2021

It’s the dream of every designer: creating a car for a famous brand. Laurens van den Acker made this dream come true and designed concept cars for Ford, Mazda and Renault. Where does he get his sparks of inspiration from? How does he apply various techniques – varying from clay models to virtual reality? Van den Acker will share his design experiences in Europe, the US and Asia. He will also shed light on the future of automobility. For Renault he designed the agile Twizy, which is very handy in busy cities. Will the car of the future be self-steering or is driving still too much fun? And of course: how will they look like?

Ir. Laurens van den Acker is an internationally celebrated car designer, who worked for Audi in Germany, Ford in the US and Mazda in Japan. Since 2009 he is head of Corporate Design Renault Group, supervising 500 designers. At Renault his designs boosted image and sales. Van den Acker has won several prizes, among which ‘The Most Beautiful Car of the Year 2016-award’ for the Renault Talisman.

Wednesday 24 november 2021

Top skating athlete and neuroscientist Beorn Nijenhuis MSc explains how science can help in becoming a high performer. He experimented a lot with training techniques and schemes during his impressive skating career. Why is training-until-you-drop not effective? How much rest should one take? At the moment Nijenhuis is doing a PhD (at the University of Groningen) where he is investigating the so called ‘zwabbervoetmysterie’: a sudden loss of control of limbs experienced by top athletes, but also by professional musicians. What happens in the brain and muscles? Can this mystery be solved?

In cooperation with student skating association De Skeuvel which celebrates its 55th anniversary.

Moderator: prof. dr. Joost Kok, Dean of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS) and Interim Honours Dean

monday 22 november 2021

When Mindy Howard did her astronaut training in a centrifuge – experiencing 6G’s – she was smiling from ear to ear. This peak experience changed her life and gave her the confidence that she is ready for space. A male colleague following the same training, who initially seemed like a tough guy, screamed in fear and was shaken up by the whole experience. It clearly shows the importance of having a strong, resilient state of mind when overcoming challenges. Howard specialises in the mental preparedness and coaching of astronauts. Luckily, her techniques can also be applied to overcome terrestrial challenges.

Dr. Mindy Howard will most certainly be the first Dutch woman in space when she joins one of the commercial space flights in 2023. She runs Inner Space Training, a company which trains commercial astronauts. It pays off to prepare for launch!

In cooperation with KIVI, Space Society Twente and Dimensie.

Moderator: prof. dr. Jennifer Herek (Dean of the Faculty Science and Technology).

Monday 22 november 2021

The world is still shaken by the corona pandemic which started in China nearly two years ago. Suddenly, we all realized human life is fragile. People all over the world, rich and poor alike, became ill or died because of a mysterious virus. The social, psychological and economical effects will linger on for years. Prof. dr. Marion Koopmans investigated the origin of the virus in China. Did it emerge from a lab or did animals give birth to COVID-19? Koopmans is virologist and Head of the Erasmus MC Department of Viroscience. Her research considers emerging infectious diseases, noroviruses and veterinary medicine. She is member of the scientific advisory group of the World Health Organization.

Moderator: drs. Hiska Bakker (Studium Generale, UT).