TU/e alumnus takes silver at the Olympics

Sander de Graaf, TU/e alumnus and a member of rowing association Thêta, was anything but idle this summer. He gave it his all at the Paris Olympics, rowing with all his might – and it paid off. Together with his teammates, he won a silver medal for the Netherlands in the Men’s Eight event. “During the race, it was all about going as fast as possible and hoping we could keep it up,” De Graaf told Omroep Brabant after the competition.

There was no lack of support for De Graaf. “There are more than a hundred people here from my rowing association alone (Thêta, Ed.). Friends from my old student house, my family and my girlfriend are also here,” he says in the same interview. Some of the Thêta members went to great lengths to cheer De Graaf on. Ten of them biked all the way to Paris from Eindhoven.

TU/e team world champion in robot soccer

This summer, after eleven years, the RoboCup was once again held on home turf. From July 17 to 29, the campus was overrun with all kinds of robots. The RoboCup featured 17 competitions divided into five categories: soccer, care, rescue operations, junior and work.

Tech United, consisting of (former) TU/e students, PhD candidates and employees, was crowned RoboCup Soccer world champion in the Middle Size League for the eighth consecutive time. The TU/e team put in an impressive performance in the final, defeating the Chinese team “BigHeroX” with a 6-1 victory.

In addition, Tech United competed in the “@Home” category: a competition for service robots that enable elderly people to live independently at home for longer. “HERO”, Tech United’s service robot, placed fourth in this category.

First key to new student residences handed over

In July, the first (symbolic) key to the three new student accommodations on campus – Pollux, Terra and Castor – was handed over to two students; Fontys student Femke Kusters and TU/e student Merijn Savelkoul.

The directors of construction company Heijmans and client Woonbedrijf (which oversees Vestide) were present, as well as TU/e administrators. “They spoke about the process, their thoughts on the final result and how, after four year, it’s now almost ready. It was all interesting to hear, and afterwards, there was a tour of the tower where I’ll be living soon,” said Savelkoul.

This month, Savelkoul and about 800 other students are moving into their new home on campus. The two residential towers (Castor and Pollux) and the low-rise building (Terra) include a mix of single studios, two-person apartments and group accommodations. Savelkoul managed to secure a studio in Castor. It was not a matter of luck, she says. “I had been on the waiting list with Vestide for over four years, so it was about time!”