| STW succesverhalen |
Achievements
The aim of STW projects is to bring about knowledge transfer between researchers and users. Read some practical success stories here:
Precision system eradicates potato plants in beet field
A windy day in June 2009. On a path between beet fields near Wageningen, twenty or so researchers, representatives from industry and interested parties wait beside a tractor. The tractor is going to demonstrate a device that removes potato plants growing in a beet field. The invitation says: ‘Remember to bring suitable footwear.’ It’s a field demonstration, but luckily it’s a dry day so the boots can stay in the trunk.
More for less: Sustained, MEMS-based data storage
While Mohammed Khatib’s laptop starts up, he shows me his measurement set-up. In his 6th floor room on the campus of the University of Twente, a Personal Digital Assistant takes centre stage on an L-shaped desk. Under the desk is an ordinary computer, the signals from which are displayed on a flat screen. Behind the flat screen is the laptop, now up and running. Mohammed: ‘The laptop is connected to everything, it is the heart of the set-up. With the PDA and the computer I constantly make new combinations of Flash and MEMS memories, enter them, and the laptop combines the data. Look’, he clicks, ‘one of my experiments.’ The laptop shows a graph with a curve that disappears into the depths. ‘This experiment crashed, you see.’
A synthetic meniscus
User: ORTEQ BV, Groningen
It all began in 1987 with a preliminary research proposal for STW to develop a polymer that could be used in the human body and not release toxic substances on its breakdown. This led to a prototype of a synthetic meniscus implant. In 2003, Peter van Wijk and Jacqueline de Groot set up the company ORTEQ to further develop the product for the market. The company was awarded CE certification in 2008, so that the Actifit, as the product is known, could be marketed in Europe. Clinical tests are currently ongoing in the United States and surgeons have implanted the first synthetic meniscuses.
Nanotechnology by the kilometre
User: Packaging Applications, Tata Steel, IJmuiden
Improving protective layers on steel involves nanoscale precision. Furthermore, the knowledge-based technology must be applicable to square kilometres of steel. STW research has yielded a measuring technique which can be used to determine whether the required coating adheres properly to the steel substrate. This and other insights that have emerged from recent research are now applied in Tata Steel’s production process, according to Hans van der Weijde, head of the Packaging Applications Department at Tata Steel Research.
Multicore platform chips for digital signal processing
User: Recore Systems, Enschede
An STW project from ten years back has yielded intelligent low-energy software and a low-energy processor. A combination of these two formed the basis upon which Paul Heysters and colleagues founded the company Recore Systems. Further development by Recore Systems led to a reconfigurable chip. The company is currently working on the application of this reconfigurable chip in multicore platforms for digital signal processing.
Better sides on tyres
User: Timcal Belgium SA/NV
Timcal produces a wide range of synthetic and natural graphite powders and conductive carbons. The company became involved in Prof Jacques Noordermeer’s research at the University of Twente during a relatively late stage. Noordermeer’s work involves the mixing of rubbers with fillers, the purpose being to influence the design and properties of rubber products. Timcal was particularly interested in the application of this research to the sides of tyres. ‘The project was a perfect framework for testing our product in new applications. It enabled us to develop the product in a way that would not have been feasible otherwise’, Thomas Gruenberger, Plant Manager at Timcal, said.
Knowledge exchange
User: Spark Holland, Emmen
The company Spark Holland focuses entirely on the separation of the constituents of liquids. It does not matter whether the liquid in question is waste water, bodily fluids, fruit juice or blood. Five years ago, Spark Holland became involved in an STW project led by Rainer Bischoff (University of Groningen). This project concerns the disturbed action of enzymes that cause diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, Alzheimer’s disease, heart hypertrophy and tumour metastasis. The objective of the project is to find methods of detecting these diseases in their early stages. The enzymes in question must be separated from blood samples before they can be examined. According to Bert Ooms, head researcher at Spark Holland, Bischoff is able to convert biological needs into instruments. In his opinion, participation in the project is worthwhile for his company for two reasons: Spark Holland can learn from this ‘conversion’ and the cooperation raises the profile of the company amongst researchers.
Test detects rheumatism in its early stages
User: Euro-Diagnostica, Nijmegen
Why does one person get rheumatism and not another? That was the key question for biochemist Walther van Venrooij in 1990. But, he was not the only one who was concerned about this disease. All over the world researchers were working diligently to find a way to recognise rheumatism (officially known as rheumatoid arthritis) in its early stages. Early detection is vital for the prevention of the irreversible damage to joints that arises in many patients. Van Venrooij and his research team at Radboud University Nijmegen made a substantial contribution to this search through an STW project. They ‘invented’ the CCP test for the rapid, early detection of rheumatism. Together with Van Venrooij, Euro-Diagnostica developed the CCP2 test, which was launched in 2002. Global experiences with this test have been so good that it was incorporated in the improved criteria for rheumatoid arthritis in 2009.
Intelligent wireless networks
User: Inertia Technology, Enschede
Everything in a wireless network is in motion. Each device in the network has its own characteristics, such as specific types of calculating power, energy stocks and radio transmitter strengths. In a research programme co-funded by STW, Raluca Marin-Perianu, PhD candidate at the University of Twente, worked out the mathematics with which mobile devices can collaborate well in a network. The result was a self-organising dynamic network. She expanded the devices with sensors and modified her algorithms so that the sensors could organise themselves in clusters on the basis of their position in space. Attached to objects, animals or people, these sensor networks can, for example, be used in logistics, hospitals and sports. Inertia Technology is now working on applications based partly on Marin-Perianu’s research.
Process mining for better operational processes
User: Pallas Athena, Apeldoorn
Take an administrative organisation of any size and there is a pretty good chance that it will be on Pallas Athena’s customer list, according to director Remmert Remmerts de Vries. The company delivers business process management software for administrative organisations and also takes care of its implementation. Process mining was developed at Eindhoven University of Technology, partly on the basis of STW research. It comprises software which, using data in an existing dataset, automatically sketches the model of the organisation’s operational process. As a result, ways of improving the process can be determined faster. Pallas Athena has a global clientele.
Portraying operational processes as images
User: Futura Process Intelligence, Eindhoven
An STW project was set up with the objective of analysing an operational process in one go. This resulted in the ProM software package. The package works with all the existing registered data of a process and rapidly produces a picture of that process - literally. Peter van den Brand and Georgi Jojgov began the company Futura Process Intelligence and developed ProM into the Futura Reflect application. This product is now used by various companies.
Automatic analysis of plaque in the carotid artery
User: Medis Medical Imaging Systems BV, Leiden
Constriction of the carotid artery is caused by the accumulation of plaque in the arteries. Plaque that comes loose can cause a stroke. The probability of this happening is determined by the composition of the plaque. The composition of plaque can now be examined visually. An STW project found ways to produce three-dimensional MR images which can be used for the automatic segmentation, classification and quantification of arteries, constrictions and plaques. Medis Medical Imaging Systems has developed the QPlaque ® MR software package on the basis of these results. This software is now being marketed to a limited extent.
Pin-pointing the source of irritating noise with a robot
User: Sorama, Eindhoven
Noise caused by equipment and installations can be extremely irritating. Tracking down the source is often difficult, certainly if it is a very small source, such as in mobile telephones or laptops. An STW project has yielded a method of localising the precise source of a noise and converting all the registrations into an image or a film. It uses an array of directional microphones to do so. Once the source is known, the solution is, in theory, within reach. Former STW PhD candidate Rick Scholte and colleagues set up the company Sorama on the basis of this method in 2009. Sorama now carries out measurements on site at companies and advises on how to solve irritating sound and vibration problems.
