Registration Lustrum Alumni Days 2026

FieldLab: The Future of Environmental Resilience

Above ground and below it: the UT FieldLab is a unique open-air environment on campus where more than fifteen transdisciplinary experiments run simultaneously — tackling climate change, water management, food security and urban infrastructure. Science you can literally walk through.
14:00–14:45 | Language: Dutch

Langezijds: The Greenest Building on Campus

Home to the ITC faculty and awarded "School Building of the Year", Langezijds houses around 700 students and staff from across the world working on geo-information science, earth observation, and sustainability.
14:00–14:45 | Language: English / Dutch

NanoLab: Science at the Scale of the Invisible

FULL - Registration no longer possible

From medical sensors to quantum chips — this is where technology meets the invisible.
14:00–14:45 and 15:00–15:45 | Language: English / Dutch

Wind Tunnel: From Whisper to Mach 2

FULL - Registration no longer possible

Walk out understanding exactly how research makes aircrafts quieter, more efficient, and safer — and why airflow is far more interesting than it sounds.
14:00–14:45 and 15:00–15:45 | Language: English / Dutch

TechMed Simulation Centre: Training for the Real World

Discover how UT connects technology and medicine, and what it takes to prepare future healthcare professionals for crisis situations.
14:00–14:45 and 15:00–15:45 (FULL) | Language: English / Dutch

BioSensing Team: Tomorrow’s Sensor, Today

Watch UT students present their latest innovation: a wearable biosensor that measures creatinine levels in interstitial fluid — offering a non-invasive window into kidney health.
14:00–14:45 and 15:00–15:45 | Language: English

Robotics and Mechatronics Lab: Where robots are born

FULL - Registration no longer possible

From surgical robotics to inspection drones: at the RaM Lab, researchers build tomorrow's robots by hand, combining 3D printing, embedded software and fundamental science to create working prototypes for healthcare and infrastructure.
14:00–14:45 and 15:00-15:45 | Language: English

ITC: Geo-information as a Tool for a Better World

Discover how data and mapping save lives and shape policy — from the campus in Enschede to far beyond our borders.
15:00–15:45 | Language: English

Cube

CUBE — Learning Factory You once worked in the Hangar. Look what's here now.
Where you once filed, turned and built in the workshops of the Hangar or Westhorst, there's now CUBE: 4,500 m² of state-of-the-art teaching space in a strikingly transparent building at the heart of the Horst complex.
The moment you walk in, you look out over a six-metre-high metalworking hall — deliberately set more than a metre below ground level so you can take in the whole space at a glance. On the floors above, you'll find an assembly and model workshop with 3D printers, a spray booth and woodworking machines, and a full Learning Factory where students — and teams like the Solar Team — do their work today.
The same hands-on spirit you remember, in a completely new setting. Come and see it for yourself.
15:00–15:30 | Language: Dutch

XUV

XUV Lab The Light That Makes Electronic Chips Possible
At the XUV Lab, researchers study extreme ultraviolet light and the ultra-thin coatings that control it at the atomic scale. That expertise ends up inside ASML's EUV machines — the systems that produce the world's smallest chips — as well as space telescopes and advanced microscopes. This is where fundamental physics and global high-tech industry meet.
14:00–14:45 and 15:00–15:45 | Language: English / Dutch

Into the Breach: What really happens when an organization is hacked?

Martijn Hoogesteger (Computer Science 2009–2016)
Cyber threats or incident response when threats become reality - Martijn Hoogesteger is on the digital front line. As the CTO at S-RM, and Digital Investigator on the TV show Hunted NL, he shares what it takes to operate and manage the fallout when the unthinkable happens.
16:00–16:45 | UPark Hotel | Language: English

Incubase: Where the Next Startup Begins

Meet the innovative start-ups that are set to change the world. During this pitch session, entrepreneurial UT students present their business ideas — from first concept to growing company. Who will be the next trendsetter?
16:00–16:45 | Building Bastille I Language: English

The 'Human Side' of organisations – are we designing them right?

Jan de Leede | (Industrial Engineering & Management '87-'92) Professor HRM & Innovation, UT
We design technical systems meticulously — but what about work and organisations? Jan de Leede draws on socio-technical theory to explore how autonomy and smart work design drive innovation and resilience.
16:00–16:45 | UPark Hotel | Language: Dutch

From Lab to Factory — Twente's Chip Revolution

Maryam Dodangeh PhD, Integrated Circuit Design, UT · Senior Analog Design Engineer, Renesas Electronics
Twan Korthorst (UT, Electrical Engineering 1990-1996) · CEO, New Origin
Leontien Kalverda (Communication Science 2004-2011)
One designed her first Bluetooth chip during her PhD at UT and went on to work as a Senior Analog Design Engineer at Renesas. The other is building Twente's first photonic chip factory. In this session, This session shows the full journey; from a research idea in a UT lab to chips that end up in devices used around the world. A candid conversation about breakthroughs, patents, production scale, and why Twente is the place where it all comes together.
17:00–17:45 | UPark Hotel | Language: English

From Science to Sand — The Bionic Leg of 2030

Steven van Roon — Manager UT Robotics Centre · Founder Mission I.A.M.
Crazy ambitions make the world a better place." Steven van Roon ran 120 km through the Wadi Rum desert wearing a 3D-printed sensor band. The goal: collect real-world neuromuscular data to develop a bionic leg allowing people with an amputation to complete an ultramarathon by 2030.
17:00–17:45 | UPark Hotel | Language: English / Dutch

Innovate or Checkmate: From Twente roots to worldwide impact

Roy Spit — CEO Novel-T
Giels Brouwer — (Industrial Engineering & Management 2007–2012) · Serial Entrepreneur · Chairman Novel-T
Maarten Kollen — (Communication Science 2007–2014) · CEO DGT – The Chess Innovators
What makes Twente the ideal nursery for innovation? Roy Spit, Giels Brouwer and Maarten Kollen reveal how 'High-Tech Noaberschap' works. Discover how a unique mix of down-to-earthness and cooperation creates market leaders in data and chess technology. Three success stories with roots in Twente, sharing one belief: winning together works better than playing alone.
17:00–17:45 | Bastille Building, Incubase | Language: Dutch

Femke Nijboer · Assistant Professor Biomedical Signals and Systems, UT · President of the Editorial Board, U-Today · Speaker

Femke takes you into the satirical world of her book 'En ze leefden nog kort en gelukkig', quite possibly the worst self-help book ever written, by her own admission. With sharp wit and humour, she explores the limited controllability of happiness, health, and a better society. A talk that makes you think and laugh in equal measure. 
8 May | UPark Hotel | 18:00–18:30 | Language: Dutch

Wind down with good food and familiar faces. From 18:30, dinner is served — take a seat, grab a drink, and enjoy the company. Included in your day ticket. One drink on us.
18:30–20:30 I UPark Hotel

What you don't know about your campus!

See the campus through the eyes of an alumnus. The Drienerloo estate, the opening in 1964, the story behind the carillon and the Drienerlo Tower, the architects' vision and what has changed since you graduated. That, and much more. Sign up!
10:30-11:30 I Language: Dutch

Do you still recognise the Hogekamp? Tour: From EL/TN Building to UPark Hotel

FULL - registration no longer possible

Once the EL/TN faculty building and birthplace of nanotechnology — now a completely transformed campus hotel. Come and discover what became of one of Drienerlo's most iconic structures and hear the story behind its remarkable second life. Sign up for the UPark Hotel tour.
10:30-11:30 I Language: Dutch

From Brain Illusions in Virtual Reality to Self-Learning Algorithms for Sustainable Logistics

Marie-Laure Snijders (Biomedical Engineering & Interaction Technology 2015–2023) · PhD Candidate UT & TNO
Martijn Mes (Applied Mathematics 1995–2002) · Professor of Transport & Logistics Management, UT
How does your perception shape what you experience — and how do you get an algorithm to find the smartest route? Two fields, two methods, and a shared conviction that science should be visible and tangible. Both were recognised this year at the Klokhuis Science Prize 2026: Marie-Laure as part of the winning research team for their study on touch and tension, and Martijn as a finalist with Wings for Aid, an organisation developing drones for humanitarian aid delivery.
12:00–13:00 | Location: UPark Hotel | Language: Dutch

Research for the Future: From Solar-Powered Factories to Retinas on a Chip

Arturo Susarrey Arce · Assistant Professor, Mesoscale Chemical Systems research group, UT
Devin Veerman (Biomedical Engineering 2015-2021) PhD candidate, UT
What if a solar panel could not only generate electricity, but also produce medicines? And what if you could replicate a patient's retina on a chip the size of your thumbnail? In this session, two UT researchers take you to the frontiers of what's possible.
12:00-13:00 | Location: UPark Hotel | Language: English

Time to recharge, meet new people, and reflect on the morning before the afternoon programme continues.
Included in your day ticket.

Our Future with AI: Dream, Nightmare, or Something in Between?

Rob van der Veer (Computer Science 1987–1993) · Chief AI Officer, Software Improvement Group (SiG)
Maurice van Keulen (Computer Science 1988–1992) · Adjunct Professor Robust Data Science & AI
Will we eventually be less intelligent than computers? Two experienced alumni from the world of AI look ahead to the future and, drawing on their own professional practice, explore key questions about artificial intelligence: Will we soon be less intelligent than computers? How should we engage with AI? What does it mean for education? How do we keep up—and is that even still necessary?
15:00–15:45 | UPark Hotel | Language: English

Footprint or handprint: the green impact you leave at work

Barbara Kump — Professor Business Administration and Sustainability, UT
Wouter Hagedoorn (UT, Mechanical Engineering 1997-2002) +25 Product Design Experience 
Everyone knows their personal carbon footprint — fly less, eat less meat, consume less. But what if your biggest impact doesn't start at home, but at work? In this session you can reflect on how everyone — from engineer to manager — can drive sustainable change within their organisation.
15:00-15:45 I UPark Hotel I Language: English

Quantum Photonics: From Dice to Digital Security

Pepijn Pinkse — Professor of Adaptive Quantum Optics, UT
Daan Stellinga — CTO, QSA Technology
What is Quantum photonics? A ‘quantum dice’ will show what the basis of quantum entanglement is, and how it can be used for quantum key distribution. Although super secure against eavesdropping, there is one security aspect of Quantum communication still missing: authentication. How can QSA-tech can remediate this?
16:00–16:45 | UPark Hotel | Language: English

From Science to Public Reality: The Need for STEM Professionals in Policy

Liedewij Laan (Applied Physics 1999–2005) · Associate Professor, TU Delft · Co-founder and Chair, Bèta in Bestuur & Beleid
Kevin Klein Gunnewiek (Technical Medicine 2016–2023) · Researcher, Princess Máxima Centre · Board Member, Bèta in Bestuur & Beleid
Miriam Luizink (Applied Physics 1992–1998) · Chair of the NWO KIC programme committee and member of multiple supervisory boards
From AI legislation to the energy transition: crucial decisions are still being made with limited STEM perspective. Bèta in Bestuur & Beleid (BiBB) believes that scientists and technically trained professionals have an indispensable voice in the public sector. In this session, BiBB board member and alumnus Kevin Klein Gunnewiek sits down with two UT alumni who embody exactly that: Liedewij Laan, co-founder of BiBB, and Miriam Luizink, chair of the NWO KIC programme. What drove them to bring scientific thinking to the public decision-making table? What changes when STEM thinking reaches the public sector? And what is at stake if it doesn't?
16:00–16:45 | UPark Hotel | Language: Dutch

Bata Finish at the Alumni Tent

From 17:00 we gather in the alumni tent at the UTrack. Drink in hand, music playing, and then the moment you’ve been waiting for: the Batavierenrace runners cross the finish line. The energy, the atmosphere, that familiar feeling from the past.
UTrack I Included in your day ticket. One drink on us.