❮ Irene Fernandez Villegas, Expert/ Assistant Professor Structural Integrity and Composites
The bachelor’s and master’s programmes have a broad scope (specialisms and system integration). Recent graduates are highly sought after at national and international aerospace companies. 99 per cent of graduates find a job within or outside the high-tech sector within three months. The faculty has many national and international partnerships. In Europe, TU Delft is a member of the Pegasus network, and takes part in various European research programmes. In the Netherlands, the faculty plays a major role in the aerospace industry knowledge cluster. At a national level, TU Delft works closely with the NLR, TNO, training institutes, engineering firms and Dutch suppliers. Sustainable In May 2014 researchers from TU Delft will present the results of the European Seventh Framework Programme project AHEAD at the Berlin Air Show. The Advanced Hybrid Engines for Aircraft Development (AHEAD) project helps to meet ambitious European environmental objectives by designing a sustainable and environmentally-friendly aircraft. CO2 emissions can be reduced by 65% and nitrogen emissions can be reduced by 80% compared to a conventional Boeing 777-200ER aircraft. With the use of clean fuels such as Liquid Natural Gas and biofuels, AHEAD outlines an alternative to kerosene. The aircraft must thus change shape, and a hybrid engine has been developed with a combustion system that has not yet been used in aero-engines. Together, this new Multi-Fuel Blended Wing Body aircraft, the use of new fuels and the hybrid engine, provide huge fuel savings. This allows the new aircraft, characterised by breakthrough technologies, to meet the European environmental objectives.
Facilities The faculty of Aerospace Engineering at TU Delft has excellent research facilities such as the SIMONA flight simulator, wind tunnels, a clean room and the recently opened Cyber Zoo where robots crawl, ride and fly. The faculty also has an aircraft hall with various kinds of test equipment. This hall contains the Delft Aerospace Structures & Materials Laboratory. The DASML is the birthplace of many innovations in the field of aerospace, of which the material Glare is probably the best known example. Glare (or in other words GLAss REinforced aluminium) is a composite material invented by the Delft academics Professor Boud Vogelesang and Dr Geert Roebroeks. It is used by Fokker in Airbus aircraft fuselage. TU Delft’s ambition is to maintain its leading position in education and research in the field of aerospace. “With a high-quality education and relevant research we are well prepared to tackle the challenges of the future” explains the dean Hester Bijl. “What I like is that we have a top infrastructure here, and good people who enjoy working together. What is unique about Delft is the type of students: they are clever, but also very entrepreneurial. They are constantly developing new initiatives.” In order to tackle the challenges of the future, the faculty is happy to connect with the outside world by strengthening and extending national and international partnerships.
www.ae.tudelft.nl
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