New UT research projects launched within Open Technology Programme

Thursday 3 April 2025

Six application-oriented projects can start with funding from the Open Technology Programme from NWO's Applied and Engineering Sciences domain (AES). Three research projects also involve UT researchers. NWO is supporting these application-oriented projects with more than 4.9 million euros. The industry and other organisations are adding another amount of over 720,000 euros.

Wireless Robotic Clot Retrieval for Vascular Intervention (WCR)

Dr I.S.M. Khalil, University of Twente

Co-applicant(s): University of Twente - Prof Dr S. Stramigioli, Dr G. Dagnino, Prof P. Jonkheijm, Prof G.J.M. Tuijthof MSc, Dr A. Susarrey Arce, Radboud University Medical Centre - Dr M.C. Warlé & Dr J.F.W. Nijsen

The WCR project is developing a wireless robot to make clot removal safer and more effective. The robot, shaped like a small screw, is guided through blood vessels using magnetic fields. UT researcher Islam Khalil adds a gripper so that the robot can grab blood clots and remove them. This technology could improve treatment for strokes, heart attacks, and other vascular conditions. The project aims to refine and test this system to ensure better outcomes for patients.

A Multiprobe Cantilever for Mesoscopic Transport Measurements of 2D Materials

Prof Dr H.J.W. Zandvliet

The goal of this project is to develop a special tool for measuring how electricity moves through very thin materials. This tool is a multiprobe atomic force microscopy (AFM) cantilever, which allows UT researcher Harold Zandvliet to study materials at an extremely small scale, just a few hundred nanometres. Compared to the conventional Hall-bar method, this new approach is more flexible and has several important advantages. Using this technique, the researchers will investigate a special type of electron movement, called Bloch oscillations, in twisted bilayer graphene.

In the research 'BATT-AI: Large-scale batteries for maximised profit and congestion management using AI' by lead applicant Dr Z. Qin (TU Delft), UT researcher Dr Nataly Bañol Arias is a co-applicant. Project BATT-AI develops control strategies and models enabling new capacity markets and battery energy storage system owners to provide multiple services and be rewarded, speeding up the energy transition.

Open Technology Programme

The Open Technology Programme of the Dutch Research Council (NWO) provides funding for application-oriented technical-scientific research that is free and unrestricted and is not hindered by disciplinary boundaries. The programme offers companies and other organisations an accessible way to participate in scientific research that is intended to lead to societal and/or scientific impact.