All in all, there were 217 students. Their work encompasses 51 projects spread across 11 routes. "91,000 hours of work, which you are now going to present at the demo market," said Marijke van Deelen, Honors Academy policy officer, as she launched the plenary opening session in the Blauw Zaal. The room was filled with students. They have been working on a broad range of themes, such as AI, nuclear fusion, health and mobility. Seated in the first row were their coaches, who have supervised them this past year. The audience also included family members, university staff, and others interested from Fontys and Wageningen University. 

The next speaker was René van Donkelaar, dean of the Honors Academy. He stood on the dais with his arms spread wide. The program has been running for fifteen years, he said, his pride evident. Students keen for a little more challenge can follow the two-year program alongside their regular studies. He told the audience that educational institutions running their own honors programs were very much aware of the Honors Academy, and that this had given rise to a countrywide network. But he also emphasized that things had been set up a little differently at TU/e. “Here, everything is organized centrally in eleven routes, and so you can spend two years working in interdisciplinary teams. You have this unique opportunity.”

Navigation for the visually impaired

A row of standing table lined each side of the ground floor of Atlas, knots of students gathered behind them. Interested visitors were walking past, looking at the projects. Standing under the red staircase was the NaviSense team. For student Juan Benavent (20) his first year has come to an end. He has spent his time working on a navigation system for blind and visually impaired people, making navigation easier in public spaces as well as in hospitals and supermarkets.

“This year has been all about talking to our target group. The interviews we held inspired multiple concepts,” he said, pointing to the screen next to him. It showed several sketches of an armband, headband and a chain. “These can all make a sound or vibrate, or both, to indicate the direction someone needs to take. The device knows exactly where you are and where you need to go.” It is an initial concept, but Benavent and the team have another year to go. “It will be a huge challenge, but hopefully we'll be standing here next year with a working prototype."

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Radio telescope

A little farther down the line, student Alicja Urbanczyk (21) was standing in front of a poster showing several photos of a green field, a couple of posts and attached cabling. This is the project she's spent a year working on as a member of the Radio Telescope Team. And that's exactly what they have built. "It was our coach's idea and we were instantly enthusiastic, because it was a great chance to learn about the practical side of radio astronomy." She spoke of a successful project. “We have detected radio signals from the sun, and from Jupiter. The moment those first signals were received will stick in my memory for a good long time."

According to Urbanczyk, the biggest obstacle to completing the telescope wasn't the software, which was below par, or the construction requirements, but transporting the entire structure to its final site. The radio telescope was built in the grounds of Astron, well known for the radio telescope in Westerbork. “That's a three-hour drive. We had to dismantle the 10-meter long steel tubes as well as saw through them in order to move it.”

The structure is a simpler version of a normal radio telescope, intended to enable the team to understand its engineering principles. "We still have some observations to do and we'll also be looking at how we can interpret the data better." Next year the team will use all the knowledge they've gained to build a more complex version of the radio telescope. “That will require a lot more research, but we hope to be standing here next year with a working telescope.”

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Nuclear fusion in the Netherlands

Student Victor Vermeulen (21) and his team have been studying what's required to build a nuclear fusion power station in the Netherlands, at their chosen site of the Port of Rotterdam. They've produced a non-technical roadmap of important issues that must first be solved, from public relations and political support to financing the entire supply chain.

Vermeulen threw himself into the legal side of the matter. This meant delving into the codes of law and visiting nuclear fusion startups in Great Britain, to see how things are organized there. “The most difficult part was unearthing all the legislative information relating to nuclear power stations. It was all about nuclear fission, so I found out whether it also applied to nuclear fusion, or whether adaptations are needed.”

The roadmap is now complete and next year the team will continue discussions with the Port of Rotterdam and the government to establish just how feasible their plans are. “We're going to drink a lot of coffee,” said Vermeulen, laughing. In any event, he is hopeful that by about 2050 the Netherlands will have a working nuclear fusion reactor. “We've investigated all the peripheral issues. Now we need the technology.”