Show latest
ERC Consolidator Grant WINDFLOW voor Richard Stevens
De Europese Onderzoeksraad (ERC) heeft de aanvraag van een ERC Consolidator Grant goedgekeurd van drie wetenschappers van de Universiteit Twente. De beurs ondersteunt uitmuntende wetenschappers in de fase van hun loopbaan waarin ze nog steeds bezig kunnen zijn met het vestigen van hun eigen onafhankelijke onderzoeksteams om hun meest veelbelovende wetenschappelijke ideeën uit te werken. De beurzen gaan naar Johannes Schmidt-Hieber (EWI), Massimo Sartori (CTW) en Richard Stevens (TNW). In Europa zijn in totaal 308 Consolidator Grants toegekend met een totale waarde van 627 miljoen euro.
Wolfram Innovator Award - Sander Huisman
Wolfram technologies have long been a major force in many areas of industry and research. Leaders in many top organizations and institutions have played a major role in using computational intelligence and pushing the boundaries of how the Wolfram technology stack is leveraged for innovation across fields and disciplines. We recognize these deserving recipients with the Wolfram Innovator Award, which is awarded at the Wolfram Technology Conferences around the world.
‘Tears of wine’ influence bubble dynamics
How hydrogen bubbles form and behave on electrodes seems to depend on the anions in your electrolyte, researchers explain from Leiden and Twente in Nature Chemistry.
Flow for future - JMBC report

Fluid dynamics good for 19,000 jobs

More than 19,000 people work on flows in Dutch industry. The export of products and services in the field of fluid dynamics provides great added value for the economy and society. This is evident from the report 'Everything flows in the Netherlands' that was presented to Members of Parliament today. Fluid dynamics is the science of moving fluids, gases and particles and involves predicting, controlling and measuring flows at any speed and on any scale: from the smallest blood vessels in our bodies to hurricanes in the atmosphere. It is a vital, but generally somewhat unknown technology. It appears that more than 19,000 people work on fluid dynamics in Dutch industry and that fluid dynamics contributes 11.5 billion euros to the Dutch economy every year. Fluid dynamics is therefore of crucial importance for solving future societal challenges. In the report 'Everything flows in the Netherlands', which was commissioned by the J.M. Burgerscentrum, the national research school for fluid mechanics, the gross added value is calculated at 130,000 euros per employee. More than 75% of the fluid mechanics industry exports its products and services. The report was presented today to spokespersons for science and innovation in the House of Representatives. The report comes at an important time. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy is working on determining the most important key technologies for the future of the Netherlands. And the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science is also working on a futures study at the initiative of Minister Robbert Dijkgraaf. “Fluid mechanics sometimes fall through the cracks: at OCW people see it more as a technology, at Economic Affairs it is seen as a scientific discipline. Fluid dynamics is therefore structurally underfunded in the Netherlands, while we are demonstrably among the top on a European scale,” says Professor Detlef Lohse (University of Twente), who recently received his third Advanced Grant from the European Research Council ERC. Professor Ruud Henkes, director of the Burgerscentrum: “Internationally, the Netherlands has been regarded as a world leader in fluid dynamics for more than a century. It seems as if other countries appreciate the important Dutch contributions more than the Netherlands itself.” With the report 'Everything flows in the Netherlands', the Burgerscentrum wants to highlight not only the quality but also the importance of fluid dynamics. The report contains appealing examples of results in the areas of climate, energy transition, health, high-tech, environment, agriculture and food. “It is precisely the breadth in the applications of fluid mechanics that seems to be our bottleneck,” says Henkes, “the field really transcends top sectors and missions.” Download the report here in Dutch and in English.
Interview Detlef Lohse - Het is een voorrecht een onderzoeksvoorstel te mogen schrijven

ERC Advanced grant for Detlef Lohse
Detlef Lohse received a grant for his research Melting and dissolution across scales in multicomponent systems.
ERC Proof of Concept grant for Alvaro Marin: Novel technology for detecting and identifying traces of micro and nano plastics in consumable water
Micro and nano plastics are everywhere: in the air, in seas and rivers, in soil, and in plants and animals. The use of plastics in various products is increasing their concentration. The growing presence of micro- and nano plastics in water is a growing problem worldwide. While there is no complete clarity on the harmfulness of these plastics to humans and the environment, there are serious concerns among scientists. UT researcher Dr Alvaro Marin, who is an associate professor in the Physics of Fluids group in the University of Twente’s Faculty of Science and Technology (TNW) is working with colleagues on a technology for detecting and identifying traces of micro and nano plastics in consumable water.
ERC starting grant for Guillaume Lajoinie
The European Research Council honoured the applications of three UT researchers for an ERC 'Starting Grant'. The 'early career' grants go to Dr Guillaume Lajoinie, Dr Tim Segers and Dr Saskia Kelders, who are all part of UT’s TechMed Centre. Each researcher will receive an amount of €1.5 million for a five-year period. A total of 408 starting grants have been awarded in Europe with a total value of €636 million.
Devaraj van der Meer elected as fellow American Physical Society
Devaraj van der Meer, Professor in Physics of Fluids at the UT’s Science & Technology faculty, has been elected as fellow of the American Physical Society. He is the eighth UT researcher receiving this prestigious fellowship.
How to design an optimal wind farm?
Last month, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and Denmark announced their intention to increase the number of wind turbines in the North Sea by a factor of ten. The team led by Dr Richard Stevens, a Featured Scientist at the University of Twente, is studying the complexities of wind flow that can occur among so many turbines. Using newly developed computer models, they calculate the optimal layout for new wind farms such as those planned in the North Sea. Wind turbines generate electricity by harnessing energy from the wind. In doing so, they reduce the wind speed in the wake of the turbine. This means that a wind turbine positioned directly behind another wind turbine will generate less power. “With two wind turbines these processes are manageable, but when you have hundreds, things become a lot more complicated,” says Stevens.
UT leidt drie van de zeven 'Perspectief' programma's over virusoverdracht, artrose en duurzamer staalproductie
Drie van de nieuwe en ambitieuze ‘Perspectief’ onderzoeksprogramma’s worden geleid door UT-wetenschappers: Detlef Lohse leidt een programma dat gaat over het terugdringen van virusverspreiding via de lucht, Marcel Karperien gaat onderzoek doen naar nieuwe diagnose en behandeling van artrose en Ton van den Boogaard leidt een Perspectief-programma over het vaker toepassen van schroot in het productieproces van staal. In twee andere programma’s is de UT ook partner. De uitreiking vindt plaats tijdens het TEKNOLOWGY festival op 31 mei.
What happens to CO2 at a depth of three kilometers? More insight into CCS
Marco De Paoli has been awarded a prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowship. The MSCA program is funded by the European Commission and supports excellent research projects in Europe and worldwide. Marco will team up with Detlef Lohse and other researchers from the Physics of Fluids (PoF) research group. Marco’s project will be on geological sequestration of carbon dioxide. This process is relevant for mitigation of climate change, since emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) produced by anthropogenic activities can be considerably reduced with this technique. CO2 produced from combustion of fossil fuels is captured and injected 1 to 3 km beneath the earth surface. Since it is hard to predict the behaviour of CO2 at those depths, they will perform experiments and simulations to understand the dynamics of the process at the labs of University of Twente.
NWO M grant for Sander Huisman and Claas Willem Visser — Turbulence with custom-made fibers
Particles in turbulent flows are everywhere in nature and industry, from algae in the ocean to paper making processes. Not much is knows about these flows, since the particles have complex shapes whereas research has focused on spheres in turbulence. We will investigate turbulence with complex-shaped particles with new experimental techniques for particle fabrication and flow measurement. This is particularly interesting since emerging research shows that such particles can reduce flow resistance. Therefore, we may discover new routes for optimization of industrial processes and better understanding and control of flows in nature.
Turning nanodroplets into microbubbles
University of Twente researchers have developed an ultrasound-based method to turn nano-sized liquid droplets into gas-filled microbubbles. The technology can have important implications for therapeutic drug delivery and the treatment of tumors. At the University of Twente, the magic often happens at a small scale. This is very true for the research of Guillaume Lajoinie and his colleagues. Lajoinie, assistant professor at the Faculty of Science and Technology, Physics of Fluids, together with assistant professor Tim Segers and Professor Michel Versluis, designed a small chip-like device, shaped like a rectangle, to study the vaporization process of liquid droplets. The device, measuring about one by two centimeters, with two wires attached to one end, turns liquid droplets into gas-filled microbubbles.
ERC starting grant for Sander Huisman - Melting dynamics in turbulent flows
Predicting the melting process of an iceberg or glacier, is often not even close to the actual physics, the difference can be a factor 100. Modelling dynamics is also complex in chemical processes in which several boundary layers play a role. The ‘multiscale’ nature – from micrometers to kilometers – of processes, in a turbulent environment and with interaction at the boundary layers, makes it very complex. With fundamental fluid dynamics as a starting point, Sander Huisman wants to reach a better understanding.
Meest succesvolle UT'er op social media - Associate Professor Dr Richard Stevens
Richard Stevens was de meest succesvolle UT'er op social media. Zijn berichten op Twitter genereerden de meeste interactie.
Dertien grensoverschrijdende verkennende samenwerkingsprojecten aan de slag met ElektroChemische Conversie en Materialen
Towards upscaling alkaline electrolysis: Pushing the limits of interfacial transport Prof. dr. D. Lohse, prof.dr.ir. R.G.H. Lammertink, dr. D.J. Krug, prof.dr.ir. M. Odijk, prof.dr.ir. A. van den Berg, dr. J.A. Wood (UT), Helmholtz Zentrum Dresden Rossendorf (DE), Nobian, TU Dresden (DE) Waterstof (H2), geproduceerd met hernieuwbare elektriciteit, kan een integraal onderdeel zijn van onze energiestrategie. Met de huidige technologie kan dit proces echter niet economisch worden uitgevoerd. Dit onderzoeksprogramma zal fundamentele inzichten uit chemie, stromingsleer en engineering combineren om meer efficiënte en opgeschaalde technologieën te ontwikkelen voor waterstofproductie door alkaline elektrolyse door beter begrip van grensvlaktransportlimitaties.
Winning Video Contest APS-DFD “Gallery of fluid motion”
The gallery of fluid motion is an international annual contest in which videos and images compete for the aesthetic and science of contemporary fluid mechanics, and it is given during the American Physics Society conference on Fluid Dynamics. Our winning video entry is called “The Yarning Droplet” by Carola Seyfert (PhD) and Alvaro Marin (Assoc. Prof.). Music by Rodrigo Ezeta (PoF alumnus). This is the 3rd gallery of fluid motion winning entry for Alvaro Marin and the 11th for the Physics of Fluids cluster at the University of Twente.
Aurel Stodola medal awarded to Professor Detlef Lohse
The Aurel Stodola Lecture Series commemorates the personality and seminal contributions of Prof. Aurel Stodola in the early 20th century whose work on applied thermodynamics has guided many engineers and engineering developments worldwide. The Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering (D-MAVT) elected Prof. Dr. Detlef Lohse as the 2021 Laureate of the Aurel Stodola Lecture.
Microswimmers May Shepherd Large Liquid Volumes
Microswimmers can serve as cargo carriers that move deep inside complex flow networks. When a school collectively entrains the surrounding fluid, their transport capacity can be enhanced. This effect is quantified with good agreement between experiments with self-propelled droplets and a confined Brinkman squirmer model. The volume of liquid entrained can be much larger than the droplet itself, amplifying the effective cargo capacity over an order of magnitude, even for dilute schools. Hence, biological and engineered swimmers can efficiently transport materials into confined environments.
Windbreaks May Improve Wind Farm Power
Cost-effective ways to produce more renewable energy are critical in the fight against climate change. New simulations suggest that windbreaks—barriers, such as walls or rows of trees—can improve the power generation of wind farms by as much as 10% [1]. Previous work suggested that windbreaks can help individual wind turbines but that they are counterproductive for very large wind farms. The new work is the first simulation of a realistic wind farm with windbreaks. The researchers involved hope that their work will lead to improved efficiency in real wind farms.
Wind turbines unexpectedly more productive behind hill
If someone asked you to name the ideal place to build a wind turbine, chances are your first answer would not be “behind a hill”. Yet researchers from the University of Twente have discovered that in some cases wind turbines can actually produce more energy in that position than in a wide, open landscape. In an article published in the leading scientific journal Renewable Energy, Dr Luoqin Liu and Dr Richard Stevens (Faculty of Science and Technology) show in a series of simulations that wind turbines behind hills can generate up to 24% more energy.
Exhaled Droplets Grow in Size on Cool Days
The COVID-19 pandemic has focused attention on the respiratory droplets produced by breathing, coughing, and singing. Numerical simulations of a cough now show [1] that in cooler, more humid air, these droplets first grow before evaporating and shrinking—they don’t continuously evaporate, as previous research has suggested. The growth occurs when warm, humid breath interacts with colder air, producing a plume of water-vapor-saturated air—an effect that leads to the familiar “frosty” breath on cold days. The enlargement of cough droplets inside this plume causes them to survive longer than they do at higher temperatures, potentially allowing an infected person to spread an airborne disease to people located farther away.
Overdracht van Corona via Aerosolen, stand van de wetenschap na een jaar van pandemie
In een recent webinar van de Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen (KNAW) kwamen sprekers uit de verschillende relevante disciplines bijeen om de huidige inzichten in de verspreiding van het Coronavirus, via aerosolen, te bespreken. Na de bijeenkomst hebben wetenschappers van de Universiteit van Cambridge, de Universiteit van Amsterdam en de Universiteit Twente, onder wie UT-vloeistoffysicus prof Detlef Lohse, een informatiedocument opgesteld met de nieuwste wetenschappelijke inzichten. Het document ‘Aerosolen, ventilatie en COVID19’ is nu online beschikbaar.
Windparken profiteren van sterke stroming in lagere atmosfeer
Krachtige luchtstromingen in de lagere atmosfeer, de zogenaamde ‘low-level jets’ hebben invloed op de prestaties van windmolenparken. De hoogte waarop dit effect plaatsvindt, maakt het verschil: stroomt het op het niveau van de windturbine, erboven of eronder? Die hoogte bepaalt of alle molens in het park van de stroming kunnen profiteren, of alleen de turbines op de eerste rij. Dit laten onderzoekers van de Universiteit Twente zien in het Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy.
'Mayonnaise' shows extreme behaviour in turbulent flow
When water and oil form an emulsion inside a strong turbulent flow, this emulsion consists of either water-in-oil droplets or oil-in-water droplets. The turning point between these two is spectacular, researchers of the University of Twente now show: it can make a difference of liquid friction of a factor six. The size of the droplets changes equally fast. This effect may have consequences for the transport of oil or nutrients. The paper, informally already known as ‘the mayonnaise paper’ is in Physical Review Letters and highlighted as an ‘Editor’s suggestion’.
Trillende nanodruppels kunnen doordringen in tumor
Minuscule druppels naar een tumor sturen en die ter plekke met een gefocusseerde geluidbundel laten verdampen: het kan een manier zijn om de tumor te beschadigen of lokaal medicijnen af te leveren. Onderzoekers van de Universiteit Twente laten nu een nieuw fenomeen zien dat de druppelverdamping in gang zet: het gebeurt precies bij de akoestische resonantiefrequentie en zorgt voor een snelle en efficiënte verlaging van de druk in de druppel, tot ónder de drempelwaarde voor verdamping. De onderzoekers publiceren erover in Physical Review Letters.
How to (Literally) Drive the Coronavirus Away
What’s the transmission risk inside a car? An airflow study offers some insight for passengers and drivers alike. In a new study, Varghese Mathai (PhD alumnus from POF group) and three colleagues at Brown University — Asimanshu Das, Jeffrey Bailey and Kenneth Breuer — used computer simulations to map how virus-laden airborne particles might flow through the inside of a car. Their results, published in early January in Science Advances, suggest that opening certain windows can create air currents that could help keep both riders and drivers safe from infectious diseases like Covid-19.
Abrupt van druppel naar bel, en turbulentie door schuurpapier - stel promoveert op Vloeistoffysica
Een druppel die verdampt als hij omgeven wordt door bijvoorbeeld een gel, verandert in een bel van ongeveer dezelfde grootte. En de stroming langs een gekromd oppervlak dat glad is of voorzien van schuurpapier, leert ons meer over turbulentie onder verschillende omstandigheden. Twee heel verschillende onderwerpen uit de vloeistofdynamica komen samen als op vrijdag 15 januari Myrthe Bruning en Pieter Berghout, die een relatie hebben, allebei promoveren aan de Universiteit Twente. Het zijn ook nog eens de 99ste en de 100ste promotie in de groep Physics of Fluids.
RIVM, laat wetenschapsadvies zien en maak dan pas beleid - CORONA
De coronacrisis treft alle landen. Sommige landen missen de middelen om er iets aan te doen, en anderen ontbreekt het aan de wil. Maar zeker in West-Europa zijn zowel de wil als de middelen aanwezig om de pandemie te bestrijden. Toch doen niet alle landen dat even goed. In de lente kon men dat nog wijten aan gebrek aan kennis, maar nu zijn de verschillen veelzeggend.
ERC starting grant for Dominik Krug - Bubble-particle collisions in turbulence
UT researcher Dominik Krug is to receive a European Research Council Starting Grant of 1.5 million euros for his research on bubble-particle collisions in turbulence. ERC Starting Grants are awarded for pioneering research proposals, enabling early career scientists to found and build their own research group.
Onderzoek wijst uit: mondkapjes in kroeg ‘absoluut noodzakelijk’
Het is absoluut noodzakelijk in cafés mondkapjes te dragen. Dat geldt ook voor andere binnenruimten waar meer mensen bij elkaar komen en in voetbalstadions. Eerste resultaten van een groot onderzoek dat vooraanstaand hoogleraar en natuurkundige Detlef Lohse van Universiteit Twente uitvoert, wijzen uit dat kleine druppeltjes in de lucht een grotere rol bij de verspreiding van het virus spelen dan werd gedacht.
Suppressing the coffee-stain effect
The ‘coffee-stain’ effect is a well-known effect in physics and daily life: a dark-coloured edge remains when a fluid, containing particles, evaporates. This is caused by an ‘avalanche’ of particles moving to the outer edge, UT scientists showed in an earlier publication. In inkjet and 3D printing, this is an undesired effect. The effect can be suppressed by modifying the surface using an oily layer, researchers now show in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA (PNAS).
Turbulentie en ademvocht voeren virussen meters ver
We noemen het al de ‘anderhalve meter samenleving’ en raken eraan gewend, afstand te houden. Maar waar komt deze afstandsnorm vandaan, en wat weten we eigenlijk over de druppels in onze adem of bij een niesbui, als potentiële transporteurs van het coronavirus? De complexe turbulente stroom van vochtige warme lucht uit de keel die deze druppels meevoert, kan maken dat ze een veel groter bereik hebben dan anderhalve meter. Zeker als ze gedragen worden door de wind of de luchtstroom van een airconditioner, schetst vloeistoffysicus prof. Detlef Lohse van de Universiteit Twente, in zijn artikel in het meinummer van ‘Physik Journal’.
NWO subsidie voor Turbulentie door ‘slimme’ deeltjes - Shaping turbulence with smart particles
Turbulentie, de alomtegenwoordige stromingstoestand, vertoont een sterke tendens om homogeen en isotroop te worden op kleine stromingsschalen. Met toepassing van ‘slimme’ deeltjes, geschikt voor beïnvloeding van de kleinste stromingsschalen, onderzoeken prof. dr. Roberto Verzicco dr. ir. Sander Huisman, dr. ir. Richard Stevens en prof. dr. Detlef Lohse (allen faculteit TNW) hoe ze nieuwe vormen van turbulentie kunnen ontwerpen en maken.
2020 Soft Matter Lectureship awarded to Valeria Garbin
Valeria Garbin studied Physics at the University of Padua and received her PhD from the University of Trieste in Italy. She was a Rubicon fellowship in the Physics of Fluids group at the University of Twente, and a postdoc at the University of Pennsylvania, before starting her research group at Imperial College London in 2012. She joined the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Delft University of Technology in 2019. Her current research focuses on soft materials under flow and deformation, particularly the extreme deformation conditions of cavitation, which are central to biomedical ultrasound and bioprocessing; and of processing flows used to create advanced materials and formulated products.
'ice-skating' droplets move in orbits
They look like planets. Two droplets move in orbits on an ice cold fluid surface. They attract each other, and by almost frictionless movement on their own vapour, they skate around each other. It is a fascinating mechanism that could be used for preparing and transporting biological samples with a minimum of contamination. Researchers of the University of Twente publish about this in their paper ‘Capillary Orbits’ in Nature Communications of 2 September.

Protecting buildings against fire - NWO VENI Grant Guillaume Lajoinie
Fire-retardant coatings protect steel constructions due to a chain of chemical reactions when exposed to heat. These change the coating into a thick, insulating layer. Current coatings are all based on chemistry and offer little room for improvement. Therefore, the Physics of Fluids group at the UT and the company PPG are developing a completely new fire-retardant coating based on microscopic water droplets. Assistant Professor Guillaume Lajoinie received a 250.000 euro NWO Veni grant to develop this idea.
'The liquid helix' and the teapot effect
Who has never spilled water, tea or wine while pouring it? Pouring liquids is difficult because they tend to cling to the bottle or the teapot spout rather than flowing directly into your cup or glass. A team of scientists from the University of Twente, the University of Amsterdam and Saxion University of Applied Sciences put a new spin on this annoying ‘teapot effect’ by using it to form liquid helices. Their results were published in Physical Review Letters this week.
Detlef Lohse received Max Planck Medal

Vici-subsidie voor Devaraj van der Meer - Impact van een kokende druppel
UT-onderzoeker prof. Devaraj van der Meer (MESA+) wil onderzoek doen naar de impact die een kokende druppel heeft. Hij ontvangt daarvoor een Vici-subsidie van de Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO). In 2012 ontving hij