Jan van Dijk is Associate Professor in the Elementary Processes in Gas Discharges group at Eindhoven University of Technology. His fields of interest include modelling of electro-magnetic fields and transport phenomena.
In addition, he studies object-oriented code design and tries to use modern C++ idiom such as expression templates for solving coupled linearized systems of equations.
Earlier projects included the modeling of non-thermal biomedical plasma sources and microwave plasma sources for the production of optical fibers. He will provide small introductions for the speakers and guide us through the day.
Liesbeth Janssen is Associate Professor and Chair of the Soft Matter and Biological Physics group at Eindhoven University of Technology. Her research group focuses on the behavior of materials that are inherently out of thermodynamic equilibrium, ranging from glasses and gels to active and living matter. She uses a combination of theory, computer simulations, and machine-learning methods to study the structural, dynamical, and mechanical properties of such materials.
This talk will discuss her group's efforts to address one of the most notoriously difficult problems in theoretical condensed matter physics: the glass transition.
Quantum physics is a field which needs little explanation for why it fits into our theme of 'Impossible Physics' so well. Einstein, among many others, did not believe the theory until his death and Erwin Schrödinger himself once commented “I do not like it, and I am sorry I ever had anything to do with it”. Today, we use this theory in many real-world applications and it is a hot-topic among physics research.
In this talk Prof. Gary Steele will discuss one application of quantum physics, namely the concept of quantum sensing. Our speaker, Prof. Gary Steele, is an active researcher in the field of quantum sensing. After completing his Bachelor in Physics at McGill university in Canada, he obtained his PhD at MIT, and he is currently the leader of the “Steele Lab” at the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience at TU Delft. His research group is focused on using superconducting quantum devices to probe and control mechanical resonators in the quantum regime.
Huub de Groot draws inspiration from nature to examine how we could create artificial photosynthesis. To do so, he aims to understand the fundamentals of direct energy conversion by proteins, complexes, membranes and cells in natural photosynthesis. Recreating this process artificially could be a game changer: “I expect artificial photosynthesis to be fully operational in 2050; by that time, it will be the backbone of our energy supply”.
Prof. dr. Huub de Groot is a professor of biophysical organic chemistry at the Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Leiden University. Since 2007 he has been working on transferring principles from photosynthesis into artificial photosynthesis, and since 2012 he has served as the scientific director of the Dutch BioSolar Cells consortium. This is a public-private partnership in which nine knowledge institutes and more than thirty companies work on the development of high-yield photosynthesis and artificial photosynthesis for food, fuel, and chemical feedstock.
Bio-tech designer Ermi van Oers strives for a future where plants become part of our energy system and where technology and nature will merge; where cities are illuminated by the energy released from urban parks and where the Amazon Rainforest can function as a power plant. With the project Living Light, Van Oers is creating a lamp which harvests its energy through the photosynthetic process of the plant.
Ermi van Oers is a designer and co-founder of Nova Innova, a creative startup that combines nature, science, and design to generate crucial, sustainable breakthroughs. She graduated cum laude from Willem de Kooning Academy (Rotterdam) in 2016, where she studied product design. In biodesign she saw the opportunity to change our artificial, polluting systems to sustainable, circular ones by integrating natural processes.
Marc Assinck studied Mechanical Engineering and started working for ASML in 2000.
At that time, ASML was already working on ‘Next Generation Lithography’ systems, but it was unknown which technology would be used.
Marc will present the journey ASML took to develop the ‘NXE’: The world’s only (mass production) Lithography System that uses Extreme Ultra Violet light, and is used by manufacturers to make today’s most advanced microchips.
He will show the technology behind this machine and will gives a glimpse into the impossible solutions that have been made that the world thought was not possible and he will show what next generation machines can do that are currently being developed in Veldhoven.
A current adventure finds its place in the search for the fundamental building blocks of nature. This has been aided with the advent of particle accelerators which have opened us to a whole new world not visible to the naked eye. This world has introduced us to ‘impossible’ phenomena such as quantum mechanics and the theory of relativity which have found their way into applications of daily life. Many mysteries have still not been answered: what is dark matter?, where does everything come from?
Ivo van Vulpen, a professor of Science Communication at Leiden University is on a quest to find the solution to these riddles which he hopes to find deep underground in Switzerland.