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Quarterly • October - November - December <strong>2020</strong> • Delivery Office 3000 Leuven 1 • P919663<br />
Magazine of the Faculty of<br />
Engineering Technology<br />
INTERNATIONAL<br />
Special <strong>edition</strong><br />
December <strong>2020</strong><br />
Salma Nachi and Nikte Van Landeghem<br />
VR HEALTH GAME WINS FIRST<br />
KU LEUVEN KICK AWARD<br />
• Leading Ladies of SEFI<br />
• TechInVent for enterprising<br />
engineers<br />
• Erasmus Mundus in Imaging<br />
and Light Extended Reality<br />
• Ambassadors Chair<br />
• New engineering curriculum<br />
• Agoria Solar Team is European<br />
Champion 2000<br />
• Collaboration in the South<br />
• KU Leuven Chapter Beijing<br />
1
AGORIA SOLAR TEAM KU LEUVEN<br />
WINS EUROPEAN SOLAR CHALLENGE <strong>2020</strong><br />
CONTENT<br />
• Editorial 3<br />
• Faculty news 4-11<br />
• Educational development in focus 12-21<br />
• Students in focus 11-25<br />
• Professors in focus 26-29<br />
• Research in focus 30-33<br />
• Faculty worldwide 34-40<br />
• Alumni in focus 41-44<br />
COLOPHON<br />
ConnectING is the magazine of the Faculty of Engineering Technology of KU Leuven.<br />
It is published three times a year and is intended for all students and staff of the faculty<br />
and its 7 campuses, alumni, external relations and the broad social field with which<br />
the faculty maintains a network.<br />
Responsible publisher: Prof. Bert Lauwers, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering<br />
Technology | Editorial Board: Anja Huysmans, (Hilde Bonte) Kris Henrioulle a.i.,<br />
Dorine Bruneel, Niels De Brier, Koen Eneman, Chrisje Haenen, Hilde Lauwereys,<br />
Yves Persoons, Sofie Pollin, Inge Van Cauter, Louis van Hoye, Bart Vanrumste,<br />
Rens Vervaeke | Editor: Yves Persoons | Editorial Secretariat: Inge Van Cauter<br />
Editorial Adress:<br />
Faculty of Engineering Technology<br />
Willem de Croylaan 56, building E, box 2203<br />
3001 Heverlee (Belgium)<br />
+32 53 72 71 86 (Secretariat)<br />
connecting@kuleuven.be<br />
www.fet.kuleuven.be<br />
Photos: Yasmina Besseghir, Delphine D’haenens, Tine Desodt, Julie Feyaerts,<br />
Rob Stevens, Tom Talloen, Johan Van Droogenbroeck, Filip Van Loock.<br />
Layout & Printing Office:<br />
artoos group – www.artoosgroup.eu<br />
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2
EDITORIAL<br />
<strong>2020</strong>: A YEAR OF<br />
DISRUPTION AND RENEWAL<br />
The pandemic outbreak of COVID-19 has disrupted virtually<br />
all aspects of human life. It has broken rhythms and<br />
routines, shattered patterns and norms, and exposed the<br />
best and worst of humanity and human institutions. Universities<br />
and institutes of higher education worldwide were not spared<br />
either.<br />
On 16 March <strong>2020</strong>, KU Leuven switched overnight to digital<br />
education. At the same time, the development of a mixed<br />
educational model was started, based on the principle ‘online<br />
when possible, on-campus when necessary’. This mixed model<br />
went ‘live’ on 21 September. In the first weeks, the user numbers<br />
on the digital learning platforms and the livestream service broke<br />
all records. Both professors and students quickly found their way<br />
to new forms of work, tools and technology.<br />
In our Faculty, ‘Going Digital’ was accompanied by another<br />
radical operation: the implementation of a new engineering<br />
curriculum. This not only focuses on mastering the technology,<br />
but also on numerous other qualities and capabilities that<br />
companies expect from an engineer. At the same time, students<br />
are given more responsibility for their learning process, the<br />
possibilities for personalizing their study programme are<br />
increased and contacts with professional practice are intensified.<br />
The aim of the operation is to educate versatile and creative<br />
problem solvers and developers, who think across disciplines,<br />
and for whom lifelong learning is an indispensable part of the job.<br />
In this issue, we pay ample attention to the curriculum reform<br />
and to one of its most illustrative emanations: the Engineering<br />
Experiences.<br />
Despite the pandemic crisis, our Faculty’s international activities<br />
continued in <strong>2020</strong>. This is evidenced by the cooperation<br />
agreement with two new partner universities in India and China,<br />
a top position in the board of directors of The European Society<br />
for Engineering Education (SEFI), an Honour Award from the<br />
Society of Manufacturing Engineers and the participation in<br />
international projects in Aruba, Ethiopia and Ukraine. Furthermore,<br />
Technovation Hub has joined the Design Factory Global Network<br />
and the Solar Team became European champion with its selfbuilt<br />
solar-powered racing car. A new Erasmus Mundus Master<br />
in Imaging & Light Extended Reality was launched at Ghent<br />
Technology Campus. Two international students won the first<br />
KU Leuven KICK Award with their innovative project and alumnus<br />
Lin Zhang became the first president of the new KU Leuven<br />
Alumni Chapter Beijing. You can read all about it in this issue.<br />
Contrary to expectations, the number of international students<br />
continued to grow. On the Leuven Campus, there is even an<br />
increase by 22%, mainly due to female newcomers. The fact that<br />
students from all over the world still find their way to our faculty<br />
is a source of hope.<br />
COVID-19 has turned the world upside down. In a number of<br />
respect, the malignant virus has also activated and accelerated<br />
necessary innovations. The spectacular digital transformation in<br />
education is a prime example of this. This turnaround was<br />
necessary anyway, not because of the virus, but to educate<br />
suitable engineers and professionals for the 4th Industrial<br />
Revolution currently taking place.<br />
Professor Bert Lauwers<br />
Dean of the Faculty of Engineering Technology<br />
CONNECTING<br />
3
FACULTY NEWS<br />
DEAN PROF. BERT LAUWERS<br />
CONTINUITY IN PROGRESS<br />
The calm determination with which Dean Prof. Bert Lauwers has united, expanded and<br />
strengthened the Faculty of Engineering Technology over the past four years has been<br />
rewarded. He was re-elected with brio on 10 February <strong>2020</strong>. Keeping course where possible,<br />
adjusting when neccessary, will be the adage of his second term of office.<br />
An adage is an idea or a wisdom that<br />
has established its value. It is<br />
generally endorsed that Prof.<br />
Lauwers’ policy falls under this heading.<br />
Strategic objectives such as the profiling of<br />
the study programme, the styling of the<br />
multicampus programme and further<br />
internationalisation are in full swing and<br />
have already led to new insights and<br />
impulses for further developments.<br />
“The most far-reaching enterprise is and<br />
remains the programme reform”, according<br />
to Prof. Lauwers. “Colleagues of all<br />
campuses have buckled down to the<br />
renewal of the curriculum. This exercise<br />
has set an unprecedented dynamism in<br />
motion. We set off for a trajectory of at<br />
least another four years, of which the<br />
outcome should not only be a clear-cut<br />
profile of the programme, but also a true<br />
multi-campus faculty every campus can<br />
identify with”.<br />
Valorisation<br />
During Prof. Lauwers’ first term of office,<br />
no less than six new additional programmes<br />
saw the light of day: postgraduate and<br />
international master’s programmes. Each<br />
of them has great potential for<br />
internationalisation and lifelong learning.<br />
Over the past four years, the number of<br />
PhD students has increased exponentially.<br />
According to Prof. Lauwers, the inclusion<br />
of a ‘valorisation’ component in each PhD<br />
has undoubtedly contributed to this<br />
growth. “In any case, it has taken the PhD<br />
student out of his/her ivory tower and put<br />
him/her with both feet in the work field. If<br />
we can now convince the companies of<br />
its added value, we are on the right track<br />
here too”.<br />
Participation<br />
The new curriculum offers students an<br />
unprecedented range of opportunities to<br />
develop, i.e. to orientate themselves more<br />
broadly or to delve further into elective<br />
packages and multicampus modules.<br />
Prof. Lauwers also wants to give new<br />
impetus to student participation at both<br />
local and faculty level.<br />
As far as human resources policy is<br />
concerned, according to Prof. Lauwers<br />
the next coming years it will not be easy<br />
to find suitable profiles for vacant or new<br />
positions. “That is why I do not think it is<br />
wise to link educational work methods too<br />
strongly to statutes”.<br />
Breakthrough<br />
<strong>International</strong>ly, Prof. Lauwers has<br />
contributed to a breakthrough. “The influx<br />
of foreign students into the Englishlanguage<br />
bachelor’s programme has<br />
increased considerably in recent years. At<br />
the same time, we are seeing a growing<br />
number of international master’s<br />
programmes. What the impact of the<br />
corona crisis will be here remains to be<br />
seen. As far as international cooperation<br />
is concerned, I am in favour of a limited<br />
number of strategic partners in different<br />
regions for the structural mobility of<br />
students, professors and researchers”.<br />
Prof. Lauwers also wishes to pursue a<br />
similar ‘quality first’ policy in the<br />
relationships with the industry. “It comes<br />
down to making the expertise available on<br />
our campuses even more accessible to<br />
regional enterprises. The other way round,<br />
I also want to inject even more business<br />
know-how into our study programmae via<br />
guest lectures and part-time positions for<br />
seasoned entrepreneurs”.<br />
Transparent policy and management will<br />
remain a priority for the Dean in the<br />
coming years. “A well-oiled internal<br />
communication is indispensable in this<br />
respect. A large university as well as a<br />
multicampus faculty counts numerous<br />
active administrative and advisory<br />
committees. Their interoperability may be<br />
further optimised. The regionalisation of<br />
the education committees is already one<br />
step towards enhanced effectiveness”.<br />
Policy team<br />
On 11 May <strong>2020</strong>, the Faculty Council<br />
approved the composition of the faculty’s<br />
new policy team. In the coming years, the<br />
Dean will be supported by two Vice<br />
Deans. Prof. Dorine Bruneel, former Vice<br />
Chair at Ghent Technology Campus,<br />
succeeds Prof. Greet Langie as Vice Dean<br />
for Education. Prof. Koen Eneman, former<br />
Chair at Group T Leuven Campus, takes<br />
on the task of Vice Dean for <strong>International</strong><br />
Affairs. With both Vice Deans, Prof.<br />
Lauwers is surrounded by experts who<br />
have earned their spurs in the field.<br />
A seasoned dean, Prof. Lauwers knows<br />
first-hand that the implementation of a<br />
widely supported faculty policy takes time<br />
and energy and cannot be rushed into. A<br />
good guideline here is Vincent Van Gogh’s<br />
alleged quote : ‘great things do not come<br />
about on impulse, they are the result of<br />
many smaller things being brought<br />
together’. A multi-campus faculty is no<br />
exception.<br />
Yves Persoons<br />
4
SOCIETY OF MANUFACTURING ENGINEERS<br />
LAURELS PROF. BERT LAUWERS<br />
On 10 March <strong>2020</strong>,<br />
the Society of<br />
Manufacturing<br />
Engineers (SME)<br />
announced its<br />
annual <strong>International</strong><br />
Honour Awards.<br />
The prestigious Eli<br />
Witney Productivity Award was granted to<br />
Prof. Bert Lauwers, Dean of the Faculty of<br />
Engineering Technology, for his high-level<br />
contribution to manufacturing production,<br />
research education and scientific<br />
publications.<br />
SME is an association of professional<br />
educators committed to promoting and<br />
supporting the manufacturing industry.<br />
SME helps manufacturers innovate, grow<br />
and prosper by promoting manufacturing<br />
technology, developing a skilled workforce<br />
and connecting the manufacturing<br />
industry.<br />
“We are proud to recognise the<br />
distinguished honourees for their essential<br />
and ongoing efforts in this vital industry”,<br />
said Sandra L. Bouckley, Executive<br />
Director of SME. “Our five awardees have<br />
changed the landscape of manufacturing<br />
and SME, making both stronger, more<br />
advanced and inclusive than ever before”.<br />
Yves Persoons<br />
CONNECTING<br />
5
FACULTY NEWS<br />
PROF. KOEN ENEMAN, VICE DEAN FOR INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS:<br />
DOING MORE WITH<br />
FEWER PARTNERS<br />
Strengthening the international position of the Faculty of Engineering Technology. That will<br />
be the Vice Dean’s challenge for the next four years. It doesn’t seem like a titanic task at first<br />
thought. Does the faculty not yet maintain close contacts with universities in more than 40<br />
countries? Can students not yet swarm out to 140 Erasmus destinations? What more does the<br />
Vice Dean aspire?<br />
“ Not more, but differently”, Prof.<br />
Eneman answers. “<strong>International</strong>isation<br />
should no longer be<br />
measured in terms of the number of<br />
partner institutions. In line with the Truly<br />
<strong>International</strong> concept in the strategic plan<br />
of KU Leuven, we want to evolve towards<br />
a limited number of strategic partners in<br />
specificly demarcated regions for<br />
structural cooperation and mobility of<br />
students, professors and researchers”.<br />
Integration<br />
Prof. Eneman studied Electrical<br />
Engineering at KU Leuven. After his PhD<br />
in Applied Sciences, he worked as a<br />
researcher and post-doc at ESAT-SCD<br />
(the current ESAT-STADIUS research<br />
center) and at the Research Group<br />
Experimental Oto-rhino-laryngology of KU<br />
Leuven. In 2004, he joined the then Group<br />
T University College as a lecturer and<br />
researcher at the e-Media Lab. In 2012,<br />
he was promoted head of the engineering<br />
department. In this position, he smoothly<br />
steered the integration of the university<br />
college into KU Leuven in 2013. As<br />
campus chair, he transformed Group T<br />
into a leading international campus of the<br />
young Faculty of Engineering Technology.<br />
Therefore, it did not come as a surprise<br />
that the dean addressed Prof. Eneman to<br />
take on the new appealing position of<br />
Vice Dean for <strong>International</strong> Affairs.<br />
Legacy<br />
“<strong>International</strong>ly, the faculty’s campuses<br />
travel at different speeds”, Prof. Eneman<br />
notes. “This is partly a legacy from the<br />
pre-integration era that cannot be ignored.<br />
It is not in itself negative either. On the<br />
contrary, every campus has its<br />
international trump card. In Ghent and<br />
Bruges, for example, there is expertise in<br />
international research. De Nayer Campus<br />
and Diepenbeek Campus are well<br />
acquainted with <strong>International</strong>isation at<br />
Home. Geel Campus has experience in<br />
collaborating with developing countries.<br />
And at Group T Campus, an original 2+2<br />
formula has been established for the bidiplomination<br />
of foreign students. In<br />
Leuven, you can also follow the entire<br />
engineering programmes in English.<br />
Meanwhile, international master’s<br />
programmes have already started at<br />
Ghent Technology Campus, at De Nayer<br />
Campus, and will be soon at Geel<br />
Campus. Erasmus is well established<br />
everywhere, both in student mobility and<br />
in capacity building projects. So there is<br />
no shortage of initiatives. What is required<br />
is a faculty international policy to<br />
coordinate and optimise them”.<br />
In this respect, the new Vice Dean feels<br />
strengthened by the circumstances. “The<br />
EU’s Erasmus programme is currently<br />
undergoing a thorough rethink. There is<br />
the earlier mentioned strategic policy of<br />
KU Leuven with the establishment of a<br />
university-wide Global Exchange Network.<br />
In the context of the curriculum reform,<br />
the Faculty itself is providing for a stronger<br />
6
embedding of education in the<br />
international policy. The message is<br />
always the same: quality takes precedence<br />
over quantity. Long-term structural<br />
cooperation becomes much more<br />
important than one-off or short-term<br />
initiatives”.<br />
Organisation<br />
“You don’t pursue a policy on paper. A<br />
policy supposes management and<br />
organisation”, continues Prof. Eneman.<br />
“The new organisational structure is still<br />
being developed. It should make it<br />
possible to share expertise on the<br />
campuses and deploy it on a faculty level.<br />
The current task force on<br />
<strong>International</strong>isation, which is mainly<br />
operational, can continue to function. The<br />
expertise group will be transformed into a<br />
Faculty Council for <strong>International</strong> Policy,<br />
reinforced with representatives of the<br />
permanent education committees to<br />
strengthen the link with education”.<br />
“<strong>International</strong> recruitment remains a<br />
priority”, confirms Prof. Eneman. “As far<br />
as upcoming engineering talent is<br />
concerned, the Flemish market has<br />
reached its limits. Every year, there are<br />
some shifts in the student populations,<br />
but currently growth has to be sought in<br />
tapping foreign sources, in a wellconsidered<br />
and selective manner”.<br />
Research<br />
In the Vice Dean’s policy, there will also<br />
be room for research. “All research<br />
groups already have their own international<br />
network and no longer need to be<br />
convinced of the importance of<br />
internationalisation.z There is already a<br />
great deal of consultation and cooperation<br />
within the research departments of the<br />
Science, Engineering and Technology<br />
Group of KU Leuven. The faculty’s<br />
international policy will play a facilitating<br />
and supporting role here in order to<br />
further develop international research at<br />
our campuses”.<br />
Yves Persoons<br />
Prof. Koen Eneman<br />
CONNECTING 7
FACULTY NEWS<br />
THE LEADING LADIES<br />
OF THE EUROPEAN SOCIETY<br />
FOR ENGINEERING EDUCATION<br />
‘Driving Engineering Education to Meet Future Challenges’.<br />
The European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI or<br />
Société Européenne pour la Formation des Ingénieurs), the<br />
largest and most important network of all those involved in<br />
training engineers on this continent, is flying this flag.<br />
Since October 2019, Prof. Yolande<br />
Berbers (Faculty of Engineering<br />
Science) heads this prestigious<br />
organisation with Professors. Tinne De<br />
Laet (Faculty of Engineering Science) and<br />
Greet Langie (Faculty of Engineering<br />
Technology) at her side as directors. They<br />
tell the story of SEFI and the course they<br />
will take.<br />
The new president takes off immediately.<br />
“KU Leuven was co-founder of SEFI in<br />
1973 and has all these years played a<br />
prominent role in the management and<br />
operation of the organisation. Our<br />
university delivered several chairs, but as<br />
far as we know it is the first time that three<br />
female KU Leuven professors hold a seat<br />
on the Board of Directors, consisting of<br />
22 directors”.<br />
The Leuven triad obviously is not caught<br />
unprepared. Prof. Yolande Berbers<br />
previously held the position of Vice-<br />
President of SEFI. Prof. Tinne De Laet has<br />
been Director and Chair of the Special<br />
Interest Groups on Engineering Education<br />
Research for three years. And Prof. Greet<br />
Langie was Chair of the Special Interest<br />
Group on Physics and is currently<br />
Committee Chair of ‘Capacity Building’.<br />
Education<br />
“SEFI is not an association or exclusive<br />
club of engineers”, explains Yolande<br />
Berbers. “Our core business by the way is<br />
not engineering per se, but education for<br />
engineers. Numerous actors play a role in<br />
this versatile task. Engineers, obviously,<br />
but also educational developers,<br />
supporters, technologists, researchers and<br />
providers. Our members include not only<br />
some 120 universities and institutions of<br />
higher education, but also rectors, deans,<br />
professors, students and representatives<br />
of both professional associations and the<br />
industry. We can state that SEFI gathers<br />
some 1 million engineering students and<br />
150,000 academics. By unceasingly<br />
working on innovation and excellence, we<br />
strive to improve the image of the<br />
engineering profession and highlight the<br />
indispensable role that engineers play in<br />
business and society”.<br />
Priorities<br />
“SEFI’s scope is so wide and<br />
comprehensive that one inevitably has to<br />
make choices,” Yolande Berbers<br />
continues. “That is why five priorities have<br />
been set. These include questions such<br />
as How do we make engineering<br />
education (more) attractive to young<br />
people? How do we close the gap<br />
between education and work? How do<br />
we stimulate students’ and graduates’<br />
mobility in Europe and in the world? How<br />
do we introduce digitisation into education<br />
and which educational technologies do<br />
we preferably adopt? And finally yet<br />
important, how do we put engineering<br />
education on the map as a field of<br />
research? After all, it is clear that<br />
educational innovation in the long term<br />
may have an impact, provided it is<br />
underpinned by sound scientific research.<br />
In the education industry, too, research<br />
and development are inseparable”.<br />
How it works<br />
“SEFI acts at different levels”, says Prof.<br />
Tinne De Laet. “The field work takes place<br />
in the so-called ‘Special Interest Groups’.<br />
There are currently eleven such groups<br />
with themes ranging from ‘Mathematics’<br />
and ‘Physics’ to ‘Ethics’ and ‘Gender and<br />
Diversity’. Each group frequently<br />
organises workshops and study days<br />
where experiences and best practices are<br />
exchanged.<br />
There is also the ‘European Engineering<br />
Deans Council’ and the annual ‘European<br />
Convention for Engineering Deans’, of<br />
which the 2019 <strong>edition</strong> took place in<br />
Leuven. The high mass is undoubtedly<br />
the ‘SEFI Annual Conference’, where all<br />
findings are presented and imperative<br />
policy decisions of the institutions are<br />
clarified”.<br />
As a European organization, SEFI plays<br />
an important role in projects such as<br />
ERASMUS+ and HORIZON <strong>2020</strong>, for<br />
example Prof. Greet Langie’s PREFER<br />
project. “PREFER stands for ‘Professional<br />
Roles and Employability of Future<br />
Engineers’. It aims to help future engineers<br />
identify their strengths and growth<br />
potential and to familiarise them with the<br />
professional roles they may play in their<br />
future careers. It is worth mentioning that<br />
the competence tests resulting from this<br />
project will be implemented in <strong>2020</strong>-2021<br />
in the renewed education programme of<br />
the Faculty of Engineering Technology.<br />
This example illustrates that SEFI’s<br />
accomplishments find their way into<br />
educational practice”.<br />
Heading<br />
The Leuven triad does not lack ambition.<br />
Key concepts in the course to be followed<br />
are: strengthening, deepening and<br />
broadening.<br />
8
Prof. Greet Langie, Prof. Yolande Berbers and Prof. Tinne De Laet<br />
Prof. Yolande Berbers wants to use the<br />
presidency to further develop SEFI as an<br />
organisation, both quantitatively and<br />
qualitatively. In practice, this means<br />
attracting more members and engaging<br />
more top universities. For example, she is<br />
planning a ‘Tour de France’ in order to<br />
gain a firmer foothold among our southern<br />
neighbours.<br />
Prof. Tinne De Laet will further concentrate<br />
on the ‘Special Interest Groups on<br />
Engineering Education Research’, more<br />
specifically on a better matching of supply<br />
and demand and a more efficient flow of<br />
research results throughout and outside<br />
the organisation. Vital supporting tools are<br />
the bimonthly ‘European Journal of<br />
Engineering Education’, the monthly<br />
electronic newsletter, the SEFI Annual<br />
Reports and a wide range of papers.<br />
Prof. Greet Langie sees her mission as<br />
essentially broadening, and wants to<br />
make the European organisation a<br />
credible player on the world stage. “SEFI<br />
already engages with global organisations<br />
like UNESCO, the World Federation of<br />
Engineering Organizations, the<br />
<strong>International</strong> Society for Engineering<br />
Education and the American Society for<br />
Engineering Education. It is time to<br />
sharpen the viewer’s focus on the East,<br />
on China, India and South-East Asia<br />
amongst others. The network that the<br />
Faculty of Engineering Technology has<br />
built up there may serve as both a starting<br />
point and an entry point. Because here<br />
too, the saying goes: when the tide is out,<br />
the beacons are set”.<br />
One thing is certain: these are busy days<br />
for the Leuven triad. The ladies’ response<br />
is unanimous: “We did not come in this by<br />
chance. It is the culmination of many<br />
years of dedication”.<br />
Jelle De Borger, Yves Persoons<br />
CONNECTING<br />
9
FACULTY NEWS<br />
Prof. Davy Pissoort Prof. Frank Leferink<br />
10
AMBASSADORS CHAIR<br />
AWARDED TO PROF. FRANK LEFERINK<br />
This year, KU Leuven Campus KULAK granted Bruges<br />
Campus its first Ambassadors Chair of the Faculty of<br />
Engineering Technology. The title has been awarded to Prof.<br />
Frank Leferink, Chair of Electro-Magnetic Compatibility<br />
(EMC) at the University of Twente and also technical advisor<br />
at Thales Netherlands and manager of the Thales Network of<br />
Excellence on EMC. The ambassadorship is the culmination<br />
of many years of collaboration with the research group<br />
Mechatronics at Bruges Campus.<br />
Prof. Leferink. “That is why we are making<br />
every possible effort to make EMI<br />
management as much risk-based as<br />
possible. This requires an interdisciplinary<br />
approach covering the entire life cycle of<br />
the product or system. This involves<br />
chance and risk analysis, risk reduction,<br />
verification and validation. The aim is to<br />
build in an inherent EMI-robustness from<br />
the early design phase”.<br />
“ The Ambassadors Chair is actually<br />
an initiative of KULAK, our sister<br />
campus in Kortrijk”, says Prof. Davy<br />
Pissoort, specialist in electrical and<br />
electronic systems at the M-Group.<br />
“Every year, KULAK awards this title to an<br />
internationally renowned academic whose<br />
research is closely related to what<br />
happens on campus. By proclaiming Prof.<br />
Leferink as Ambassador of <strong>2020</strong>-2021,<br />
we hit two targets with one shot. Frank is<br />
not only a global authority in one of our<br />
group’s main research topics; he also has<br />
both feet firmly in business practice. This<br />
symbiosis is virtually the DNA of education<br />
and research on our campus and, by<br />
extension, the faculty. The recent<br />
European ITN project “PETER” on<br />
electromagnetic risk management is a<br />
good example of this”.<br />
Invisible forces<br />
Prof. Leferink specialises in electromagnetic<br />
interference, or EMI. He describes his field<br />
of expertise as follows: “We all know EMI<br />
when the sound from a loudspeaker is<br />
disturbed by a series of beeps coming<br />
from a mobile phone. Pretty annoying, but<br />
not bad in itself. It becomes problematic<br />
when crucial high-tech equipment in cars,<br />
aeroplanes, hospitals, nuclear power<br />
plants or just in your own home turns out<br />
to be sensitive to EMI. While with<br />
conventional devices the risks are usually<br />
visible or audible, with high-tech devices<br />
or systems the situation is rather different.<br />
Invisible forces can be at work there. This<br />
means that as electronic devices become<br />
more complex and the user more<br />
dependent on them, the risks increase<br />
accordingly. What’s more, there may be<br />
several EMIs simultaneously interfering<br />
with each other”.<br />
“Until today, most engineers are not<br />
sufficiently aware of the importance of<br />
proper EMI risk management”, Prof.<br />
Leferink continues. “This has to do with<br />
the fact that the education initially still<br />
functionally aims at rapid R&D and<br />
production. This puts risk factors to the<br />
back burner. The tragic accident involving<br />
an electric wagon in Oss two years ago is<br />
a sad example of this. Just as it was<br />
entering a railway crossing, the brakes<br />
failed. Four children died. Not safe enough<br />
for passenger transport, the TNO research<br />
centre arbitrated after the disaster. The<br />
cart was equipped with the risk protection<br />
of a forklift truck for moving goods”.<br />
Risk management<br />
“Complete immunity for EMI is a noble<br />
goal, but not feasible in practice,” says<br />
The scope of the research is virtually endless.<br />
Nearly all industrial sectors are<br />
involved and interested: shipping,<br />
aerospace, transport and transportation,<br />
defence and (cyber)security,<br />
telecommunications, banking and<br />
insurance, micro-electronics, etc. No<br />
wonder Prof. Leferink sees a ‘bright<br />
future’ for his profession.<br />
Game changer<br />
For the M-Group at Bruges Campus, the<br />
Ambassadors Chair is both an important<br />
boost and an asset. “Electromagnetic<br />
compatibility (EMC) has been in the centre<br />
of our attention since the beginning of the<br />
90s”, confirms Prof. Pissoort. “Key<br />
concepts here are reliability, robustness<br />
and safety in complex and/or rough<br />
conditions. Thanks to our cooperation<br />
with the manufacturing industry - large<br />
companies as well as SMEs - we have<br />
become an integral part of the economic<br />
life in the region and beyond. With the<br />
help of our new ambassador, we can<br />
significantly increase our impact on<br />
industry and social life. In that respect, the<br />
future looks bright for the M-Group”.<br />
Yves Persoons<br />
CONNECTING<br />
11
EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN FOCUS<br />
FACULTY OF<br />
ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY:<br />
RENEWED<br />
CURRICULUM<br />
IS OFF AND<br />
RUNNING!<br />
How do you put an education programme on the map that<br />
allows young talent to grow and blossom into versatile<br />
engineers? How do you maximise the benefits of a multicampus<br />
faculty? These were the challenges that the Faculty of<br />
Engineering Technology faced three years ago when it decided<br />
to reinvent the engineering technology programme. The first<br />
bachelor’s year was launched this autumn. Prof. Greet Langie,<br />
former Vice Dean for Education and pioneer of the ‘Gideons<br />
gang’ of programme reformers, and Jeroen Buijs, former Vice<br />
Campus Chair at Group T Leuven Campus, explain.<br />
Our companies - and by extension<br />
our society - are asking for<br />
versatile, inquisitive and creative<br />
‘problem solvers’ and developers,” says<br />
Prof. Langie. “Engineers deployable on<br />
many fronts. Engineers who can link<br />
disciplines in order to come up with new<br />
solutions and put them into practice. We<br />
are therefore starting the programme with<br />
a solid polyvalent engineering programme<br />
for all the students on our campuses. (This<br />
new programme does not apply on<br />
Campus Diepenbeek.) Their entire<br />
programme now rests on four pillars. In<br />
the first pillar, ‘Engineer and Science’,<br />
we lay a foundation and students<br />
immediately see how the sciences are<br />
applied in technology. The ‘Engineer and<br />
Technology’ pillar also starts with a<br />
polyvalent training that forms the basis of<br />
the four graduation tracks in the bachelor’s<br />
programmes and ends with specialised<br />
training within the eight master’s<br />
programmes. In ‘Engineer and World’<br />
we broaden the students’ horizon. And in<br />
the ‘Engineering Experiences’,<br />
everything comes together. Students are<br />
challenged to think up and work out<br />
concrete technological solutions like a real<br />
engineer. It goes without saying, that this<br />
also includes skills such as team work,<br />
communication and an entrepreneurial<br />
spirit. What’s more, from now on these<br />
so-called ‘professional skills’ will be<br />
structurally integrated in the new<br />
curriculum and supervised by experts”.<br />
Wide range, extensive choice<br />
“All this ensures that students will<br />
encounter concrete technological issues<br />
from the very beginning of their studies,”<br />
continues Jeroen Buijs. “Another<br />
innovation is that from now on, students<br />
can take their curriculum more into their<br />
own hands. The range of specialisations,<br />
options, electives and modules on six of<br />
our seven campuses is such that everyone<br />
will find something to suit him/her. In<br />
addition, switching between campuses<br />
from <strong>2020</strong> onwards is child’s play.<br />
Nevertheless, those who prefer to stay on<br />
their familiar campus also benefit. In the<br />
multicampus modules, everyone at each<br />
of our locations can go beyond campus<br />
boundaries to immerse him/herself<br />
12
Jeroen Buijs and Prof. Greet Langie<br />
completely in his/her interests. Remaining<br />
mentally mobile does not necessarily<br />
imply physically changing campus”.<br />
“We take a similar approach internationally.<br />
Of course, we continue to encourage<br />
students to participate in international<br />
exchange programmes. We are already<br />
doing this successfully. At the same time,<br />
however, we are also fully committed to<br />
expanding the range of English-language<br />
education on all our campuses”. This<br />
way, we want to attract even more<br />
international students and create a real<br />
‘internationalisation at home’. Flemish<br />
students are also reaping the benefits of<br />
this. They learn to cooperate with other<br />
nationalities and deal with diversity, which<br />
contributes to their education as all-round<br />
engineers. For both Flemish and<br />
international students it offers a training<br />
ground for developing communicative<br />
and intercultural competences”.<br />
Professional practice<br />
“Last but not least, from <strong>2020</strong> onwards<br />
the relationship with the industry is being<br />
significantly intensified, which goes hand<br />
in hand with our aim to train entrepreneurial<br />
engineers,” explains Prof. Langie. “You do<br />
not just learn from a book; but also from<br />
experience. For example, by spending a<br />
day with an engineer right from the start.<br />
By visiting companies on a regular basis.<br />
By working together in projects. And by<br />
creatively taking on assignments<br />
originating directly from the professional<br />
practice.<br />
When new entrants instantly can look out<br />
on the finality of it, the education<br />
programme will also become more<br />
attractive. Even those starting an<br />
engineering programme are still not fully<br />
or not at all aware of how varied and<br />
fascinating the engineering profession is.<br />
Therefore, we want to highlight this even<br />
more and better. Our message to young<br />
people is clear: on each of our campuses<br />
you can indulge today as the engineer of<br />
tomorrow”.<br />
Yves Persoons<br />
CONNECTING<br />
13
EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN FOCUS<br />
ENGINEERING EXPERIENCES:<br />
ANTICIPATING PROFESSIONAL<br />
PRACTICE<br />
The renewed education programme of the Faculty of Engineering Technology focuses not<br />
only on the mastery of technology, but also on many other qualities and capabilities expected<br />
of an engineer. A striking novelty in the programme is the ‘Engineering Experience’, which in<br />
the first bachelor’s year alone accounts for 9 ECTS. What does this programme component<br />
stand for? And what is there to experience? Christel Willemaerts, coordinator at Group T<br />
Leuven Campus, gives the answer.<br />
“ An engineering experience is both a programme component<br />
and a work method”, Christel explains. “It belongs to the<br />
category of alternative educational work methods that aim<br />
to encourage problem-solving skills, independence and creativity<br />
as well as to convey professional competences such as<br />
communication, teamwork, entrepreneurship and critical<br />
reflection. What makes the Engineering Experience special is that<br />
it ‘touches’ the students and is therefore memorable -thus<br />
instructive. Pine and Gilmore, who coined the term ‘experience<br />
economy’, make a distinction between ‘absorption’ and<br />
‘immersion’.<br />
Whereas classical project work often involves absorption, an<br />
experience provides immersion, a ‘total experience’ that also<br />
appeals to emotions and thus provides greater and longer<br />
memory value. What makes an engineering experience haunting?<br />
To begin with, the attractiveness of course, but other factors also<br />
play a role: the challenge, the element of competition, the reward<br />
or -simply- the fun. Engineering experiences make learning<br />
more fun”.<br />
Deployment<br />
“In the experience of engineering, you can go all the way,”<br />
Christel continues. “You are challenged to tap all your knowledge,<br />
skills and attitudes and bring them together. Furthermore, you<br />
can use your own talents or competencies acquired elsewhere.<br />
This occurs in assignments of which the outcome or result is not<br />
always fixed in advance. The more open the assignment, the<br />
more you can apply your creativeness”.<br />
“Not only the degree of openness varies, so does the approach:<br />
individually or in a team. Furthermore, the complexity and<br />
authenticity, i.e. the degree of involvement of the companies,<br />
increase as the programme progresses. Important is that a<br />
concrete result or a tangible product is expected from the<br />
student or the team. This learning by trial and error greatly<br />
contributes to the intensity and learning potential of the<br />
experience. The ultimate goal of the Engineering Experience is<br />
to be a reflection of the future professional life”.<br />
Educational learning activity<br />
Engineering Experience 1 in the first bachelor year consists of<br />
four educational activities; an integrated lab, a project, spatial<br />
insight & CAD and a series of supporting seminars focusing on<br />
professional competences. “Within, students learn the<br />
methodologies and skills required to cope with increasingly<br />
complex assignments and challenges in the course of their<br />
studies”, says Christel.<br />
The Integrated Lab consists of carrying out delineated hands-on<br />
assignments involving various disciplines. The experiments cover<br />
gravity acceleration, mass acceleration, microscopy and<br />
electrochemistry. The project is an open assignment that<br />
contains elements from the specialisations from which the<br />
students have to choose after the first year. The student teams<br />
will build a part of a large Rube Goldberg machine; an ingenious<br />
device that produces a mechanical chain reaction that reaches<br />
its goal at the end. “Making chain reactions not only creates<br />
tension and suspense, but is also very instructive”, Christel<br />
notes. “Energy conversion, friction resistance, strength<br />
calculation, sensors, actuators, materials, construction<br />
techniques ... the students can really show everything they have<br />
to offer”.<br />
Spatial insight & CAD is about reading, interpreting and<br />
developing technical drawings. These are used in the examples<br />
and designs that have to be carried out in the project.<br />
Professional competences<br />
The seminars Professional Competencies are an essential part of<br />
Engineering Experience 1. “Here the students are familiarised with<br />
the scientific framework and acquire specific skills such as writing<br />
14
Christel Willemaerts<br />
skills, project management, presentation techniques, group<br />
dynamics and creativity”, Christel explains. “A faculty team of<br />
experts has been put together to provide input. The competencies<br />
are practiced within the project and the Integrated Lab”.<br />
“The experts are also responsible for the coaching of the<br />
students. The same coach supervises the student, or the team,<br />
throughout the entire Engineering Experience. Within the same<br />
component, the coach cannot simultaneously teach or supervise<br />
the subject matter of the project.<br />
In this way, there is no mixing of roles and the students clearly<br />
identify the right recipients for their questions”.<br />
Onward journey<br />
The new curriculum, including Engineering Experience 1, started<br />
in September <strong>2020</strong>. “The experts are already working hard on a<br />
follow-up trajectory that will make the students’ track records<br />
visible throughout their study programme,” Christel reports. “In<br />
time, this should result in an e-portfolio linked to a personal<br />
development plan in which the students can set their own<br />
learning goals and bring in proven competencies. Immediately<br />
after their studies, they will have a CV supplement at their<br />
disposal to demonstrate their starting competences. And -last<br />
but not least- they will have an instrument to keep documenting<br />
their development throughout their career. After all, learning<br />
never stops. The real engineering experience begins when they<br />
start practicing the profession. Our task is to anticipate this in<br />
the best possible way”.<br />
Yves Persoons<br />
CONNECTING<br />
15
EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN FOCUS<br />
Chrisje Haenen<br />
16
TECHINVENT:<br />
NEW PROGRAMME FOR<br />
ENTERPRISING ENGINEERS<br />
As of the academic year <strong>2020</strong>-2021, the Postgraduate Programme in Innovation &<br />
Entrepreneurship in Engineering is split up. The existing programme will remain identical in<br />
structure, but will from now on only consist of in-company projects. The new counterpart aims<br />
at bachelor’s and master’s students who want to realise an ambitious team project or have<br />
their own start-up in mind. Coordinator Chrisje Haenen presents the Postgraduate Tech<br />
Innovations in Ventures and Teams (‘TechInVenT’).<br />
“ With TechInVenT we merely want<br />
to guarantee the continuity of<br />
our student teams”, Chrisje<br />
Haenen explains. “The Agoria Solar Team,<br />
Formula Electric Belgium, Innovived,<br />
CORE, Flacra and iGEM have become the<br />
flagships of our faculty and the Science &<br />
Technology Group. Students who want to<br />
follow their example come to TechInVenT.<br />
But there is more. After their studies,<br />
several team members effectively stepped<br />
into entrepreneurship and started their<br />
own company. Such potential<br />
entrepreneurs are our second target<br />
group. What both groups have in common<br />
is drive and passion for innovation and<br />
entrepreneurship. As engineers, they<br />
want to leave their study and career paths<br />
and take their future into their own hands.<br />
Even though in many ways this means a<br />
leap into the unknown”.<br />
Tailor-made<br />
“Unfamiliar grounds require good<br />
preparation,” continues Chrisje Haenen.<br />
“TechInVenT wants to make sure that<br />
prospective engineers and entrepreneurs<br />
do not skate on thin ice. That is why we<br />
offer them a virtually tailor-made<br />
programme, in which not only technology<br />
but also professional skills are covered.<br />
We additionally provide intensive coaching<br />
by professionals”.<br />
The main part of the programme consists<br />
of the team or start-up project (44 ECTS).<br />
Students who opt for the team project<br />
learn the tricks of the trade from an<br />
existing team, which gives them plenty of<br />
inspiration to start their own team project.<br />
Those who choose the start-up project<br />
can count on support and coaching to<br />
develop a business plan that will enable<br />
them to spread their wings after the<br />
programme. “But even those who do not<br />
yet have a concrete business idea in mind<br />
and still are enthused by entrepreneurship<br />
will find at TechInVenT the breeding<br />
ground in which new ideas can<br />
germinate,” notes Chrisje Haenen.<br />
Technovation Hub Academy<br />
The programme also embraces a series<br />
of workshops provided by business<br />
partners of the Technovation Hub<br />
Academy, and a package of elective<br />
courses, together accounting for a<br />
minimum of 12 ECTS.<br />
“Technovation Hub was established in<br />
2016 with the aim of supporting the<br />
student teams within the Science &<br />
Technology Group and giving new<br />
initiatives a chance,” says Chrisje Haenen.<br />
“Launched in September <strong>2020</strong>, the<br />
Technovation Hub Academy organises<br />
hands-on workshops specifically for<br />
TechInVenT students on topics such as<br />
product design, artificial intelligence, 5G,<br />
IP, legislation and digital marketing. To<br />
this end, we call on the services of<br />
experienced professionals”.<br />
The optional courses enable future team<br />
members and starters to personalise the<br />
programme even more. “ Students indeed<br />
complete this part based on their personal<br />
preferences”, Chrisje Haenen confirms.<br />
“From the immense range of courses<br />
offered by KU Leuven, they choose what<br />
interests them or what they think they will<br />
need for their project; it is all up to them.<br />
Learning to be an entrepreneur starts with<br />
entrepreneurship for your own learning”.<br />
Yves Persoons<br />
www.techinvent.be<br />
CONNECTING<br />
17
EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN FOCUS<br />
EDTECH: BOOSTING COLLABORATION<br />
BETWEEN EDUCATION, TECHNOLOGY AND<br />
ENTREPRENEURSHIP<br />
Europe represents the world’s second largest market for education. In order to keep pace<br />
with the rapid technological developments, there was an urgent need for cooperation between<br />
the main stakeholders: teachers, researchers and entrepreneurs in the field of education and<br />
digital technologies. In June 2019, the first European EdTech Network (EETN) was established.<br />
Professor Wim Van Petegem, Policy Advisor Learning Technologies at the Faculty of<br />
Engineering Technology – KU Leuven, tells the story.<br />
Prof. Van Petegem leaves no doubt<br />
about it: “The new EdTech Network<br />
is a unique opportunity for European<br />
universities and companies, big or small, in<br />
the EdTech industry to network, share and<br />
collaborate. EETN will help us to enhance<br />
end enrich our experiences in EdTech,<br />
from research to innovation and business.<br />
Together we can make a difference in the<br />
EdTech scene and improve education all<br />
over Europe and beyond”.<br />
EETN is a three-year project funded by<br />
the European Commission within the<br />
Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership for<br />
Higher Education Programme. Four<br />
leading European universities – IE<br />
University in Segovia (Spain), University<br />
College London, KU Leuven and Oulu<br />
University of Applied Sciences (Finland)<br />
– decided to join their efforts, using their<br />
knowledge and broad experience in the<br />
field of EdTech, in order to create a<br />
collaborative space for all the players on<br />
the European EdTech scene.<br />
Quadruple purpose<br />
“The purpose of the new partnership is<br />
fourfold”, Prof. Van Petegem explains.<br />
“First of all, we want to support EdTech<br />
start-ups and entrepreneurs by providing<br />
them with the results of research. This is<br />
closely in line with the second objective,<br />
namely the promotion of entrepreneurship<br />
in the field of education and training by<br />
supporting innovators in gaining quality<br />
and competitiveness. All this must lead to<br />
effective collaboration where experience,<br />
good practices and knowledge are<br />
shared. And finally, it is our goal to give<br />
innovation a boost by promoting ICT<br />
tools, pedagogies and methodologies”.<br />
Collaborative learning<br />
EdTech is a flag that covers many loads.<br />
From online learning, artificial intelligence<br />
in education, smart schools, virtual and<br />
augmented reality applications to lifelong<br />
and customized learning. The red line<br />
through all this is the idea that teaching<br />
should be learner-centred, more flexible<br />
and focused on 21st century skills.<br />
“At KU Leuven, we are primarily involved<br />
with collaborative learning”, Prof. Van<br />
Petegem notes. “Collaborative learning is<br />
commonly illustrated when groups of<br />
students work together for understanding,<br />
meaning or solutions or to create a<br />
product of their learning. It includes<br />
collaborative writing, group projects, joint<br />
problem solving, debates, study teams,<br />
etc. Over the past 10 years, technology<br />
has become an indispensable factor. The<br />
Internet has allowed for a shared space<br />
for groups to communicate. Virtual<br />
environments have been critical for people<br />
to bridge long distances, but still feel like<br />
they are part of the group.<br />
Some examples of how technology has<br />
been increasingly integrated include<br />
‘Collaborative Networked Learning’<br />
(CNL), which occurs via electronic<br />
dialogue between self-directed colearners<br />
and experts, while<br />
Computer-Supported Collaborative<br />
Learning (CSCL) uses technology in a<br />
learning environment to help mediate and<br />
support group interactions in a<br />
collaborative learning context. Nowadays,<br />
collaborative learning is evolving fast as<br />
companies start taking advantage of<br />
unique features offered by virtual work<br />
spaces – such as the ability to record and<br />
map the flow of ideas, the use of<br />
3D-models and virtual worlds mind<br />
mapping tools”.<br />
Good chances<br />
“Throughout the lifetime of the project, we<br />
are going to organize various activities that<br />
will allow us to exchange knowledge and<br />
experiences between the staff and the<br />
members of our partner organisations, as<br />
well as external experts, entrepreneurs and<br />
other universities from all over Europe and<br />
beyond”, Prof. Van Petegem concludes.<br />
“We will have good chances to meet<br />
during our events and collaborate online<br />
and to learn more about best practices<br />
and methodologies used around the world<br />
to enhance innovative education”.<br />
Prof. Van Petegem is already proud that<br />
prominent high-tech companies such as<br />
IMEC and EPYC have joined the online<br />
network. “Our ambition is to become a<br />
leading platform where ideas, solutions<br />
and information can be exchanged<br />
between all our partners to boost the<br />
development in the EdTech sector in<br />
whole Europe. Moreover, we hope that<br />
our events will affect other, indirect<br />
beneficiaries, eager to improve education<br />
and entrepreneurship through technology<br />
by connecting with likeminded peers”.<br />
www.eetn.eu<br />
18
Prof. Wim Van Petegem<br />
CONNECTING<br />
19
EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN FOCUS<br />
INTERNATIONAL,<br />
INTERDISCIPLINARY<br />
ÁND INTER-FACULTY<br />
THE NEW ERASMUS MUNDUS<br />
MASTER IN IMAGING AND<br />
LIGHT IN EXTENDED REALITY<br />
(IMLEX)<br />
Ghent Technology Campus has a long tradition in Erasmus<br />
Mundus European master programmes. From September<br />
<strong>2020</strong> onwards, students can take a brand new programme<br />
that leads to an Erasmus Mundus MSc degree in Imaging<br />
And Light In Extended Reality.<br />
The Faculty of Engineering<br />
Technology has joined forces with<br />
the University of Eastern Finland,<br />
the French Université Saint-Etienne and<br />
the Toyohashi University of Technology in<br />
Japan to set up an international study<br />
programme with a focus on the future<br />
technologies in photonics, imaging and<br />
lighting. The IMLEX master offers courses<br />
to the cutting edge of new technologies<br />
in these fields.<br />
The IMLEX programme did not appear<br />
unexpectedly. The research group in light<br />
and lighting technology at the Ghent<br />
Technology Campus, led by Prof. Peter<br />
Hanselaer, has focused for more than 20<br />
years on research in different aspects of<br />
lighting technology. The research group<br />
hosts the “Groen Licht Vlaanderen vzw”<br />
and works together with a well-developed<br />
network of companies active in the sector<br />
of light, lighting and energy.<br />
By creating a curriculum linked to these<br />
research topics, Prof. Peter Hanselaer<br />
wants to attract excellent students and<br />
PhD researchers to apply the research in<br />
practice. The IMLEX study programme is<br />
a two-year master’s programme where<br />
students take a mobility track from Finland,<br />
to Ghent and Saint-Etienne and then<br />
Toyohashi, each for one semester. In the<br />
first semester students meet with all basic<br />
aspects of imaging and lighting, as well as<br />
photonics and optics. They continue their<br />
study in either Saint-Etienne for the<br />
imaging specialization or at our Faculty of<br />
Engineering Technology for the lighting<br />
specialisation. These specialisation<br />
courses are elaborated in-depth in<br />
semester three in Toyohashi University of<br />
Technology. The “engineering techology”<br />
profile is guaranteed by a company<br />
internship and several cases in<br />
collaboration with industry. Semester four<br />
is devoted to a master’s thesis, which can<br />
be taken at any of the partner institutions<br />
or selected research institutes or<br />
companies.<br />
The curriculum organised at KU Leuven<br />
includes five course modules on lighting<br />
science, lighting technology, lighting<br />
metrology, lighting design and lighting<br />
business. Because engineering students<br />
also need to prepare for a study period in<br />
20
©TineDesodt<br />
Japan, a course in Japanese language<br />
and culture is included, as well as a<br />
course unit on academic writing. Here lies<br />
another innovative aspect of the IMLEX<br />
master’s course: not only the international<br />
and multidisciplinary approach is typical,<br />
the semester on lighting is also an “interfaculty<br />
semester”. The Faculty of<br />
Architecture is collaborating with the<br />
research group in lighting to cover the<br />
aspects of lighting design in the study<br />
programme. Prof. Bruno Depré will teach<br />
the course on lighting design.<br />
IMLEX responds to a realistic demand<br />
from industry, as is proven by the large<br />
number of associate members, most of<br />
them companies (e.g. Trilux, Etap,<br />
Engie…). The graduates of this study<br />
programme will contribute to the next<br />
industrial revolution of Industry 4.0, where<br />
augmented reality will play a dominant<br />
role. The massive interest in this field is<br />
demonstrated in the first application<br />
round for the academic year <strong>2020</strong>-2021:<br />
116 candidates have submitted an<br />
application to date.<br />
Hilde Lauwereys<br />
www.imlex.org<br />
CONNECTING 21
STUDENT IN FOCUS<br />
Nikte Van Landeghem and Salma Nachi<br />
22
VR HEALTH GAME WINS<br />
FIRST KU LEUVEN KICK AWARDS<br />
Under the slogan ‘From idea to impact’, KU Leuven KICK team organized its first challenge in<br />
the spring of <strong>2020</strong>. The assignment was to develop a business plan that addresses a social<br />
problem in an innovative way. The CheckR team of Nikte Van Landeghem (Master in<br />
Electromechanical Engineering Technology, Group T Campus) and Salma Nachi (Master in<br />
Pharmaceutical Sciences) won the Student Award and the Audience Award.<br />
KU Leuven KICK is part of KU Leuven Research & Development<br />
(LRD), the university’s tech-transfer office. “Our task is to<br />
promote and support entrepreneurship in the university<br />
community”, coordinator Tine Van Lommel explains. “In doing so,<br />
we also aim at student-entrepreneurs. We help them translate their<br />
innovative ideas into a feasible business model, ready to be<br />
implemented in a start-up. Any student with an innovative idea will<br />
find a listening ear and a helping hand with us”.<br />
Early detection<br />
For the first KICK Challenge, forty-five teams submitted an<br />
original idea. Eighteen were given permission and support to<br />
develop it further. Six of them made it to the finals to compete<br />
for three grand prizes. With the Student Award and the Audience<br />
Award, Nikte and Salma were prominently present on the<br />
honorary stage.<br />
The duo departed from the following facts: “Belgium is thirty<br />
percent slower at detecting preventable diseases compared to<br />
other EU countries. This phenomenon can be attributed to the<br />
fact that Belgians between 20 and 40 years old get less than one<br />
check-up a year. At the same time, the same population goes<br />
at least three times to the pharmacy over the same time period.<br />
This led us to the idea: why shouldn’t the pharmacist play a key<br />
role in the early detection of risk patients? After all, pharmacists<br />
are highly qualified health professionals. However, the main<br />
challenge here is that pharmacists do not have enough<br />
information about their patients, and the time available for each<br />
patient is rather limited. If we could provide them with a tool to<br />
check a number of relevant parameters in a simple and fun way<br />
to increase patient participation, this would be an important step<br />
forward”.<br />
Gaming at the pharmacy<br />
These ideas resulted in the CheckR kit, which consists of a VR<br />
headset, a controller and a heart sensor to measure several<br />
cognitive, muscular and cardiovascular parameters such as<br />
heart rhythm, blood pressure, memory, vision and motoric skills.<br />
Salma explains how it works in practice: “The pharmacist<br />
proposes to the client to play a VR game for about five minutes<br />
during which memory and motoric skills are monitored. Via the<br />
sensor, cardiovascular parameters are tracked, while other<br />
relevant data are measured with the VR headset and controllers.<br />
After the game, the pharmacist can give feedback on the client’s<br />
general state of health and -if necessary- refer him or her to the<br />
doctor or hospital”.<br />
“Both the risk patient and the pharmacist benefit from our kit”,<br />
Nikte continues. “The potential risk patient is informed in time<br />
and the pharmacist can count on more and satisfied customers,<br />
which may result in a higher turnover. Moreover, he or she can<br />
build up a network with colleagues, doctors and hospitals. The<br />
healthcare system as well as the economy could benefit, because<br />
employees stay healthy and can work longer”.<br />
Feasible and profitable<br />
Meanwhile, Nikte’s and Salma’s plans for the short and longer<br />
term are ready. “We are going to start strengthening our team<br />
and bringing in additional competencies”, says Salma. In 2021,<br />
we hope to be able to launch our start-up and gain foothold in<br />
twenty pharmacies in Belgium. We plan to systematically<br />
increase that number until we have 10% of the pharmacies in<br />
Belgium as customers. Our financial model is based on a rental<br />
price of 150 euro per kit per month. If we achieve the range of<br />
10% that represents a revenue of 76.500 euros per month,<br />
which, after deduction of costs, would yield a profit of 26.000<br />
euros. We also want to expand our service with a user platform<br />
for our customers and a personal assistance system for high-risk<br />
patients based on gamification technology.<br />
In the end, the ambition of both student-entrepreneurs extends<br />
beyond quick profit. As committed young entrepreneurs, they<br />
dream of introducing their affordable detection technology in<br />
developing countries, where the health system is often inadequate<br />
and where prevention is infinitely more life-saving than elsewhere.<br />
Yves Persoons<br />
CONNECTING<br />
23
24<br />
STUDENT IN FOCUS
ENGINEERING STUDENTS OF<br />
KU LEUVEN WIN EUROPEAN<br />
SOLAR CHALLENGE <strong>2020</strong><br />
The Agoria Solar Team of KU Leuven continues to pile up the victories. After a<br />
first place in the Carrera Solar Atacama in Chile and the world title in the<br />
Bridgestone World Challenge in Australia, the team finished first in the European<br />
championship in Zolder (Belgium). Now it is looking forward to the Sasol Solar<br />
Challenge in South Africa in February 2021.<br />
The Agoria Solar Team consists of 19 engineering<br />
students of KU Leuven with a mission. They aim<br />
to do more than just building the most efficient<br />
solar racing car and winning championships. By<br />
developing a race car that combines the innovative ideas<br />
of bright engineering talents with the Belgian and<br />
international technologies, the team wants to inspire<br />
young people to take an interest in science and<br />
technology and raise awareness of renewable energy<br />
among the public. “With the support of our Belgian and<br />
international business partners, we are convinced that<br />
we can act as a catalyst in the process of making<br />
commercial solar-powered electric vehicles available to<br />
the general public”, says team leader Paul Van<br />
Hemeldonck. “We strive to show the world that Belgium<br />
is still in the frontline of innovative technology. We also<br />
want to show that we are entrepreneurial engineers and<br />
worthy ambassadors of our university and its faculties of<br />
Engineering”.<br />
Two cars<br />
In September <strong>2020</strong>, the Solar Team took part in the 24<br />
hours race with two solar cars: the Bluepoint built in<br />
2019 and the Punch 2, developed by the former solar<br />
team. The Bluepoint, which became world champion in<br />
Australia last year, crossed the finish line in Zolder with<br />
the highest number of laps. “We owe our victory to a fast<br />
car and a well-thought-out race strategy”, explains<br />
Romanie Cnockaert, strategist of the Solar Team.<br />
“During the race, for example, it is permitted to recharge<br />
the battery twice. We chose to charge only once, which<br />
allowed us to drive laps for an extra hour. In this way,<br />
we improved the record for the highest number of laps<br />
in 24 hours by a fourth”.<br />
The Punch 2, built in 2017, crossed the line in sixth<br />
place. “That has everything to do with the age difference”,<br />
says race engineer Kenneth Goovaerts. “For each<br />
addition, the cars are equipped with the latest<br />
technologies and these are changing rapidly. That’s<br />
exactly why the Solar Team builds a brand new solar car<br />
for the world championship”.<br />
Next adventure<br />
The victory at the European championship is the third in<br />
a row for the KU Leuven Solar Team. In 2018, the team<br />
finished first after a grueling race through the Atacama<br />
desert and mountains in Chile. The following year, the<br />
team became world champion at the Bridgestone World<br />
Solar Challenge, a challenging race of more than 3,000<br />
km through Australia. Currently, the team is preparing<br />
for the next adventure: the Sasol Solar Challenge in<br />
South Africa in February 2021.<br />
Yves Persoons<br />
CONNECTING<br />
25
PROFESSOR IN FOCUS<br />
EDUCATING FOR A<br />
SUSTAINABLE ARUBA<br />
The Science & Technology Group of KU Leuven is involved<br />
in an ambitious project to launch a three-year bachelor’s<br />
programme in Science, Technology, Engineering and<br />
Mathematics (STEM) at the University of Aruba.<br />
This is an initiative of the Aruban<br />
government that is part of the<br />
eleventh EDF-OCT Programme of<br />
the EU. Professors and researchers of KU<br />
Leuven will guarantee the capacity<br />
building in Aruba that is needed to<br />
develop a research-based education<br />
programme. At the Faculty of Engineering<br />
Technology, seven academics have<br />
committed themselves to give substance<br />
to the curriculum and also to supervise<br />
four PhD students. We spoke with Prof.<br />
Jo Van Caneghem and Prof. Maarten<br />
Vanierschot of Group T Leuven Campus.<br />
Sun-drenched pearl of the Caribbean.<br />
Tropical, hospitable, vibrant with exotic<br />
beaches and culinary delights. The travel<br />
agencies are making use of superlatives to<br />
promote an island of barely 180 km² with<br />
115,000 inhabitants. No matter how small<br />
and paradisiacal this distant part of the<br />
Kingdom of the Netherlands may be, Aruba<br />
does not escape the global challenges of<br />
our time. Sustainability is one of them.<br />
“Small islands such as Aruba are very<br />
vulnerable in this respect”, Prof. Vanierschot<br />
explains. “Not only because they are<br />
particularly sensitive to ecological and<br />
economic shocks, but also because they<br />
lack the human resources and expertise to<br />
tackle such complex problems.”<br />
“Waste is a telling example of this”, Prof.<br />
Van Caneghem continues. “Every year,<br />
the island attracts more than 1 million<br />
tourists. They leave tons of waste behind.<br />
The immense cruise ships that moor in<br />
Aruba do exactly the same thing. At the<br />
moment, everything ends up in the socalled<br />
‘Parkietenbos’ (Parakeet Forest), a<br />
euphemism for a gigantic landfill that is<br />
literally and figuratively reaching its limits.<br />
But it doesn’t stop there. Since the island<br />
does not have any fresh water resources,<br />
drinking water has to be produced in a<br />
fuel powered osmosis plant, which makes<br />
the island completely dependent on fossil<br />
fuel. It is in this context that the SISSTEM<br />
project came into being and started<br />
recently”.<br />
Four faculties<br />
SISSTEM stands for ‘Sustainable Island<br />
Solutions through Science, Technology,<br />
Engineering and Mathematics’. Initiators<br />
at KU Leuven are among others Honorary<br />
Vice-Rector Prof. Georges Gielen and the<br />
Honorary Dean of the Faculty of<br />
Bioscience Engineering Prof. Nadine<br />
Buys. Four out of five faculties that are<br />
part of the Science & Technology Group<br />
are involved in the project. For the Faculty<br />
of Engineering Technology these are<br />
Professors Jo Van Caneghem, Maarten<br />
Vanierschot, Wim Van Petegem, Bart<br />
Vanrumste, Wim Dewulf, Gorik De<br />
Samblanx and Koen Eneman.<br />
“Our task is twofold”, Prof. Vanierschot<br />
says. “On the one hand we support the<br />
local lecturers in their work with course<br />
material, exercises and laboratory<br />
experiments. Each of us teaches also on<br />
site or online and provides labs. On the<br />
other hand, most of us are promoter of a<br />
doctoral student. These PhD students are<br />
all teachers of the new bachelor’s<br />
programme. The intention is that they will<br />
come to Leuven every year for two or<br />
three months to attend the courses at the<br />
Doctoral School and acquire research<br />
experience”.<br />
Two components<br />
Prof. Van Caneghem gives an explanation<br />
of the new bachelor’s programme.<br />
“The curriculum covers three years<br />
(180 credits) and consists of two<br />
components: a common component and<br />
a specialization component. The common<br />
part includes a general foundation in<br />
STEM fields (60 credits) and five modules<br />
on sustainability in small island developing<br />
states (30 credits). From the 2nd semester<br />
of the 2nd year onwards, students<br />
specialize in either Bio-environmental<br />
Engineering, Informatics and Data<br />
Science or Technology & Engineering<br />
(90 credits). Each year of the programme<br />
contains a practical experience –<br />
integrative projects and a thesis – that<br />
ensures the application of the students’<br />
knowledge”.<br />
“As to the target group, the new<br />
bachelor’s programme does not only<br />
focus on students from a scientific or<br />
technical education background. Also<br />
students with other backgrounds are<br />
welcome. For them a foundation year in<br />
STEM or a remedial summer school<br />
is organized”.<br />
Cooperation<br />
In September 2019, the first 13 students<br />
started in the first bachelor’s year. “We<br />
will continue to support and coach their<br />
teachers throughout the entire three-year<br />
programme”, Prof Vanierschot says.<br />
“After that, the programme should be able<br />
to stand on its own two feet so that the<br />
bachelors can easily move on to the<br />
multidisciplinary Master’s programme in<br />
Sustainable Island Solutions that is currently<br />
under construction. In any case, we hope<br />
that we can lay the foundations for a<br />
sustainable cooperation in the longer term”.<br />
Yves Persoons<br />
www.ua.aw/sisstem<br />
This project is funded by the European<br />
Union. The contents of this article are the<br />
sole responsibility of KU Leuven.<br />
26
Prof. Jo Van Caneghem and Prof. Maarten Vanierschot<br />
CONNECTING<br />
27
PROFESSOR IN FOCUS<br />
‘BEGA KWA BEGA’ –<br />
KAREN VANCAMPENHOUT:<br />
SHOULDER TO SHOULDER WITH<br />
UNIVERSITIES IN THE SOUTH<br />
“A baboon ate my experiment” is but one of the remarkable quotes in the interview with<br />
Prof. Vancampenhout when she is talking about one of her research students in Ethiopia,<br />
working on a project on the Enset crop (‘Ethiopian banana’).<br />
TThe origin of Prof. Vancampenhout’s<br />
engagement in Africa lies in her<br />
master study at the Faculty of<br />
Bioscience Engineering of KU Leuven.<br />
Inspiring professors such as Seppe<br />
Deckers, Rony Swennen and Roel Merckx<br />
convinced her to go for the major of<br />
“tropical agriculture”. In 2002 Karen took<br />
a semester at Mekelle University in<br />
Ethiopia, researching for one of the very<br />
first VLIR-UOS projects there.<br />
The rest is history: the saying goes that<br />
once you’ve slept under African skies, you<br />
always want to go back. Very quickly after<br />
the start of the first project, Karen realised<br />
that in Africa, the relevance of university<br />
collaboration is enormous and scientific<br />
beacons can be moved to a point where<br />
a true difference is achieved for students,<br />
staff, the university and the whole<br />
community involved.<br />
Africa has been the focus of the research<br />
of Prof. Vancampenhout ever since. And<br />
the potential for progress is enormous.<br />
Working on “false bananas”, she noticed<br />
that there was hardly any research in this<br />
field. Rather than researching the “500th<br />
paper on corn”, Eastern-Africa’s soils and<br />
crops have always remained Karen’s<br />
foothold.<br />
The relevance of almost 20 years of<br />
collaboration in the South<br />
“UOS – inter-university cooperation in the<br />
South, (the programme started by VLIR<br />
over 30 years ago) - has a far-reaching<br />
impact: it concerns relatively small and<br />
low-budget-projects, but the potential is<br />
enormous. It is here that I learned that<br />
small projects with good ideas can<br />
snowball into much larger collaborations”<br />
Prof. Vancampenhout explains.<br />
“Mekelle University is a nice example:<br />
when I arrived in 2002, it was just a few<br />
buildings, now the campus is hardly<br />
recognisable. The VLIR-UOS projects<br />
played an important role in the international<br />
development of the university, as they<br />
proved excellent ‘landing platforms’ for<br />
other projects and initiatives. Hence, the<br />
return on investment goes well beyond the<br />
initial project goals. The capacity building<br />
can start a dynamic where faculty, young<br />
PhD scholars, students and the community<br />
can seize new opportunities.<br />
Enthusiastically, Prof. Vancampenhout<br />
explains the added value of the university<br />
cooperation in the South: “Some may say<br />
that the VLIR-UOS projects are not<br />
cutting-edge science, because they rarely<br />
use the latest analytical toy. But they aim<br />
to find simple solutions to complicated<br />
problems and challenging conditions, to<br />
me that is the essence of engineering.<br />
The multitude of high-quality papers and<br />
PhDs that have originated from VLIR-UOS<br />
papers prove that those projects are<br />
scientifically relevant and challenging. The<br />
projects are by no means a work of<br />
charity; it is a collaboration between<br />
academic partners with benefits for both.<br />
Small grants can in addition go a long way<br />
in the tropics, so actually these projects<br />
are very cost-efficient if it comes to the<br />
input/output ratio. The long-term outcome<br />
of small VLIR-UOS projects cannot be<br />
underestimated.”<br />
ENSET<br />
For many years now, Enset (the “Ethiopian<br />
banana”) has played a dominant role in<br />
the research of prof. Vancampenhout.<br />
The Enset project in Arba Minch, Ethiopia<br />
started with a visit of a local rector Dr.<br />
Feleke Woldeys to our Geel Campus in<br />
the framework of a VLIR-UOS project in<br />
2011. The initial talk in the car to and from<br />
Geel resulted in a second TEAM project<br />
that helped pave the way for a 10-year<br />
interuniversity collaboration project. The<br />
Enset as a contingency crop in the<br />
highlands of Ethiopia is a case of what<br />
collaboration with the south can bring<br />
about in a local community and illustrates<br />
that what started with one project may<br />
result in a fully-fledged longterm program.<br />
Enset looks like a type of banana plant<br />
(hence the popular name “false banana”<br />
or “Ethiopian banana”) and is<br />
multifunctional: parts of the stem can be<br />
cooked or fermented, the leaves can be<br />
used for cattle feed, the fibres for textiles.<br />
he Enset-project demonstrates how<br />
scientific research –through VLIR-UOS<br />
projects in the South– can have a direct<br />
societal impact.<br />
28
“VLIR-UOS projects also lead to<br />
opportunities for North-South<br />
collaboration. Currently, we are<br />
brainstorming with partners from a South<br />
Initiative project in Tanzania, to evaluate if<br />
Enset can be introduced as a climate<br />
smart agronomical strategy for regions<br />
that are too high above sea level for<br />
banana cultivation” adds prof.<br />
Vancampenhout. “At the same time, the<br />
project in Tanzania also came up with a<br />
new concept, which we named<br />
‘landscape inclusivity’. It explores how the<br />
spatial organisation of a landscape may<br />
either enhance or diminish opportunities<br />
for vulnerable groups in society, such as<br />
people living with disabilities or<br />
singleheaded households. For example:<br />
the Kihamba home garden systems near<br />
the Kilimanjaro are a good illustration of<br />
an inclusive landscape. Sustainable land<br />
management has created a situation<br />
where people there do not have to move<br />
far from their house to their fields or to a<br />
drinkable water source, and there are<br />
multiple options to gain an additional<br />
income with resources close to the house.<br />
Unfortunately, there are also examples of<br />
landscapes that increase inequality for<br />
vulnerable groups. There is almost no<br />
research in how to curb non-inclusive<br />
landscape organisation to reduce inequality<br />
and enhance inclusion in local communities.<br />
A huge task is waiting there”.<br />
The future outlook<br />
VLIR-UOS type of projects are often<br />
scrutinised: budgets need to be defended<br />
to the government, and sometimes the<br />
appreciation by colleagues and<br />
universities can be low. But Karen defends<br />
this model of collaboration with vigour<br />
and enthusiasm: “this is a very crucial and<br />
rewarding way of international<br />
collaboration, the capacity building effect<br />
is enormous as is proven by the numerous<br />
projects in many countries. VLIR-UOS<br />
projects play a crucial role in the careers<br />
of young academics in the South, there<br />
are no limits to what these people can do<br />
when given the chance. Investing in<br />
academia in the South is therefore one of<br />
the most sustainable forms of enhancing<br />
global development goals.<br />
Nevertheless, young academics at KU<br />
Leuven sometimes shy away from<br />
collaboration with the South, as the<br />
longtime investment in new collaborations<br />
is in conflict with the short-term goals of<br />
their tenure tracks. Hence, there should<br />
be alternative ways of rewarding<br />
international involvement in the South in<br />
the evaluation criteria of young academics.<br />
Prof. Vancampenhout concludes: “Our<br />
university is very serious about<br />
internationalisation and inclusion, and we<br />
therefore should continue to honour and<br />
celebrate her long tradition of sustainable<br />
partnerships with the South by engaging<br />
new colleagues and creating new<br />
collaborations. It has been a true privilege<br />
to contribute to that tradition and to be<br />
welcomed by so many fantastic people<br />
into a range of truly spectacular countries.<br />
It has shaped both my academic career<br />
and my personal growth.”<br />
Hilde Lauwereys<br />
Prof. Karen Vancampenhout<br />
CONNECTING 29
RESEARCH IN FOCUS<br />
Esmael Kedir<br />
HOW TO SAVE THE SIGHT<br />
OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE?<br />
Glaucoma is a chronic eye disease that leads to irreparable damage of the visual field.<br />
It affects more than 60 million people worldwide. Only an early diagnosis can prevent<br />
blindness. However, this requires expensive and non-transportable equipment, which<br />
means that a large part of the population in developing countries is deprived of this aid.<br />
Esmael Kedir, PhD student at the e-Media Research Lab of Group T Leuven Campus,<br />
has developed an affordable and mobile solution. At the annual conference of the<br />
European Association for Visual and Eye Research, he won the Best Paper Award in the<br />
Glaucoma Category.<br />
30
Esmael comes from Oromia, a region in Western<br />
Ethiopia. He went to school there and then studied<br />
Computer Science at Haramaya University (BSc)<br />
and Addis Ababa University (MSc). After graduation,<br />
Esmael became lecturer at Jimma University, a partner<br />
university of KU Leuven. The collaboration between the<br />
two universities brought Esmael to Leuven in 2016, first<br />
as a predoc, then as PhD student at Group T Leuven<br />
Campus.<br />
“As a miracle there was a project that was, as it were,<br />
written for me”, Esmael explains. “As you know, the<br />
e-Media Research Lab is specialised in human centred<br />
systems that can be applied in various areas such as<br />
health care, learning, arts and entertainment. Shortly<br />
before my arrival, a proposal had been received from the<br />
Ophthalmology Department of the Leuven University<br />
Hospitals to develop a visual screening tool for the<br />
detection of a malignant eye disease: glaucoma. Not<br />
only did this offer fit in perfectly with the activities of the<br />
lab, it also enabled me to contribute to a better health<br />
care in my home country”.<br />
Silent thief<br />
What exactly is Glaucoma? Esmael describes it as<br />
follows: “Glaucoma is caused when pressure builds up<br />
inside the eye, damaging the optic nerve that connects<br />
the eye to the brain. If it is not treated in time, it may<br />
cause irreversible blindness. It is thought that 4.5 million<br />
people across the globe are blind because of glaucoma,<br />
making it the third highest cause of blindness worldwide.<br />
The condition is difficult to diagnose because symptoms<br />
do not appear straight away. Instead, they develop slowly<br />
over many years. That is why glaucoma is called ‘the<br />
silent thief of sight’. This means that many patients only<br />
seek treatment when they notice they are losing their<br />
sight, when significant damage has already occurred.<br />
Prevention through early detection is the only effective<br />
remedy for the time being”.<br />
“That’s exactly where the problem lies”, Esmael<br />
continues. “In many countries, the detection equipment<br />
is not available to the inhabitants of poor rural areas. This<br />
gave us the idea to come up with an affordable and<br />
mobile solution. After a thorough study of the devices in<br />
the University Hospitals in Leuven, we decided to develop<br />
an Android app for a smartphone that can function as an<br />
alternative Glaucoma Easy Screener (GES)”.<br />
Virtual Reality<br />
Esmael’s tool consists of a virtual reality head set, a<br />
smartphone and a gaming joystick. “The smartphone<br />
sends light signals that vary in size and intensity to the<br />
headset. The test subject uses the joystick to indicate if<br />
he/she has observed something in the visual field. If it<br />
turns out that certain signals are systematically not or<br />
incorrectly responded to, the local nurse knows that<br />
something is wrong. What is more, the tool allows him/<br />
her to determine where in the visual field the problem<br />
arises. The nurse can then refer the person in question<br />
to the hospital for the treatment of the disease in the<br />
making.”<br />
For his research, Ismael works closely with the<br />
Ophthalmology Department of the University Hospitals<br />
in Leuven and the Medical Centre of Jimma University in<br />
Ethiopia. Several versions of his application have been<br />
tested and validated in Leuven. In addition to the clinical<br />
validation, usability tests have been carried out at Jimma<br />
University. The results are promising. In terms of<br />
specificity and sensitivity, Esmael’s tool easily achieves<br />
85 to 90% of what the professional equipment in<br />
university hospitals can do”.<br />
Affordable technology<br />
Other critical success factors of Esmael’s tool are its<br />
user-friendliness and cost. “A complete test run on site<br />
takes about 10 minutes: 2.5 minutes for the test itself<br />
and the rest for explanation. The cost of the complete<br />
set, including the smartphone, is 200 euro, which is only<br />
a fraction of the price of the specialized equipment in<br />
hospitals”. Esmael is convinced that he has developed<br />
an affordable, accessible and effective testing platform<br />
that can significantly improve the quality of life and<br />
prospects of countless potential eye patients in Ethiopia<br />
and elsewhere in the world. “Even if the silent thief of<br />
sight is still sneaking around in the poor rural areas, he<br />
will soon be faced with an unexpected strong resistance”,<br />
Esmael concludes.<br />
Yves Persoons<br />
CONNECTING<br />
31
RESEARCH IN FOCUS<br />
ROYAL VISIT TO<br />
ALAMIRE INTERACTIVE SOUND LAB<br />
On 4 February <strong>2020</strong>, H.M. Queen Mathilde was a guest at the Alamire Foundation, the<br />
interdisciplinary study centre of music in the Low Countries, located on the site of Park Abbey<br />
in Leuven. The programme featured a performance of Prof. Toon van Waterschoot’s Alamire<br />
Interactive Sound Lab (Group T Leuven Campus).<br />
32
Prof. Toon van Waterschoot<br />
The Alamire Foundation was founded<br />
in 1991 and set up as a joint venture<br />
between KU Leuven (Research<br />
Group Musicology) and the Musica<br />
impulse centre. Purpose of the foundation<br />
is to coordinate and stimulate the<br />
research of early music, more in particular<br />
the rich Flemish polyphony. Special<br />
attention is paid to identifying and<br />
conserving this valuable heritage and<br />
making it accessible to performers and<br />
the public. The recently restored Norbert<br />
Gate of Park Abbey in Leuven houses the<br />
Library of Voices, where precious musical<br />
manuscripts are unlocked, digitised and<br />
prepared for performance by professional<br />
ensembles. The latter happens in two<br />
sound labs. In the Alamire Analytical<br />
Sound Lab by Prof. Bart De Moor, the<br />
complex stratification of polyphonic music<br />
is unravelled. The Alamire Interactive<br />
Sound Lab of Prof van Waterschoot<br />
concentrates on interpreting the<br />
polyphony in acoustic reconstructed<br />
historical spaces. Research is done in the<br />
Library of Voices in collaboration with the<br />
research department ESAT-STADIUS. In<br />
the House of Polyphony, the public gets<br />
to hear the results of the exploration. It<br />
houses its own concert hall and owns a<br />
collection of historical musical instruments.<br />
Acoustics<br />
Prof. van Waterschoot and his team<br />
investigate sound, not only as a physical<br />
phenomenon, but also as a carrier of<br />
information in communication, between<br />
people and between man and machine<br />
and environment. This resulted in a<br />
multidisciplinary research methodology in<br />
which engineers, mathematicians,<br />
musicologists and implementers work<br />
together. A subdomain of this research is<br />
the so-called “archaea acoustics”, more<br />
specifically, the reconstruction of church<br />
acoustics in the late Middle Ages and its<br />
impact on the implementation of the<br />
Gregorian and polyphonic music in the<br />
Low Countries.<br />
I Fiamminghi<br />
From the 15th century onwards, popes,<br />
princes, courtiers and noblemen greatly<br />
admired the stars of the new polyphonic<br />
music, also kown as the ‘Flemish<br />
polyphony’. The ‘Fiamminghi’ were the<br />
idols of their time, with true cult figures like<br />
Guillaume Dufay, Johannes Ockeghem,<br />
Josquin Des Prez, Jacob Olbrecht, Pierre<br />
De la Rue... Peter Alamire (Nuremberg<br />
1470 - Mechelen 1536) -after whom the<br />
Leuven Foundation is named- made them<br />
‘world-famous’ with exquisitely illuminated<br />
copies of their work; the European<br />
dynasties’ most important business gift<br />
for a long time. Petrus Alamire was<br />
actually named Imhoff. His stage name<br />
refers to the pitch A and the notes lami-re.<br />
Since 2018, H.M. Queen Mathilde<br />
is the Patroness of the Alamire Foundation<br />
in Leuven.<br />
Yves Persoons<br />
CONNECTING<br />
33
FACULTY WORLDWIDE<br />
A SUCCESS<br />
STORY<br />
IN UKRAINE<br />
In June 2019, the Erasmus+ Joint Project ‘Higher Engineering<br />
Training for Environmentally Sustainable Industrial Development’<br />
(HETES) has been selected as a ‘success story’ by the<br />
Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport & Culture of<br />
the European Commission. Project coordinators Prof.<br />
Philippe Saey and Geert De Lepeleer of Ghent Technology<br />
Campus proudly look back on their achievement.<br />
“ Like most countries of the former<br />
Soviet Union, Ukraine carries a<br />
heavy burden from the past”, Prof.<br />
Saey explains. “An outdated heavy<br />
industry, pollution of soil, water and air<br />
and a higher education system that is not<br />
adapted to current and future challenges.<br />
On its own, no country in the world can<br />
cope with all these problems. A globalized<br />
economy and environmental and climate<br />
issues require international cross-<br />
European cooperation. For Ukraine, this<br />
implies a complete industrial transformation<br />
to ensure a sustainable future.<br />
Therefore, the country needs an adjusted<br />
higher education system that trains<br />
engineers and scientists equipped with<br />
the necessary knowledge and skills to<br />
respond effectively to these challenges”.<br />
Four objectives<br />
“This immediately brings us to the<br />
essence of our project”, Prof. Saey<br />
continues. “The development of a country<br />
like Ukraine stands or falls with highquality<br />
higher education. The purpose of<br />
our project was to improve the relevance<br />
of engineering education toward<br />
challenges of current and future industrial<br />
transformations aimed at sustainable<br />
development and climate stabilization.<br />
More specifically, we focused on four<br />
objectives. First, we wanted to develop a<br />
training course covering environmentally<br />
sustainable sectors such as Mining,<br />
Metallurgy, Energy, Machine Construction<br />
and Mechatronics. A second objective<br />
was the integration of multidisciplinary<br />
environmental issues into the existing<br />
engineering curricula. Further, we<br />
envisaged the installation of an Interfaculty<br />
Sustainable Development Centre in five<br />
engineering faculties. And – last but not<br />
least – we wanted to create a platform for<br />
networking between academia, research,<br />
industry and the local and national<br />
authorities toward the needs of a<br />
sustainable society”.<br />
Consortium<br />
In order to achieve these ambitious goals,<br />
the coordinators of Ghent Technology<br />
Campus established a European<br />
consortium consisting of five Ukrainian<br />
universities spread over the country, the<br />
Ukraine Ministry of Education and five<br />
universities from Belgium, Spain, Sweden<br />
and the UK. The business world was<br />
represented with Volvo Cars as the most<br />
important industrial partner.<br />
“On paper everything was fine, but in<br />
practice it did not go that smoothly”,<br />
Geert De Lepeleer continues. “Barely one<br />
month after the kick-off meeting, the<br />
Crimea was annexed by Russia and pro-<br />
34
Prof. Philippe Saey and Geert De Lepeleer<br />
“The development<br />
of a country like<br />
Ukraine stands<br />
or falls with<br />
high-quality higher<br />
education.”<br />
Russian rebels occupied a part of East<br />
Ukraine. Because of the conflict, the<br />
Sevastopol National Technical University<br />
had to drop out early. The Donesk<br />
National Technical University could start<br />
only after the campus had been evacuated<br />
to a safer place. In addition, due to a<br />
shortage of gas and the sharp rise of the<br />
energy prices, universities had to close<br />
their doors from December 2014 to the<br />
end of February 2015”.<br />
Deliverables<br />
In spite of these obstacles, the<br />
coordinators have wonderfully succeeded<br />
in achieving the objectives. Prof. Saey lists<br />
the results: “The training course<br />
‘Environmentally Sustainable Industrial<br />
Development was completed on time and<br />
has already been taught to 450 MSc and<br />
120 PhD students. In each of the five<br />
universities, the curriculum was adapted<br />
to include environmental topics in six<br />
disciplines. More than 150 staff members<br />
were able to familiarise themselves with<br />
educational innovation and university<br />
governance on sustainability. In addition,<br />
an Interfaculty Sustainable Development<br />
Centre was set up at four universities to<br />
stimulate and support multidisciplinary<br />
education and research. Finally, the<br />
distance learning system was perfected<br />
and a lifelong learning programme on<br />
Environmentally Sustainable Industrial<br />
Development was set up. For Ukrainian<br />
companies, there are case studies and<br />
best practices from the EU on sustainability<br />
issues”.<br />
Actually, the list of deliverables is much<br />
longer and includes study visits, workshops,<br />
conferences, a website and more<br />
than 30 papers. The eye-catchers are the<br />
monography ‘Sustainable Development<br />
of Steel Industry’ and the textbook<br />
‘Environmentally Sustainable Industrial<br />
Development’, both published by the<br />
National Metallurgical Academy of<br />
Ukraine.<br />
Smart Industry<br />
For those who do not yet realise what a<br />
‘success story’ means or stands for, there<br />
is still the ‘official’ definition: ‘Success<br />
stories are finalised projects that have<br />
distinguished themselves by their impact,<br />
contribution to policy-making, innovative<br />
results and/or creative approach and can<br />
be a source of inspiration for others’. The<br />
Directorate-General for Education, Youth,<br />
Sport and Culture of the European<br />
Commission motivated its decision<br />
regarding the HETES-project as follows:<br />
“The selection of your project as a<br />
success story was made on the basis of<br />
rigorous criteria regarding its quality,<br />
relevance and results”.<br />
Prof. Saey and Geert De Lepeleer do not<br />
need anything else to continue on the<br />
chosen path. They are currently preparing<br />
a new project in collaboration with<br />
industrial partners on Industry 4.0, smart<br />
factories and the fusion of digitalization<br />
with traditional industrial processes. We<br />
have every reason to believe that another<br />
success story is being made.<br />
Yves Persoons<br />
CONNECTING 35
FACULTY WORLDWIDE<br />
UNA.TEN…<br />
A LIVING LAB<br />
CHALLENGE FOR NEW<br />
FORMATS IN EDUCATION<br />
AND MOBILITY<br />
On 8th May, UNA EUROPA concluded UNA.<br />
TEN – “Transform Emergency Now! 10 days<br />
for change”. UNA.TEN was set up as a pan-<br />
European student hackathon to tackle<br />
challenges in COVID19 post-emergency times.<br />
Based on an open innovation design process,<br />
student teams from all participating UNA<br />
EUROPA universities joined forces with local<br />
partners to find solutions to four specific<br />
COVID-related challenges: Rethinking<br />
entertainment and culture, (2) Securing privacy<br />
and preventing misconceptions in a digital<br />
world, (3) Ensuring traveller safety, and (4)<br />
Avoiding food waste.<br />
UNA EUROPA is a unique alliance of<br />
eight European research universities,<br />
with KU Leuven as one of the<br />
leading members. Funded among the first<br />
“European University” pilot projects<br />
selected by the European Commission in<br />
June 2019, UNA EUROPA’s 1Europe<br />
project will establish a Europe-wide living<br />
lab for testing Joint Innovative Formats for<br />
education and mobility.<br />
One of KU Leuven’s four student teams in<br />
the UNA.TEN challenge was set up by KU<br />
Leuven KICK in collaboration with<br />
Technovation Hub of the Faculty of<br />
Engineering Technology.<br />
Online digital consent<br />
Chrisje Haenen, Executive Committee<br />
Member of Technovation Hub, together<br />
with the coaches Rudi Lenaerts (Laurion<br />
BV) and Prof. Wim Van Petegem, joined<br />
forces to support the student team on the<br />
“online digital consent” theme. The team<br />
worked on the question of “How to<br />
protect our privacy and help fight dangers,<br />
fears, and misconceptions in a digital<br />
world?”<br />
“The multidisciplinarity in<br />
the team proved to be a<br />
main asset in coming up<br />
with the challenge”.<br />
The student team worked ten days<br />
intensively and in an agile way on this<br />
challenge, with sprint meetings every day<br />
and four intermediate milestone meetings<br />
where they met with other teams in<br />
Bologna and in Krakow working on the<br />
same challenge. A Slack and Google<br />
Drive environment ensured a fluent<br />
sharing of insights and materials. This<br />
resulted in a new, challenge-based type<br />
of collaboration with virtual mobility.<br />
“Actually coaching this team was easy,”<br />
explains Prof. Van Petegem. “We started<br />
each day with a short stand-up meeting<br />
with the team. Our main role as coaches<br />
was to bring students in contact with<br />
stakeholders in the field of education,<br />
research and industry so that they could<br />
get feedback for their ideas”.<br />
Jorrit Willaert and Anirudh Pabba, two of<br />
the team members, add: “The<br />
multidisciplinarity in the team proved to be<br />
a main asset in coming up with an<br />
approach to the challenge. The mix of<br />
expertise in our team with law (from Isidora<br />
González Ríos, a third team member),<br />
science (Anirudh) and engineering (Jorrit)<br />
turned out to be very successful, and<br />
resulted in a holistic experience.”<br />
36
Prof. Wim Van Petegem, Chrisje Haenen and Rudi Lenaerts<br />
“I was pleasantly surprised by the<br />
eagerness and the willingness of the team<br />
to pick-up the challenge and to really<br />
deliver a solution” adds Rudi Lenaerts,<br />
“Moreover, working with an international<br />
team (Anirudh is from India, Isidora from<br />
Chile and Jorrit from Belgium) added an<br />
extra very positive dimension to it”.<br />
In total, UNA.TEN attracted more than<br />
100 students who worked together in<br />
19 teams, in this way paving the road for<br />
challenge-based learning, not only in times<br />
of virtual mobility, but maybe for the future<br />
of higher education in Europe and beyond.<br />
Roles<br />
The roles in the team were clearly defined<br />
in the first few days. Anirudh took the<br />
responsibility as a project planner, whereas<br />
Isidora worked on the legal and juridical<br />
aspects and Jorrit was responsible for the<br />
practical implementation of the choices<br />
made. All their hard work eventually<br />
resulted in a blueprint for a customisable<br />
add-on for browsers to protect the user’s<br />
digital rights. Needless to say that this<br />
solution was highly appreciated by all<br />
participants of the final presentation at the<br />
end of the two weeks challenge.<br />
Hilde Lauwereys<br />
www.una-europa.eu<br />
CONNECTING<br />
37
FACULTY WORLDWIDE<br />
TECHNOVATION<br />
HUB JOINS<br />
DESIGN FACTORY<br />
GLOBAL NETWORK<br />
Tuesday 8 January <strong>2020</strong> was a special day<br />
at Aalto University. The institute not only<br />
celebrated its 10th birthday, but also the<br />
entry of the 30th member to the Design<br />
Factory Global Network (DFGN). Chrisje<br />
Haenen and Stijn De Jonge, administrators<br />
of Technovation Hub, could not have<br />
imagined a better time to sign the<br />
cooperation agreement in Helsinki.<br />
Stijn De Jonge<br />
Like-minded<br />
Chrisje Haenen looks back in time. “Technovation Hub is an<br />
initiative of the Faculty of Engineering Technology. It was founded<br />
five years ago with the support of the Science, Engineering &<br />
Technology Group of KU Leuven to support the emerging<br />
engineering talent on the campuses and at the same time to be<br />
the incubator of new and promising projects. There are already<br />
six student teams under the wing of Technovation Hub, each of<br />
which is an example of entrepreneurship and innovation. One of<br />
them, the Agoria Solar Team, became world champion in the<br />
World Solar Challenge in October 2019. These examples work<br />
contagiously, also within our community. We found that the time<br />
was ripe to push the boundaries and to look for like-minded<br />
partners in other countries and continents”.<br />
Co-creation<br />
These like-minded partners were found in DFGN. “What brings<br />
us together is passion-based co-creation”, Stijn De Jonge<br />
explains. “The network consists of innovation hubs such as ours<br />
that are active in universities and research centres around the<br />
world, from CERN in Geneva to Tongji University in Shanghai.<br />
Design Factories are platforms for experimentation, action and<br />
co-creation. In addition to the local activities of each factory,<br />
there are also numerous shared initiatives.”<br />
“One of the basic principles of a Design Factory is that innovation<br />
is not something that is accomplished by an individual. Instead,<br />
innovation is by definition a social and a collaborative matter.<br />
Another important characteristic of a Design Factory is the<br />
revaluation of the concept of ‘space’. Creativity needs a space<br />
that is separated from the activities of daily working life. Building<br />
a space away from the routine job is key to enhancing a team’s<br />
creative capability. At Aalto University, Design Factories can have<br />
spaces ranging from 5 to 5,000 m². Interesting in that context<br />
are the ‘traveling projects’ that literally move to the locations<br />
where the most suitable expertise or equipment can be found”.<br />
Double purpose<br />
As a recognized Design Factory, Technovation Hub 2.0 pursues<br />
a dual goal. “Our main assignment is to encourage even more<br />
scientific or engineering students to participate in team projects,<br />
both inside and outside the curriculum”, says Chrisje Haenen.<br />
“Therefore, we want to appeal to our partner companies more<br />
than ever to serve as a commissioner or a client. It encourages<br />
the teams to think more thoroughly about the valorisation of their<br />
concept or product.”<br />
“A second goal that we have in mind is a proper location where<br />
the teams can get to work. The space we dream of is a casual<br />
meeting area as well as a learning environment that facilitates the<br />
making of physical artefacts and is accessible to the local and<br />
global academic and business community through a virtual<br />
window. We are therefore looking for a location that allows<br />
different ways of learning, working and sharing in a single space.<br />
We are convinced that Technovation Hub 2.0 will soon have its<br />
own place in the sun”.<br />
Yves Persoons<br />
www.technovationhub.be<br />
38
COOPERATION AGREEMENT<br />
WITH VELLORE INSTITUTE<br />
OF TECHNOLOGY<br />
RESULTS IN COOPERATIVE EDUCATION PROGRAMME<br />
On 9th January <strong>2020</strong>, a Cooperative Education Programme in Bachelor of Engineering Technology<br />
was launched in Vellore (India). It opens the door for Indian bachelor students to continue their<br />
studies at Group T Leuven Campus after two years of study at their home university and to obtain a<br />
bachelor’s degree from KU Leuven. The first batch of students is expected in the fall of <strong>2020</strong>.<br />
title ‘N° 1 Indian Private Institution of<br />
Innovation’ and was recognised as an<br />
‘Institution of Eminence’ by the Indian<br />
government. With over 300 <strong>International</strong><br />
Cooperation Agreements, VIT’s range of<br />
action covers the entire world.<br />
The new cooperative programme is<br />
preceded by a history that begins<br />
with the visit of a delegation from<br />
the former University College Group T to<br />
Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) in<br />
2012. After the integration of Group T’s<br />
engineering programme in KU Leuven<br />
and a visit by Rector Luc Sels to India, the<br />
cooperation became definite which led to<br />
the signing of a Memorandum of<br />
Understanding in Leuven in April 2019.<br />
N° 1 in Innovation<br />
VIT is a young private university with four<br />
campuses in Vellore (Tamil Nadu),<br />
Chennai, Bhopal and Amravati Andhra<br />
Pradesh. At these campuses, more than<br />
25,000 students are enrolled in 52<br />
undergraduate programmes, 32<br />
postgraduate, 11 integrated MS courses<br />
and 4 research & industrial programmes<br />
in Engineering, Technology, Applied<br />
Sciences and Management. VIT was<br />
among the first universities in India to<br />
implement the Fully Flexible Credit System<br />
(FFCS), which gives the students the<br />
flexibility to make their own timetables by<br />
choosing the subjects and the faculties<br />
under whose guidance they want to<br />
study. Recently, VIT received the honorary<br />
Academic records<br />
The agreement signed by Prof. Govindasamy<br />
Viswanathan, founder and<br />
Chancellor of VIT, Prof. Gerard Govers,<br />
Vice-Rector of KU Leuven and Prof. Bert<br />
Lauwers, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering<br />
Technology may be summarised<br />
as follows: students enrolled in the<br />
B.Tech- Mechanical Engineering Programme<br />
at VIT can be nominated to<br />
enrol in the Bachelor of Science in Engineering<br />
Technology, specialisation Electromechanical<br />
Engineering at KU<br />
Leuven. Each nominated student has<br />
successfully completed two years fulltime<br />
study at VIT and needs to present<br />
good to excellent academic records and<br />
meet all admissions requirements of KU<br />
Leuven, including language proficiency.<br />
After completion of the 2nd and 3rd year<br />
of the undergraduate programme at<br />
Group T Leuven Campus, the students<br />
receive a Bachelor’s degree from KU<br />
Leuven and are automatically admitted<br />
to an English language master programme<br />
in a relevant major offered by<br />
the Faculty of Engineering Technology.<br />
Yves Persoons<br />
CONNECTING<br />
39
FACULTY WORLDWIDE<br />
KU LEUVEN AND HANYANG UNIVERSITY:<br />
COLLABORATING ON PROJECTS<br />
AND STUDENT EXCHANGE<br />
On January 29, <strong>2020</strong>, Prof. Luc Sels, rector of KU Leuven and Prof. Woo-Seung Kim, president of<br />
Hanyang University (South Korea) signed two cooperation agreements. The first deals with the<br />
set-up of joint research projects. The second relates to the exchange of students with the Faculty of<br />
Engineering Technology<br />
Industry cooperation<br />
Thanks to ERICA Campus (Education<br />
Research Industry Cluster at Ansan), HYU<br />
is recognised as the most active industry<br />
cooperation university in South Korea<br />
combining research and education with<br />
business. ERICA Campus is famous for<br />
its cluster programme in which students<br />
acquire knowledge and skills that make<br />
them immediately employable in<br />
professional practice. The figureheads<br />
-the so called ‘proud Hanyangians’-<br />
include Chung Mong-koo, Chairman of<br />
Hyundai Motor Group and Yoon Bookeun,<br />
CEO of Samsung Electronics.<br />
Three years of preparation preceded<br />
the signing ceremony at the Rector’s<br />
Office in Leuven. In June 2017, Prof.<br />
Sabine Vercruysse, Vice-Campus Chair of<br />
Group T Leuven Campus and Wim Polet,<br />
Director of the <strong>International</strong> Office, paved<br />
the way during the official Belgian trade<br />
mission to South Korea. In November<br />
2017 and 2018, Director Wim Polet<br />
continued negotiations in Seoul, resulting<br />
in the signing of a Memorandum of<br />
Understanding during Rector Luc Sels’<br />
visit to Hanyang University (HYU) in<br />
March 2019.<br />
Growth machine<br />
HYU started in 1939 as the first<br />
engineering institute in Korea. Currently,<br />
the university is generally regarded as an<br />
essential part of the growth machine that<br />
has made South Korea an economic and<br />
technological global player. HYU has<br />
campuses in the capital Seoul and the<br />
nearby city of Ansan. Together they count<br />
25 colleges and 107 departments,<br />
representing 24,500 undergraduate and<br />
8,300 graduate students. The university<br />
welcomes 7,500 foreign students annually<br />
and more than 3,000 students go abroad<br />
every year. HYU counts Massachusetts<br />
Institute of Technology (MIT), University of<br />
Cambridge and Tsinghua University<br />
among its 820 partner universities in 88<br />
countries.<br />
Presentations<br />
After the signing ceremony, President<br />
Woo-seung Kim and his retinue were<br />
received at Group T Leuven Campus.<br />
Professors Ronald Cools, Bert Lauwers<br />
and Peter Slaets gave a presentation<br />
about, resp. the Science, Engineering &<br />
Technology Group, the Faculty of<br />
Engineering Technology and the research<br />
on Autonomous Vehicles.<br />
The programme also included visits to the<br />
Department of Electrical Engineering,<br />
more specifically the research group of<br />
Prof. Sofie Pollin, the inter-university<br />
microelectronics centre IMEC and the<br />
high-tech company Materialize,<br />
specialized in 3D printing.<br />
Yves Persoons<br />
40
ALUMNI NEWS<br />
ALUMNI REUNION<br />
IN CHINA’S HIGH TECH CAPITAL<br />
The annual recruitment missions of Group T Leuven Campus along the Chinese partner universities<br />
is an excellent opportunity to bring the alumni together on the spot. In Shanghai and Beijing, where<br />
KU Leuven has its own Alumni Chapter, it has already become a classic. Meanwhile, the initiative is<br />
being extended to other cities as well. On Friday 1 November 2019, it was the turn of the southern<br />
Chinese city of Shenzhen. The reason was the visit to the Southern campus of Harbin Institute of<br />
Technology, a high-ranked university in China and a new partner of KU Leuven.<br />
Since Shenzhen was elected China’s<br />
Special Economic Zone, the small<br />
fishing village of 35 years ago has<br />
grown to be one of the largest cities in the<br />
world. Along the way, it also became the<br />
manufacturing heart of the global tech<br />
industry. Over the past decade, the city<br />
has become a world leader in technological<br />
innovation, rather than a place where one<br />
buys cheap electronics. It meant the<br />
move from ‘Made in China’ to ‘Designed<br />
in China’. Today, Shenzhen is home to<br />
some of the biggest high tech companies<br />
in the world, such as Internet and gaming<br />
giant Tencent, the telecom firm Huawei,<br />
smartphone maker ZTE as well as the<br />
world’s largest drone maker DJI and<br />
robot producer Makeblock. It is estimated<br />
that about 90% of all digital products<br />
worldwide contains one or more<br />
components from Shenzhen. Appel also<br />
has its iPhones manufactured in<br />
Shenzhen. Design City has become the<br />
gateway to Shenzhen for the rest of the<br />
world and vice versa.<br />
At the first reunion in Shenzhen, ten<br />
alumni from Group T Leuven Campus<br />
were present. They are working at<br />
Huawei, 01NNT, Deacons, Foxconn and<br />
Melexis. They are already looking forward<br />
to the next <strong>edition</strong> and to the moment<br />
when a KU Leuven Alumni Chapter will be<br />
founded in their city.<br />
Yves Persoons<br />
CONNECTING<br />
41
ALUMNUS IN FOCUS<br />
LIN ZHANG:<br />
CHAIRMAN OF KU LEUVEN<br />
ALUMNI CHAPTER BEIJING<br />
A living signboard of the Faculty of Engineering Technology and at the same time<br />
a model ambassador of KU Leuven abroad. Both descriptions apply to Lin Zhang.<br />
As an alumnus of Group T Leuven Campus, he is not only a brilliant engineer, but<br />
also a driven entrepreneur and an inspiring educator. It was therefore obvious<br />
that he was appointed as the first Chairman of the new KU Leuven <strong>International</strong><br />
Alumni Chapter Beijing.<br />
Lin Zhang arrived in Leuven together with 30 fellow<br />
students from Beijing Jiaotong University (BJTU) in<br />
2003. It was a record number of students that has<br />
not been matched since. “It was quite a job before we<br />
could leave”, he remembers vividly. “We arrived with a<br />
month’s delay due to the consequences of the SARS<br />
epidemic. It was hard to make up for the missed lessons,<br />
but once we had met, everything went smoothly”.<br />
At Group T Leuven Campus, Lin Zhang studied Electronics<br />
& ICT Engineering Technology option Hardware Design.<br />
He gained his first business experience at the high-tech<br />
company Agilent during his master’s thesis. It prompted<br />
him to follow an extra master’s in Industrial Management<br />
at KU Leuven after his engineering study. Both master’s<br />
degrees formed a solid stepping-stone for an academic<br />
career, first as a teaching assistant on Group T Leuven<br />
Campus, then as a PhD student and postdoc at the<br />
Department of Mechanical Engineering of KU Leuven.<br />
STEM education<br />
In 2017, Lin Zhang decided to take a different approach<br />
and took his chance as an entrepreneur in China. He had<br />
already discovered a niche in the market in Belgium: a<br />
dire shortage of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering<br />
and Mathematics) teachers to interest young people in<br />
the jobs of the future. In China, high schools appeared<br />
to be struggling with the same problem, so Lin Zhang<br />
started his own business as an educational consultant in<br />
STEM matters. His clients are high schools that he<br />
advises on the development and implementation of a<br />
STEM policy. This also includes educating teachers<br />
according to the ‘train-the-trainer’ principle and<br />
developing educational materials that teachers can use<br />
in their own class.<br />
Steering Committee<br />
When on 24 August 2019 a new <strong>International</strong> Alumni<br />
Chapter was officially installed in Beijing together with the<br />
commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Double<br />
Degree Programme in Engineering Technology from KU<br />
Leuven and BJTU, Martine Torfs, Director of the<br />
university’s <strong>International</strong> Office did not have to look for a<br />
pioneer for long. All the tracks led to the BJTU student<br />
who came to Leuven in 2003 to study and to teach and<br />
who runs his own business in Beijing today. Together<br />
with five like-minded colleagues, Chairman Lin Zhang<br />
forms a steering committee that is committed to<br />
connecting the 200 KU Leuven alumni in China’s capital<br />
with each other and with their alma mater in the far<br />
Leuven.<br />
Yves Persoons<br />
42
Lin Zhang<br />
43
ENGINEERING<br />
THE FUTURE<br />
Study at the Faculty<br />
of Engineering Technology<br />
We make you feel at home in a globalised world. As an engineer<br />
without borders, you are committed to the major challenges<br />
of our time: climate, environment, health, mobility, poverty…<br />
Equipped with science, technology and professional skills,<br />
you are prepared to turn the tide.<br />
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Bachelor’s programme<br />
• BSc in Engineering Technology<br />
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• MSc in Chemical Engineering Technology<br />
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• European Master in Sustainable Food Systems<br />
Engineering, Technology and Business<br />
• Erasmus Mundus - MSc in Imaging and Light in<br />
Extended Reality<br />
• Erasmus Mundus - European Master in Radiation<br />
and its Effects on MicroElectronics and Photonics<br />
Technologies<br />
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• Advanced MSc in Innovative Health Technology<br />
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