Research areas
The Faculty of 3mE currently comprises six departments, four of which (Precision and Microsystems Engineering, Process & Energy, BioMechanical Engineering and Maritime & Transport Technology) are directly linked to practice and to the strengths of the Dutch industrial economy, both today and in the future. The two remaining departments - the Delft Center for Systems Control, and Materials Science and Engineering - are primarily concerned with fundamental research and the development of their respective disciplines.
All departments are staffed on the basis of proven academic excellence, whereupon each has the critical mass required to compete at the international level. The departments contribute to the faculty's educational programmes, while also profiling themselves as independent research organisations. All are strong partners within one or more cooperative alliances at both national and international level.
The sheer scope of the discipline means that mechanical engineering is a key component of many and extremely diverse fields of activity: energy, environment, food supplies, housing, water, transport, security and healthcare, to name but a few.
Marco Waas, Dean of the 3mE faculty
Cooperation is the key to success
Marco Waas, Dean of the 3mE faculty, is full of confidence about the future. Although 3mE will face some tough challenges in the coming years, its foundations are solid. Not only is there plenty of expertise and young talent in the faculty; the financial situation is relatively favourable too. Waas believes that cooperation will be the key to meeting the challenges of the future.
"As a faculty, we are faced with a series of challenges for the future," says Waas. "For example, how do we keep our research facilities up to scratch while government funding is decreasing? How do we ensure that our faculty maintains its leading role on the European stage? How can we ensure continuity of the long-term research projects and how can we stimulate knowledge valorisation? Of course there is no one single answer to these questions, but I do see a common denominator, which is cooperation."
Breakthroughs
"I am convinced that cooperation is the key to success. For example, collaborative research ensures efficient use of research facilities and increases the chances of acquiring funding. Aside from that, cooperation is required to solve the ever more complex problems. Furthermore, you can see that most breakthroughs today take place in the periphery, where the various disciplines meet each other. That is why I do not only attach great importance to cooperation between the departments in our faculty, but also with the other TU Delft faculties and with other universities such as the Leiden University Medical Center and Erasmus University.
Talks with the business community
"Cooperation is also a prerequisite if the Netherlands wants to play a leading role as a knowledge economy. Of course it would be ideal if the government increased the percentage of the gross national product for education and research spending from 5.1 to 6.1 percent, as in other knowledge intensive countries. However, there is no point in sitting back and waiting for this to happen. It is my intention to hold talks with the business community on structural cooperation on and financing of certain long-term research programmes."
"Dynamic knowledge region
Knowledge valorisation requires cooperation too. If we want to be part of the Champions League in this field, then it is not enough just to develop state-of-the-art knowledge; we will also need to enter into collaborations with knowledge intensive businesses and ensure that Delft becomes a dynamic knowledge region. Alongside this, a consistent government policy is required, whereby universities are stimulated, much more than they are now, to invest their energy in valorisation."
