Centre in five 

engineering faculties. And – last but not 

least – we wanted to create a platform for 

networking between academia, research, 

industry and the local and national 

authorities toward the needs of a 

sustainable society”. 

Consortium 

In order to achieve these ambitious goals, 

the coordinators of Ghent Technology 

Campus established a European 

consortium consisting of five Ukrainian 

universities spread over the country, the 

Ukraine Ministry of Education and five 

universities from Belgium, Spain, Sweden 

and the UK. The business world was 

represented with Volvo Cars as the most 

important industrial partner. 

“On paper everything was fine, but in 

practice it did not go that smoothly”, 

Geert De Lepeleer continues. “Barely one 

month after the kick-off meeting, the 

Crimea was annexed by Russia and pro- 

34

Prof. Philippe Saey and Geert De Lepeleer 

“The development 

of a country like 

Ukraine stands 

or falls with 

high-quality higher 

education.” 

Russian rebels occupied a part of East 

Ukraine. Because of the conflict, the 

Sevastopol National Technical University 

had to drop out early. The Donesk 

National Technical University could start 

only after the campus had been evacuated 

to a safer place. In addition, due to a 

shortage of gas and the sharp rise of the 

energy prices, universities had to close 

their doors from December 2014 to the 

end of February 2015”. 

Deliverables 

In spite of these obstacles, the 

coordinators have wonderfully succeeded 

in achieving the objectives. Prof. Saey lists 

the results: “The training course 

‘Environmentally Sustainable Industrial 

Development was completed on time and 

has already been taught to 450 MSc and 

120 PhD students. In each of the five 

universities, the curriculum was adapted 

to include environmental topics in six 

disciplines. More than 150 staff members 

were able to familiarise themselves with 

educational innovation and university 

governance on sustainability. In addition, 

an Interfaculty Sustainable Development 

Centre was set up at four universities to 

stimulate and support multidisciplinary 

education and research. Finally, the 

distance learning system was perfected 

and a lifelong learning programme on 

Environmentally Sustainable Industrial 

Development was set up. For Ukrainian 

companies, there are case studies and 

best practices from the EU on sustainability 

issues”. 

Actually, the list of deliverables is much 

longer and includes study visits, workshops, 

conferences, a website and more 

than 30 papers. The eye-catchers are the 

monography ‘Sustainable Development 

of Steel Industry’ and the textbook 

‘Environmentally Sustainable Industrial 

Development’, both published by the 

National Metallurgical Academy of 

Ukraine. 

Smart Industry 

For those who do not yet realise what a 

‘success story’ means or stands for, there 

is still the ‘official’ definition: ‘Success 

stories are finalised projects that have 

distinguished themselves by their impact, 

contribution to policy-making, innovative 

results and/or creative approach and can 

be a source of inspiration for others’. The 

Directorate-General for Education, Youth, 

Sport and Culture of the European 

Commission motivated its decision 

regarding the HETES-project as follows: 

“The selection of your project as a 

success story was made on the basis of 

rigorous criteria regarding its quality, 

relevance and results”. 

Prof. Saey and Geert De Lepeleer do not 

need anything else to continue on the 

chosen path. They are currently preparing 

a new project in collaboration with 

industrial partners on Industry 4.0, smart 

factories and the fusion of digitalization 

with traditional industrial processes. We 

have every reason to believe that another 

success story is being made. 

Yves Persoons 

CONNECTING 35


UNA.TEN… 

A LIVING LAB 

CHALLENGE FOR NEW 

FORMATS IN EDUCATION 

AND MOBILITY 

On 8th May, UNA EUROPA concluded UNA. 

TEN – “Transform Emergency Now! 10 days 

for change”. UNA.TEN was set up as a pan- 

European student hackathon to tackle 

challenges in COVID19 post-emergency times. 

Based on an open innovation design process, 

student teams from all participating UNA 

EUROPA universities joined forces with local 

partners to find solutions to four specific 

COVID-related challenges: Rethinking 

entertainment and culture, (2) Securing privacy 

and preventing misconceptions in a digital 

world, (3) Ensuring traveller safety, and (4) 

Avoiding food waste. 

UNA EUROPA is a unique alliance of 

eight European research universities, 

with KU Leuven as one of the 

leading members. Funded among the first 

“European University” pilot projects 

selected by the European Commission in 

June 2019, UNA EUROPA’s 1Europe 

project will establish a Europe-wide living 

lab for testing Joint Innovative Formats for 

education and mobility. 

One of KU Leuven’s four student teams in 

the UNA.TEN challenge was set up by KU 

Leuven KICK in collaboration with 

Technovation Hub of the Faculty of 

Engineering Technology. 

Online digital consent 

Chrisje Haenen, Executive Committee 

Member of Technovation Hub, together 

with the coaches Rudi Lenaerts (Laurion 

BV) and Prof. Wim Van Petegem, joined 

forces to support the student team on the 

“online digital consent” theme. The team 

worked on the question of “How to 

protect our privacy and help fight dangers, 

fears, and misconceptions in a digital 

world?” 

“The multidisciplinarity in 

the team proved to be a 

main asset in coming up 

with the challenge”. 

The student team worked ten days 

intensively and in an agile way on this 

challenge, with sprint meetings every day 

and four intermediate milestone meetings 

where they met with other teams in 

Bologna and in Krakow working on the 

same challenge. A Slack and Google 

Drive environment ensured a fluent 

sharing of insights and materials. This 

resulted in a new, challenge-based type 

of collaboration with virtual mobility. 

“Actually coaching this team was easy,” 

explains Prof. Van Petegem. “We started 

each day with a short stand-up meeting 

with the team. Our main role as coaches 

was to bring students in contact with 

stakeholders in the field of education, 

research and industry so that they could 

get feedback for their ideas”. 

Jorrit Willaert and Anirudh Pabba, two of 

the team members, add: “The 

multidisciplinarity in the team proved to be 

a main asset in coming up with an 

approach to the challenge. The mix of 

expertise in our team with law (from Isidora 

González Ríos, a third team member), 

science (Anirudh) and engineering (Jorrit) 

turned out to be very successful, and 

resulted in a holistic experience.” 

36

Prof. Wim Van Petegem, Chrisje Haenen and Rudi Lenaerts 

“I was pleasantly surprised by the 

eagerness and the willingness of the team 

to pick-up the challenge and to really 

deliver a solution” adds Rudi Lenaerts, 

“Moreover, working with an international 

team (Anirudh is from India, Isidora from 

Chile and Jorrit from Belgium) added an 

extra very positive dimension to it”. 

In total, UNA.TEN attracted more than 

100 students who worked together in 

19 teams, in this way paving the road for 

challenge-based learning, not only in times 

of virtual mobility, but maybe for the future 

of higher education in Europe and beyond. 

Roles 

The roles in the team were clearly defined 

in the first few days. Anirudh took the 

responsibility as a project planner, whereas 

Isidora worked on the legal and juridical 

aspects and Jorrit was responsible for the 

practical implementation of the choices 

made. All their hard work eventually 

resulted in a blueprint for a customisable 

add-on for browsers to protect the user’s 

digital rights. Needless to say that this 

solution was highly appreciated by all 

participants of the final presentation at the 

end of the two weeks challenge. 


www.una-europa.eu 

CONNECTING 

37


TECHNOVATION 

HUB JOINS 

DESIGN FACTORY 

GLOBAL NETWORK 

Tuesday 8 January 2020 was a special day 

at Aalto University. The institute not only 

celebrated its 10th birthday, but also the 

entry of the 30th member to the Design 

Factory Global Network (DFGN). Chrisje 

Haenen and Stijn De Jonge, administrators 

of Technovation Hub, could not have 

imagined a better time to sign the 

cooperation agreement in Helsinki. 

Stijn De Jonge 

Like-minded 

Chrisje Haenen looks back in time. “Technovation Hub is an 

initiative of the Faculty of Engineering Technology. It was founded 

five years ago with the support of the Science, Engineering & 

Technology Group of KU Leuven to support the emerging 

engineering talent on the campuses and at the same time to be 

the incubator of new and promising projects. There are already 

six student teams under the wing of Technovation Hub, each of 

which is an example of entrepreneurship and innovation. One of 

them, the Agoria Solar Team, became world champion in the 

World Solar Challenge in October 2019. These examples work 

contagiously, also within our community. We found that the time 

was ripe to push the boundaries and to look for like-minded 

partners in other countries and continents”. 

Co-creation 

These like-minded partners were found in DFGN. “What brings 

us together is passion-based co-creation”, Stijn De Jonge 

explains. “The network consists of innovation hubs such as ours 

that are active in universities and research centres around the 

world, from CERN in Geneva to Tongji University in Shanghai. 

Design Factories are platforms for experimentation, action and 

co-creation. In addition to the local activities of each factory, 

there are also numerous shared initiatives.” 

“One of the basic principles of a Design Factory is that innovation 

is not something that is accomplished by an individual. Instead, 

innovation is by definition a social and a collaborative matter. 

Another important characteristic of a Design Factory is the 

revaluation of the concept of ‘space’. Creativity needs a space 

that is separated from the activities of daily working life. Building 

a space away from the routine job is key to enhancing a team’s 

creative capability. At Aalto University, Design Factories can have 

spaces ranging from 5 to 5,000 m². Interesting in that context 

are the ‘traveling projects’ that literally move to the locations 

where the most suitable expertise or equipment can be found”. 

Double purpose 

As a recognized Design Factory, Technovation Hub 2.0 pursues 

a dual goal. “Our main assignment is to encourage even more 

scientific or engineering students to participate in team projects, 

both inside and outside the curriculum”, says Chrisje Haenen. 

“Therefore, we want to appeal to our partner companies more 

than ever to serve as a commissioner or a client. It encourages 

the teams to think more thoroughly about the valorisation of their 

concept or product.” 

“A second goal that we have in mind is a proper location where 

the teams can get to work. The space we dream of is a casual 

meeting area as well as a learning environment that facilitates the 

making of physical artefacts and is accessible to the local and 

global academic and business community through a virtual 

window. We are therefore looking for a location that allows 

different ways of learning, working and sharing in a single space. 

We are convinced that Technovation Hub 2.0 will soon have its 

own place in the sun”. 

Yves Persoons 

www.technovationhub.be 

38

COOPERATION AGREEMENT 

WITH VELLORE INSTITUTE 

OF TECHNOLOGY 

RESULTS IN COOPERATIVE EDUCATION PROGRAMME 

On 9th January 2020, a Cooperative Education Programme in Bachelor of Engineering Technology 

was launched in Vellore (India). It opens the door for Indian bachelor students to continue their 

studies at Group T Leuven Campus after two years of study at their home university and to obtain a 

bachelor’s degree from KU Leuven. The first batch of students is expected in the fall of 2020. 

title ‘N° 1 Indian Private Institution of 

Innovation’ and was recognised as an 

‘Institution of Eminence’ by the Indian 

government. With over 300 International 

Cooperation Agreements, VIT’s range of 

action covers the entire world. 

The new cooperative programme is 

preceded by a history that begins 

with the visit of a delegation from 

the former University College Group T to 

Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) in 

2012. After the integration of Group T’s 

engineering programme in KU Leuven 

and a visit by Rector Luc Sels to India, the 

cooperation became definite which led to 

the signing of a Memorandum of 

Understanding in Leuven in April 2019. 

N° 1 in Innovation 

VIT is a young private university with four 

campuses in Vellore (Tamil Nadu), 

Chennai, Bhopal and Amravati Andhra 

Pradesh. At these campuses, more than 

25,000 students are enrolled in 52 

undergraduate programmes, 32 

postgraduate, 11 integrated MS courses 

and 4 research & industrial programmes 

in Engineering, Technology, Applied 

Sciences and Management. VIT was 

among the first universities in India to 

implement the Fully Flexible Credit System 

(FFCS), which gives the students the 

flexibility to make their own timetables by 

choosing the subjects and the faculties 

under whose guidance they want to 

study. Recently, VIT received the honorary 

Academic records 

The agreement signed by Prof. Govindasamy 

Viswanathan, founder and 

Chancellor of VIT, Prof. Gerard Govers, 

Vice-Rector of KU Leuven and Prof. Bert 

Lauwers, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering 

Technology may be summarised 

as follows: students enrolled in the 

B.Tech- Mechanical Engineering Programme 

at VIT can be nominated to 

enrol in the Bachelor of Science in Engineering 

Technology, specialisation Electromechanical 

Engineering at KU 

Leuven. Each nominated student has 

successfully completed two years fulltime 

study at VIT and needs to present 

good to excellent academic records and 

meet all admissions requirements of KU 

Leuven, including language proficiency. 

After completion of the 2nd and 3rd year 

of the undergraduate programme at 

Group T Leuven Campus, the students 

receive a Bachelor’s degree from KU 

Leuven and are automatically admitted 

to an English language master programme 

in a relevant major offered by 

the Faculty of Engineering Technology. 

Yves Persoons 

CONNECTING 

39


KU LEUVEN AND HANYANG UNIVERSITY: 

COLLABORATING ON PROJECTS 

AND STUDENT EXCHANGE 

On January 29, 2020, Prof. Luc Sels, rector of KU Leuven and Prof. Woo-Seung Kim, president of 

Hanyang University (South Korea) signed two cooperation agreements. The first deals with the 

set-up of joint research projects. The second relates to the exchange of students with the Faculty of 

Engineering Technology 

Industry cooperation 

Thanks to ERICA Campus (Education 

Research Industry Cluster at Ansan), HYU 

is recognised as the most active industry 

cooperation university in South Korea 

combining research and education with 

business. ERICA Campus is famous for 

its cluster programme in which students 

acquire knowledge and skills that make 

them immediately employable in 

professional practice. The figureheads 

-the so called ‘proud Hanyangians’- 

include Chung Mong-koo, Chairman of 

Hyundai Motor Group and Yoon Bookeun, 

CEO of Samsung Electronics. 

Three years of preparation preceded 

the signing ceremony at the Rector’s 

Office in Leuven. In June 2017, Prof. 

Sabine Vercruysse, Vice-Campus Chair of 

Group T Leuven Campus and Wim Polet, 

Director of the International Office, paved 

the way during the official Belgian trade 

mission to South Korea. In November 

2017 and 2018, Director Wim Polet 

continued negotiations in Seoul, resulting 

in the signing of a Memorandum of 

Understanding during Rector Luc Sels’ 

visit to Hanyang University (HYU) in 

March 2019. 

Growth machine 

HYU started in 1939 as the first 

engineering institute in Korea. Currently, 

the university is generally regarded as an 

essential part of the growth machine that 

has made South Korea an economic and 

technological global player. HYU has 

campuses in the capital Seoul and the 

nearby city of Ansan. Together they count 

25 colleges and 107 departments, 

representing 24,500 undergraduate and 

8,300 graduate students. The university 

welcomes 7,500 foreign students annually 

and more than 3,000 students go abroad 

every year. HYU counts Massachusetts 

Institute of Technology (MIT), University of 

Cambridge and Tsinghua University 

among its 820 partner universities in 88 

countries. 

Presentations 

After the signing ceremony, President 

Woo-seung Kim and his retinue were 

received at Group T Leuven Campus. 

Professors Ronald Cools, Bert Lauwers 

and Peter Slaets gave a presentation 

about, resp. the Science, Engineering & 

Technology Group, the Faculty of 

Engineering Technology and the research 

on Autonomous Vehicles. 

The programme also included visits to the 

Department of Electrical Engineering, 

more specifically the research group of 

Prof. Sofie Pollin, the inter-university 

microelectronics centre IMEC and the 

high-tech company Materialize, 

specialized in 3D printing. 

Yves Persoons 

40

ALUMNI NEWS 

ALUMNI REUNION 

IN CHINA’S HIGH TECH CAPITAL 

The annual recruitment missions of Group T Leuven Campus along the Chinese partner universities 

is an excellent opportunity to bring the alumni together on the spot. In Shanghai and Beijing, where 

KU Leuven has its own Alumni Chapter, it has already become a classic. Meanwhile, the initiative is 

being extended to other cities as well. On Friday 1 November 2019, it was the turn of the southern 

Chinese city of Shenzhen. The reason was the visit to the Southern campus of Harbin Institute of 

Technology, a high-ranked university in China and a new partner of KU Leuven. 

Since Shenzhen was elected China’s 

Special Economic Zone, the small 

fishing village of 35 years ago has 

grown to be one of the largest cities in the 

world. Along the way, it also became the 

manufacturing heart of the global tech 

industry. Over the past decade, the city 

has become a world leader in technological 

innovation, rather than a place where one 

buys cheap electronics. It meant the 

move from ‘Made in China’ to ‘Designed 

in China’. Today, Shenzhen is home to 

some of the biggest high tech companies 

in the world, such as Internet and gaming 

giant Tencent, the telecom firm Huawei, 

smartphone maker ZTE as well as the 

world’s largest drone maker DJI and 

robot producer Makeblock. It is estimated 

that about 90% of all digital products 

worldwide contains one or more 

components from Shenzhen. Appel also 

has its iPhones manufactured in 

Shenzhen. Design City has become the 

gateway to Shenzhen for the rest of the 

world and vice versa. 

At the first reunion in Shenzhen, ten 

alumni from Group T Leuven Campus 

were present. They are working at 

Huawei, 01NNT, Deacons, Foxconn and 

Melexis. They are already looking forward 

to the next edition and to the moment 

when a KU Leuven Alumni Chapter will be 

founded in their city. 

Yves Persoons 

CONNECTING 

41

ALUMNUS IN FOCUS 

LIN ZHANG: 

CHAIRMAN OF KU LEUVEN 

ALUMNI CHAPTER BEIJING 

A living signboard of the Faculty of Engineering Technology and at the same time 

a model ambassador of KU Leuven abroad. Both descriptions apply to Lin Zhang. 

As an alumnus of Group T Leuven Campus, he is not only a brilliant engineer, but 

also a driven entrepreneur and an inspiring educator. It was therefore obvious 

that he was appointed as the first Chairman of the new KU Leuven International 

Alumni Chapter Beijing. 

Lin Zhang arrived in Leuven together with 30 fellow 

students from Beijing Jiaotong University (BJTU) in 

2003. It was a record number of students that has 

not been matched since. “It was quite a job before we 

could leave”, he remembers vividly. “We arrived with a 

month’s delay due to the consequences of the SARS 

epidemic. It was hard to make up for the missed lessons, 

but once we had met, everything went smoothly”. 

At Group T Leuven Campus, Lin Zhang studied Electronics 

& ICT Engineering Technology option Hardware Design. 

He gained his first business experience at the high-tech 

company Agilent during his master’s thesis. It prompted 

him to follow an extra master’s in Industrial Management 

at KU Leuven after his engineering study. Both master’s 

degrees formed a solid stepping-stone for an academic 

career, first as a teaching assistant on Group T Leuven 

Campus, then as a PhD student and postdoc at the 

Department of Mechanical Engineering of KU Leuven. 

STEM education 

In 2017, Lin Zhang decided to take a different approach 

and took his chance as an entrepreneur in China. He had 

already discovered a niche in the market in Belgium: a 

dire shortage of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering 

and Mathematics) teachers to interest young people in 

the jobs of the future. In China, high schools appeared 

to be struggling with the same problem, so Lin Zhang 

started his own business as an educational consultant in 

STEM matters. His clients are high schools that he 

advises on the development and implementation of a 

STEM policy. This also includes educating teachers 

according to the ‘train-the-trainer’ principle and 

developing educational materials that teachers can use 

in their own class. 

Steering Committee 

When on 24 August 2019 a new International Alumni 

Chapter was officially installed in Beijing together with the 

commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Double 

Degree Programme in Engineering Technology from KU 

Leuven and BJTU, Martine Torfs, Director of the 

university’s International Office did not have to look for a 

pioneer for long. All the tracks led to the BJTU student 

who came to Leuven in 2003 to study and to teach and 

who runs his own business in Beijing today. Together 

with five like-minded colleagues, Chairman Lin Zhang 

forms a steering committee that is committed to 

connecting the 200 KU Leuven alumni in China’s capital 

with each other and with their alma mater in the far 

Leuven. 

Yves Persoons 

42

Lin Zhang 

43

ENGINEERING 

THE FUTURE 

Study at the Faculty 

of Engineering Technology 

We make you feel at home in a globalised world. As an engineer 

without borders, you are committed to the major challenges 

of our time: climate, environment, health, mobility, poverty… 

Equipped with science, technology and professional skills, 

you are prepared to turn the tide. 

English programmes 

Bachelor’s programme 

• BSc in Engineering Technology 

- Electromechanical Engineering 

- Electronics and ICT Engineering 

- Chemical Engineering 

Master’s programmes 

• MSc in Biochemical Engineering Technology 

• MSc in Chemical Engineering Technology 

• MSc in Civil Engineering Technology 

• MSc in Electromechanical Engineering Technology 

• MSc in Electronics and ICT Engineering Technology 

• European Master in Sustainable Food Systems 

Engineering, Technology and Business 

• Erasmus Mundus - MSc in Imaging and Light in 

Extended Reality 

• Erasmus Mundus - European Master in Radiation 

and its Effects on MicroElectronics and Photonics 

Technologies 

Advanced Master’s programmes 

• Advanced MSc in Innovative Health Technology 

• Advanced MSc in Welding Engineering 

www.fet.kuleuven.be

International edition 2, december 2020

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?