It was Jan Mengelers’ very first dies celebration since his appointment as new Chairman of the Executive Board last March 1. His talk briefly explained the genesis of universities in Europe (“apparently it’s the only system with added value to the extent that nothing really changed for centuries”) and shared his own fascination with science and technology.

Still, alumnus Mengelers obviously noticed that his alma mater changed considerably during his time at TNO, “and got much better”. The brand new chairman felt that Eindhoven should become a city for and by students”, a statement with which he directly addressed Eindhoven mayor Rob van Gijzel, who was also present. Talking about the university, he mentioned that it will be a challenge to handle the expected growth of first-year students for the upcoming academic year.

Mengelers said he, too, was dedicated to stronger bonds with the industry, and said the High Tech Systems Center that was officially launched yesterday is an initiative that ties in with those plans perfectly, and that more are to follow in the near future. NWO Chairman Jos Engelen took the stage after him and stressed that it’s important that both universities and companies should to accept major societal challenges together.

After prof.dr. Norman Fleck of Cambridge University ("we're only three and half hours away thanks to Ryanair") was presented with his honorary doctorate , Rector Hans van Duijn concluded the celebration with an obvious invitation for companies to intensify collaboration with his institution. He also called on regional governments for support and cooperation: the city and province. “We’ve made a clear decision and major investment. Support us in our next step. What we have here in this part of Brabant is pure gold.”