Once again this year the University of Twente is well represented during the final for the Shell Bachelor Master Prize. UT students Rick Driessen, Lynn Maria Schneider and Nienke Firet are among the seven finalists who will be defending their theses by holding an elevator pitch for the jury and the audience. It is the tenth time that Shell is challenging technical graduates to make a contribution in the field of technology and innovation in relation to the necessities of life such as water, food and energy. The final will take place on Wednesday 25 March at the University of Wageningen.
Super-fast water purification with the help of a microreactor
Rick Driessen (Chemical Engineering) and Lynn Maria Schneider (Advanced Technology) are both in the race for best bachelor thesis. Rick performed research into an effective purification process for clean drinking water. The reason for this is that water is increasingly contaminated by organic substances such as medicines. Current techniques for purifying water of this type of substances are insufficient. Rick came to the conclusion that, with the help of a microreactor, the contaminating substances in water were reduced by almost 90% within a few dozen seconds. He also concluded that his model makes it relatively easy to design a large reactor.
Positively charged hybrid nanofiltration membranes for the purification of industrial waste water
Lynn carried out research into nanofiltration via membranes for purifying waste water from the textile industry. Waste water is one of the most significant sources of contamination from the industrial sector and it involves serious environmental problems. Nanofiltration membranes can be used to purify the contaminated water. The problem, however, is that the membranes often lack stability due to a lack of positively charged membranes. Lynn studied the electrical charge of membranes and has demonstrated that it is possible to charge membranes positively by changing the pH-value in the composition of membranes.
More effective use of solar energy for the production of hydrogen
Nienke (Chemical Engineering) is taking part in the hope of winning the prize for best master thesis. She carried out research into solar cells and how to improve them. She studied the photo-electrochemical (PEC) cell that splits water into hydrogen and oxygen. The advantage of hydrogen is that it can be stored and used when the sun is not shining. Nienke developed a passivation layer for silicon PEC cells that improves the durability of the silicon cells. This has brought us a step closer to the efficient storage and use of solar energy.
People's choice award and day of the final
In addition to the University of Twente, four students from Wageningen, Delft and Eindhoven are also in the final. Before delivering their pitch, the promising young scientists from technical universities will be given an opportunity to present themselves and enter into discussion with Jan Douwe Kroeske and the audience. The topics of this preliminary programme are: Robotics, drones, 3D printing and nanotechnology. This will be followed by the pitches, whereby the finalists will have two minutes in which to convince the jury. The prize for best bachelor thesis is 2,500 euro and the prize for best master thesis is 5,000 euro. Apart from the jury prizes, a people's choice award of 1,000 euro will also be awarded. An online voting module will enable the students to collect as many votes as they can. The national final will take place in Wageningen on 25 March. The UT will be organizing transport for the finalists and their supporters. Anyone who is interested can sign up with Astrid de Graaf (a.degraaf@utwente.nl).
