The academic year 2024-2025 of the University of Twente was festively opened today in the Wilminktheatre. A packed programme centred around the theme of hope and paid particular attention to the university's role in chip technology developments.
Investing in education pays off
Being hopeful is not easy, especially given the difficult times universities face. In his contribution, UT president Vinod Subramaniam dwelt on the Dutch cabinet's planned cuts to higher education: "The challenges we face as a society call for more rather than less investment in knowledge and new generations that can meet these challenges successfully. Investing in the future sometimes seems difficult to explain, and we notice this, especially in financially more difficult times, where we tend to focus on the here and now. But it is the only way forward for our society. Investing in education is about the closest thing to a certainty and guarantees a return on investment."
The University of Twente is joining forces with other universities to make its voice heard in The Hague. Also, today was the Alternative Opening of the Academic Year in Utrecht, held by numerous concerned organisations to address concerns about the upcoming national budget cuts.
Hopeful
Despite the dark clouds nearing, Vinod Subramaniam expressed hope. ‘I take that from the fact that as UT graduates, we are a bunch of combative fighters, constantly pushing the boundaries. We have a huge amount to be proud of as pioneers - our research has been groundbreaking, our campus is unique, we were the first to experiment with the broad propaedeutic phase, combining entrepreneurship with academics, combining social sciences and engineering, starting a programme in public administration, innovating with the TOM model and challenge-based learning, starting technical medicine, advanced technology, creative technology. And more. Every time we initiate new developments, others follow our lead.’ Subramaniam also praised the strong collaboration in the region as an essential sign of hope. ‘We are in this together,’ he said.
People
This time, Jos Benschop delivered the keynote address. Jos is executive vice president of technology at ASML and has a rich history at UT. He studied and did his PhD there and was a part-time professor at the NNV chair in Industrial Physics for ten years. Jos took the opportunity in the morning to briefly visit Professor Marcelo Ackermann's XUV department at UT, which frequently collaborates with ASML.
Benschop took those present in the Wilminktheatre into his world: a world built on the success of a ‘collaborative eco system’, as Jos Benschop put it. "But," he stated, "our most important assets are our people. They come up with ideas, they build machines and they make sure they keep working."
That remark was a clear link to the Beethoven project, in which educational institutions, governments and companies are working together to realise the growth ambitions of the Dutch chip sector. Chip technology is one of the main pillars of the economy of the future, and what's more, we need it for the big tasks ahead. Benschop presented some of the inexhaustible possibilities, and also showed why the development of energy-efficient chips will be one of the big tasks for the sector. Already, digitisation is placing a huge burden on our energy consumption.
Several UT community members were also given the opportunity to show what is happening in the field of chip technology. Professor Sebastian Thiede explained the importance of an innovative ecosystem like the one in Twente: how scientific innovation can influence society with advanced production technologies. Dawson Bonneville took the audience into the world of photonics, chips and applications. Among other things, he also talked about the spin-off Aluvia, of which he is part. The closing word was for student Diana Andreoli, a board member of the newest UT student team, Biosensing Team Twente, which is developing an advanced sensor.
Siete Hamminga, founder and CEO of Robin Radar Systems BV, received the Van den Kroonenberg Award. The annual award is presented to UT-affiliated entrepreneurs who have launched a startup with proven market success. Five students were also presented with the annual Graduation Award on stage.
The band She's on Mars, formed by Maikel Skalliks and UT employee Martin Bosker, provided musical accompaniment to the event.
