The Brains Centre, part of MESA+ (University of Twente), has acquired significant support for two innovative research proposals within the Knowledge and Innovation Covenant (KIC) program of the Dutch Research Council (NWO). The projects Smart Materials for Information Processing (SMIP) and Recycling Enhanced Smart Programmable ON-Demand coatings (RESPOND) were both awarded funding in the recent KIC round focused on smart materials.
Smart Materials for Information Processing (SMIP)
The SMIP project, led by Prof Wilfred van der Wiel (University of Twente), focuses on smart, self-learning materials that can store, process and adapt information, similar to the way the human brain works. Together with Prof. Dr. Hans Hilgenkamp and Dr. Sander Smink of UT and researchers at AMOLF and industrial partners Toyota and Demcon TSST, they are working on energy-efficient adaptive electronics. Using vanadium dioxide (VO₂) and non-linear silicon devices, among others, the researchers are developing a prototype for smarter fuel cell management aimed at higher performance and sustainability.
Recycling Enhanced Smart Programmable ON-Demand coatings (RESPOND)
The RESPOND project, led by Dr. Albert Wong (University of Twente), focuses on the design of chemically programmable materials by using chemical reaction networks to process molecular information, polymer microcompartments to amplify chemical signals, and soft robotics to create selective and rapid switching of coating properties. This project will be carried out with Dr. Anne Dijkstra, Prof. Dr. Pascal Jonkheijm & Dr. Sissi De Beer from the University of Twente. Together with other members of the consortium (Dr. Michael Lerch, Dr. Josefine Geiger, both from University of Groningen, and Dr. Evan Spruijt from Radboud University) and key industry leaders (AkzoNobel for performance coatings and Wetsus for antibiofouling and water infrastructure), they will develop a new technology for coatings that are soft, non-adherent and easily removable.
Both projects were awarded funding under the NWO program Smart materials: from responsive to adaptive, which targets materials that not only respond to their environment but can also adapt to it.
