The honorary doctorate, the Academic Awards, the education awards, the Marina van Damme grant and hundreds of Bachelor's degrees - all these were awarded during the first ever MomenTUm held last year on September 21st. For the first time, TU/e fused multiple academic ceremonies into a single event - prompting a wide range of opinions and expectations in the process.

In the end, the reactions were almost all positive; among those in favor was Eindhoven's mayor John Jorritsma who before the afternoon was out had said that with MomenTUm a “wonderful new tradition” had been born. Similarly, the Executive Board's enthusiasm was also immediate, says co-organizer Liesbeth Castelijns (TU/e's Communication Expertise Center) and, following an extensive evaluation with all those involved and a survey of the participating graduating students, it gave the green light and released a budget for a repeat event.

One thing the evaluation revealed was that it would be preferable, next time around, to hold the event a week later: “A request made by Education and Student Affairs, in view of the whole logistical process to do with graduating students and degrees”. In addition, the paper tickets for the afternoon ceremony, which last year most of the guests had to collect from a designated place on the day itself, have been replaced by digital passes. “We managed it last year, everyone was seated in time - but I wouldn't want to do it like that again.”

Forty-five minutes shorter

A change has also been made to the official ceremony, which last year lasted two hours. Partly at the suggestion of the Executive Board, it has been shortened by forty-five minutes. Castelijns: “Many people found it a fairly long time to be seated, especially parents who also had a degree ceremony to attend that afternoon.” Time has been freed up mainly by scrapping the keynote speech, given last year by ASML top executive Peter Wennink. Many audience members found his contribution inspirational, reports Castelijns, “but also a bit too long”.

Instead, this year a 'four voices' feature will be introduced; four students each telling their own story of studying at TU/e, pulled together by a director to create a coherent whole. This is intended to introduce a “breath of fresh air” into the ceremony, tells Joost van Engelen, president of the Federation of Study Associations Eindhoven, MomenTUm co-organizer and one of the four student voices. The three others are Beatrix Bos, Joline Frens and Gergő Sütő.

Walk of Fame

The time gained by omitting the keynote will be usefully spent on this year's double ceremony for the honorary doctorates. Not only this, but the number of graduating students on the Walk of Fame is expected to be higher than last year. In contrast to last year, graduating Master's students are being invited to take part in the ceremony. Based on conversations with departments, Castelijns is expecting “some one hundred”.

Moreover, last academic year while preparations for MomenTUm were underway, many Bachelor's degree ceremonies were already being held, so that on the day ‘only’ about 650 brand new ingenieurs took part in the new large-scale annual celebration. For the forthcoming occasion, the organizers are counting on there being more than twelve hundred participants (Bachelor's and Master's together) - and, according to the latest planning, as a group they have eleven minutes to complete the Walk of Fame (this year without a musical interlude). “Nor are we going to be calling out all their names as we did last year, but they will all be shown on the screens.”

Each graduating student may invite two guests, whereas last year they were allowed four. Others with an interest, and for whom there are no seats left in MetaForum's market hall, will be able to follow the ceremony on a big screen in a lecture hall in Atlas.

Socks

As happened last year, MomenTUm will be designed in partnership with the Den Bosch-based events agency Artishock, with the involvement of, among others, various Eindhoven student cultural associations. And as before, an evening party will round off the day; the acts that are booked will be announced on Facebook during September. And for anyone who has been cherishing a hope since last year: the TU/e graduate socks will be back, with a new design.

Pressure to top the first MomenTUm, which many found amazing, is not something Castelijns says she is under - at most she feels some upbeat anticipation: “Above all, we hope it will be just as much fun as it was last year”.