Let’sBuild

Science

Port

Holland

“ IEDERE HUFTER KAN PROFESSOR WORDEN”

“ EVERY SCUMBAG CAN BE A PROFESSOR”

JULY 2012

YOUP VAN ‘T HEK

No. 1

a magazine about creating Business / science / inspiration / innovation

Ben van deR BuRg

‘ Curiosity is the Crux

of innovation’

Let’sBuild

Science

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Holland

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“We need a transition in the energy sector, chemicals, agricul-

ture, you name it. We need to go back to the basics in a number

of ways.”

“Know-how and talent have a strong magnetic function for even

more know-how and talent.”

“it’s not easy being God, you’re often faced with disappoint-

ments. When something occasionally works, however, being

God feels good.”

“an incubator for technical companies is definitely stimulating.

a fresh look sometimes provides new insights. also it’s a lively

working environment.”

…and so much more about developments in and around

Science Port Holland in this issue of Let’s Build magazine.

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Column by science Port holland managing director

Willem trommels. ‘This region has a unique

combination of factors’

Coverstorywith former champion long track speed

skating Ben van der Burg. ‘Curiosity is the

crux of innovation’

Helicopter viewof the actual developments between

rotterdam, Delft and Leiden. Let’s Build

Science Port Holland

Interviewwith Prof. Jan rotmans Ph.D. from Drift

(Dutch research institute for transitions).

‘We need fresh-viewers and cross-thinkers’

Photo spreadof the beach animals from kinetic artist theo

Janssen. Creation, but with a twist

Interviewwith Director DsM Delft frank teeuwisse Msc.

‘delft is a strong global brand. use it!’

Five questionsanswered by entrepreneur eline Mertens.

From incubator to world leader

Gadgetswhere there’s technology, there are

gadgets. Ingenious ‘crystal balls’

Interviewwith Prof. Bert Wolterbeek Ph.D.

(technical university Delft) and

Prof. Marion de Jong Ph.D. (erasmus

university Medical Centre). new insights

for cancer and heart diseases

Interviewwith Jan van der tempel Ph.D. (founder

and Ceo of ampelmann). ‘Boarding an

offshore platform! a piece of cake?’

Resultfor professional it-based water and

climatological services and solutions

Delft platform stimulates global

innovation flow

Colophonabout science Port holland

3

We are presently well on our way to putting ourselves on the national

and international map in terms of regional cooperation between edu-

cational establishments, the public sector and the corporate com-

munity.

By combining expertise, finance and networks, we are developing a

powerful presence at science Port holland (Delft – rotterdam) in the

very important fields of biobased economy, urban water management,

energy and climate, and medical technology. industrial biotechnology

forms the basis for a biobased economy, which provides a sustainable

solution as fossil fuels will inevitably run out. this region is amongst

the world’s best in this area.

With all the research and work carried out here in the field of urban

water management, we are the world number one, alongside singa-

pore. the developments in medical technology also attract global

attention, thanks to the combined technical expertise of the three

universities of Leiden, Delft and rotterdam and the two university

hospitals. in other words we have a large potential to be pioneers in

these fields.

Given the port and industrial complex of rotterdam this region has a

unique combination of factors seldom found anywhere in the world.

an added advantage is that we have plenty of room for facilitating new

industry here, whilst having the architectonic know-how required to

develop attractive and inspiring campuses and science parks. science

Port holland is therefore striving to make a good dream come true!

Willem trommels

Managing Director science Port holland

Isn’t this a great

time to work in this

region? especially now

the strategy of the

metropolitan regions is

seen as the driving force

that directs spatial and

economic development.

Let’s Build Column

Realising a dream

4

‘ Curiosity is the crux of innovation’

Former long track speed skater Ben van deR BuRg appreciates guts and a strong will

Let’s Build a Coverstory

5

Many people associate the word ‘inno-

vation’ with new and exciting inven-

tions, but innovation does not always

require high-end technology. Think in

terms of the upside-down ketchup bot-

tle or a round rusk with a notch in it, to

get it out the tin. Innovation is a broad

concept - from paperclip to rocket. “It’s

all about searching for solutions for the

seemingly impossible.”

he already did that back in his skat-

ing days, explains Ben van der Burg:

“i used to lie in front of the television

with a geometry setsquare to figure

out the best angle to take a bend. how

can i make the most of my technique?

how do i skate most effectively? how

to get a 100th of a second off my time?

those types of questions really kept me

busy.”

“i was mainly looking for process inno-

vation. i was more conservative when

it came to innovating equipment. Mind

you, one summer i went to Berlin with ab

Krook to test skates with ceramic tubes.

they were a disaster. Ceramics scratches

on the ice and for skaters that is the worst

possible sound, because we associate it

with having a burr on our edges.”

amazing change

the speed skater – who was born in

schipluiden and won gold in the 1500

and 5000m during the Dutch national

Distances Championships in 1990, gold

at the national all-round Championships

and silver medals in the World Cup and

the World all-round Championships - is

interested in product innovation rather

than process innovation these days.

“What used to be 20-80 is now 80-20.

that’s quite a change in itself!”, he says

smiling.

he says he does not consider process

innovation to be true innovation. not

that there’s anything wrong with it,

because it can certainly make a differ-

ence. “My father used to grow anthurium

Lilies”, he says, “and he was always work-

ing on making his products better and

more beautiful whilst using less energy.

Difficult to achieve, but useful in every

respect. i still think it’s a good example

of why people should pay attention to

process innovations.”

Changing the world

“Personally, i find changing the world

more exciting than changing processes.

it’s simply more interesting. if you work

for the railways, for example, one of your

main tasks is to make sure the trains run

on time. if you fail, you need to ask your-

self what can be done about it. i like that

type of issue; finding solutions for prob-

lems that seem insurmountable at first.

the crux of innovation is and always will

be natural curiosity.”

a very strong will and plenty of guts are

also important if you want to get innova-

tions off the ground. after all, the simple

Let’s Build a Coverstory

6

fact that you have an innovative idea does

not mean that you will receive support.

Quite the contrary, he believes “in that

sense, i love the story of the introduction

of the Prius! Before it was marketed, a

hybrid car was technically still impos-

sible and nobody really wanted one. it is

pretty obvious that most entrepreneurs

would say ‘the business model is no

good, i won’t touch it’. Logical enough,

but toyota went ahead anyway – against

the flow. and i think that characterises a

truly innovative company.”

Own course

he has two more examples to illustrate

the need for innovators to set their own

course and to believe in their ideas.

When he first bought a mobile telephone

with a built-in camera, he demonstrated

the technical novelty to his friends and

they thought it was ridiculous. they

simply didn’t see the purpose. these

days, a camera is a standard feature on

a mobile. the police even has commer-

cials to encourage witnesses of crimes or

accidents to use their mobile telephone

to photograph such incidents.

van der Burg continues “another nice

example is the touchscreen. in 2006,

apple presented the iPod touch. of

course the device had been thoroughly

tested beforehand and the tests showed

that people did not like a touchscreen at

all. apple took no notice and continued

anyway and we all know what happened

next - iPhones and iPads are a fantastic

success.”

he is convinced that more could be done

to stimulate innovation in the nether-

lands. “We need more kids to go to the

technical university”, he says. “Parents

also need to be aware of the importance

of talented children studying the right

subjects. My idea is forget the reason-

able french or geography marks and pay

attention to the subjects you’re really

good at. Give children that opportunity.

you can turn a C into a C+ but never into

an a, but you can turn a B or B+ into an a.

We need people who are good at science

or we’ll end up with even more econo-

mists and managers we don’t need.”

Sticking your head above the parapet

“all in all, innovative countries don’t exist

but there are some innovative regions.

We have Delft - rotterdam and eind-

hoven. abroad, such regions include

the ruhr, the Po valley, shanghai, sin-

gapore and above all silicon valley. We

do our best here, but we’re not in the

vanguard because our innovative culture

can be improved. We tend to decapitate

people when they put their heads above

the parapet. that’s a crying shame when

you are trying to achieve the seemingly

impossible. a ‘don’t stand out’ mental-

ity does not achieve progress. so i say -

Let’s pay attention to so called ridiculous

ideas! Look what that did for apple and

toyota…”

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‘let’s pay attention to

ridiculous ideas. some have led to successFul innovation’

7

Let’s Build Science Port Holland

The datacenter groupCity: delft

Location: Technopolis delft

Completion: 15 aug ‘12

the Datacenter Group (tDCG) is devel-

oping a new datacenter in the rotter-

dam-Delft region (together with Konin-

klijke BaM Groep). the unique cooling

technology will make this company the

most energy efficient datacenter of the

netherlands. tDCG is proving its techni-

cal leadership through application of this

technology in a new center in one of the

most technical and innovative regions of

the netherlands.

YeS!delft IICity: delft

Location: Technopolis delft

under development, completion date

unknown

extension of the current incubator build-

ing ‘yes!Delft’ and the concept. this new

construction project involves +/- 6,000

m2.

deltaresCity: delft

Location: Technopolis delft

Completion: end of 2013

Deltares, world leader on research and

development in the water sector, builds

a new office on their plant. Deltares has

decided to bring all their offices in Delft

together at one location on technopolis

Delft. the new office is an innovative sus-

tainable development. When the building

is finished, the main entrance of Deltares

will be near tot the central roads of tech-

nopolis Delft.

dynamic LeveesCity: delft

Location: Technopolis delft

Completion: in the fall of 2012

research institutes, private companies

and local government are closely col-

laborating to realise a demonstration site

for testing dynamic levees at technopolis

near the premises of the tu Delft and

Deltares. here innovative products can

be tested on real scale and compared

with other products.

delft Biotech CampusCity: delft

Location: dSM and Technopolis delft

industrial biotechnology works to

develop eco-friendly and renewable

sources to replace scarce fossil fuels.

industrial biotechnology is embedded

in the Dna of Delft. innovations by the

technical university of Delft and DsM

have resulted in Delft still enjoying world-

wide acclaim as the home of industrial

biotechnology. in order to maintain and

extend Delft’s strong foothold, various

projects are under development at DsM

and the technopolis Delft site.

applikon BiotechnologyCity: delft

Location: Technopolis delft, biotech

campus

Completion: starts august 2012, com-

pletion date September 2013

Developed by cepezed projects as part

of the Delft engineering & Production

building

applikon Biotechnology is a world leader

in developing and supplying advanced

bioreactor systems from laboratory scale

to production scale. applikon is an inter-

nationally operating company currently

located in schiedam. the headquarters

as well as the r&D department will move

to a new building at technopolis.

dep-bio (Biotech multi-tenant building)City: delft

Location: Technopolis delft, biotech

campus

Developed by cepezed projects as part

of the Delft engineering & Production

building

Dep–bio offers space for small and

medium-sized companies in the field

of industrial biotechnology and green

chemistry. the building will be a unique

combination of modular production facil-

ities, laboratories and offices, with spaces

ranging from 50 sqm to 5,000 sqm. the

ground floor will be partly reserved for

shared facilities to serve sMe’s companies

by reducing large investments in stan-

dard laboratory equipment such as auto-

claves and labware washers. the building

is specially developed for medium and

small businesses in the biotech sector.

to stimulate interaction and innovation

there are shared facilities available.

The concentration of educational establishments and knowledge-intensive companies in the delft-Rotterdam region is

increasingly facilitated through expansion of existing premises, new construction projects and merging of scattered loca-

tions. This process is further enhanced by the cooperation with Leiden in the Medical delta. These pages give an idea of

the main developments scheduled to take place from 2012 to 2013.

8

Let’s Build Science Port Holland dep-bio (Biotech multi-tenant building)

TnW (Faculty of applied Sciences) City: delft

Location: Technopolis delft, biotech

campus

Completion: Construction starting date

autumn of 2013, expected completion

2015

the university of Delft had decided to

develop a new building to house the Bio-

technology, Chemical engineering and

Bio-nanoscience departments of the

faculty of applied sciences at the Bio-

tech campus of technopolis Delft. the

plan includes approximately 30,000 m2

total floor area, divided into laborato-

ries, research areas, offices and facility

areas.

dSM delftCity: delft

Location: Biotech campus, dSM loca-

tion

the Delft location is to be developed into

a business park for industrial and r&D

activities in the field of Biotechnology

and Life sciences. external parties will

be attracted to settle at the location, in

order to reap the benefits of open inno-

vation, to create extra employment, and

to reinforce the DsM image as a Life

sciences company. DsM developments

include amongst others expansion of the

pilot facility (the Bioprocess Pilot facil-

ity) in collaboration with Purac and the

tu Delft a new yeast dryer.

erasmus MCCity: Rotterdam

Location: Hoboken

Completion: Construction of the 2nd

phase of the eastern building and tower

will be completed in March 2012. Part

of the eastern building, including the

pharmacy, is expected to be operational

by the end of 2012.

the currently fragmented buildings will

be transformed into a more compact

unit. the dynamics, the design of the

public spaces (squares, boulevards and

avenues) will then become a natural com-

ponent of the surrounding city.

Rooftop parkCity: Rotterdam

Location: Merwe-vierhavens

Completion: the Bigshops section (inte-

rior and leisure shops) were completed

in 2011. The park mid-2013

the rooftop park will be built on top of

25,000 m2 (large-scale) shops and park-

ing garage. the park will offer a great

variety of greenery and three themed

gardens: a playground garden, neigh-

bourhood garden and Mediterranean

garden with orangery (catering estab-

lishment). the park will be 1 kilometre

long, 80 metres wide (80,000 m2) and

the highest point is 9 metres. the physi-

cal stacking of private and public func-

tions makes this a unique concept in the

netherlands.

The Concept House Prototype projectCity: Rotterdam

Location: RdM Campus

Completion: 1st Concept House in March

2012

the purpose of the Concept house vil-

lage is to create a test situation for sus-

tainable housing concepts. various proto-

type houses will be developed, built and

tested for the Dutch residential market,

and will be dismantled after a number

of years. this will simulate the complete

life-cycle of the housing. it will be an

international example of experimentation

and innovation in the construction chain,

and of sustainable urban development.

9

Let’s Build Value

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We need fresh-viewers and cross-thinkers!

according to transition expert Jan Rotmans, we find our-

selves not in an era of change but rather in a change of era:

socially, culturally, economically and even physically. With

at least another ten years of crisis ahead of us (in terms

of finance, energy, resources and climate), europe, and

therefore also the netherlands, will need clever innovation

in order to survive.

10

rotmans is convinced that “very few

people are aware of the depth of the

system change which is underway. it is

irreversible and extremely drastic. Mo-

dern history has known few such turn-

ing points up to now. this time around

however, the switch is more radical than

ever before. in the coming 50 years soci-

ety will undergo more change than in the

past 500 years. that’s gigantic!”

Switching to sustainability

he sums up examples of the modern-

day transformational movement. Within

europe, power is increasingly shifting

from the national parliaments to Brussels.

Globally speaking, the power is shifting

towards the far east, so this means a dif-

ferent approach is required in europe.

the vacuum between governments and

the market obliges us to consider more

intelligent forms of organisation. fuels

and resources are drying up quickly, so

we must switch to sustainable produc-

tion methods - the bio economy.

Continuous upscaling in the private

sector results in increased bureaucracy.

young people, who are already less sen-

sitive to traditional, hierarchic structures,

do not feel at home there. this is one of

the reasons why our country has around

2.5 million independent professionals.

this urge for increased flexibility is sup-

ported by technological developments

which strongly enhance our organisa-

tional capacity. Consumer strength has

been slow to take advantage of such

technologies, but this will change very

quickly from now on.

“all these aspects are interactive”,

explains rotmans. “that scares people,

because it is chaotic. Populist politicians

use this to their advantage by preaching

traditional values. to no avail. there is no

way to stop this transformative change

or to ban it from our society. What we

need to ask ourselves is how we can deal

with it most effectively. to do so we need

to think out of the box.”

Transition is necessary

“the Port of rotterdam, once the largest

container port in the world, has dropped

out of the top 10 worldwide list and is

now at no. 11. the far east and China in

particular have taken over the top posi-

tions. the top 20 now lists sixteen asian

ports. We will never again come first in

terms of mass and volume. We can how-

ever innovate! We can make rotterdam

a bio-port, for example. sustainability

needs to become the principal focus in

all our activities.”

“But what of open coal-fired power

plants? that is back to the past and

we just can’t go there anymore! We

would deplete our resources to feed

our industrial production. that’s no lon-

ger an option. Biotechnology already

offers good solutions and we need to

concentrate on them. We need a tran-

sition in all energy sectors, chemicals,

agriculture, you name it. We need to

go back to basics in a number of ways,

design smaller cycles and keep re-using

resources, like cradle to cradle.”

Sustainability factory

in order to promote such initiatives,

including the project to render the Kuip

football stadium in rotterdam sustain-

able, rotmans acquires funds in the mar-

ket from companies active in the field

of sustainability. he is very successful in

this, resulting in opening a sustainability

factory in Dordrecht this summer. Dor-

drecht? yes, because Dordrecht is also

part of the rotterdam – Delft – Leiden

knowledge axis, according to rotmans.

“in shanghai, they see the province

of Zuid-holland as one big city, you

know.”

“We must no longer exploit the earth,

but must cooperate with it instead,” he

explains. industry is holding up the process

in order to profit from their earlier invest-

ments where possible. in the end however,

they will have no choice. the petrochemi-

cal industry which now still dominates in

rotterdam and antwerp will disappear

in due time. the dynamics of change in

asia have direct consequences for us,

but we’ve yet to react. We’ve ground to a

halt, and legislation does not help either. if

the Dutch present plans for a sustainable

floating city in China, the Chinese want to

get started without delay. here they would

start by saying ‘yes, but...’ and present a

pile of permit application forms, even if the

concepts have been well thought out and

developed. We need to move on, or we’ll

miss the boat.”

Facilitation of innovation

according to rotmans, the development

of science Port holland can substantially

contribute to the essential knowledge

concentration necessary to get new

directional ideas off the ground. “room

for innovation releases forces which then

need to be facilitated. i can only hope

they (and that includes the government)

will have the courage to allow the area

to develop quasi-spontaneously. a little

chaos would be nice…”

dRIFT (Dutch research institute for transi-

tions) is a research institute aimed at sustain-

able transitions. We conduct scientific research

into the dynamics of social transitions and the

mechanisms they trigger or indeed obstruct, in

the process of arriving at a sustainable society.

Drift is also called in to apply the transition

know-how to social issues, in order to define,

influence or initiate required innovations. Drift

was founded at the end of 2004, as part of the

erasmus university of rotterdam (eur). in 2011,

it became an independent research institute of

the eur, attached to the main faculty of social

sciences.

according to proF. Jan rotmans ph.d., TRanSITIOnS rely on systems oF MuTuaLLY ReInFORCIng InnOvaTIOnS

Transition is necessary

‘ in shanghai, they see the province oF Zuid-holland as one big city, you know.’

in t

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11

Let’s Build Inspiration

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Photo Loek van der Klis

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Fossil fuels are running out, we all

know that. It is becoming increasingly

urgent to develop alternative produc-

tion methods. With the dSM Biotech-

nology Centre in delft, dSM is at the

forefront of developments in the field

of white biotechnology. The dSM site is

open to new companies offering related

activities.

the traditional chemical industry mainly

works with processes based on fossil

fuels, but that is not sustainable. White

biotechnology (industrial-scale manu-

facture of products using microorga-

nisms) uses renewable sources and

contributes to a more efficient use of

natural resources. it ensures cleaner

processes, less waste, lower energy con-

sumption and therefore a cleaner envi-

ronment and a healthier climate.

DsM aims to use more and more vege-

table resources. it already does so in the

yeast extraction and antibiotics facto-

ries in Delft, which are among the world’s

largest. nature is one big chemical fac-

tory and DsM’s production methods use

it on a large scale.

Biotechnology is sexy

“When van Marken founded the factory

in Delft more than 140 years ago, he

could never have dreamed that biotech-

nology would become so sexy”, laughs

DsM Director frank teeuwisse. “What

we’re doing in Delft is the future. and

we’re so good at it, that we can com-

pete with the developments in this field

in asia. in fact, there is much more bio-

technological activity in this region than

most people would imagine.”

teeuwisse would like to see compa-

nies and knowledge institutes working

together more closely. he recognises a

great potential there, which has been

used inadequately so far. he knows that

Delft is a strong global brand name within

universities, research centres and know-

ledge companies all over the world. DsM

in Delft certainly contributes to that with

its pilot factories for fermentation and

processing, and with the DsM Biotech-

nology Centre. Companies with related

activities are welcome to cooperate. at

technopolis Delft for example, start-up

companies are encouraged to develop

their possibilities.

new opportunities

this redevelopment of the DsM site into

a high-quality business park for white

biotechnology has been stimulated by

regional initiatives in this field, such as

science Port holland. the result is a

strong synergy, which could make Delft

the centre of this discipline in the neth-

‘DeLFT Is a sTRonG GLoBaL BRanD. Use IT!’

the director oF dSM in deLFT, FRank TeeuWISSe msc, states that COOPeRaTIOn and InnOvaTIOn are needed in a BIOTeCHnICaL RaCe against the clock

Let’s Build Results

14

erlands or even europe. another positive aspect

is the increasingly strong relationship between

DsM and the technical university of Delft.

teeuwisse continues “our top scientists enjoy

working together with the university and a

number of them are also part-time professors

there. the fundamental research in the field of

biotechnology that is carried out there is com-

plimentary to what we do here. that offers won-

derful opportunities - just like the development

of science Port holland offers new chances for

cooperation with relevant companies” Within

the larger scale of science Port holland, a small

local knowledge axis could be created from

technopolis Delft via the university to the

DsM site.

“university cities such as Leiden and eindhoven

have achieved successes and educational insti-

tutes, the corporate community and local gov-

ernment in Delft must follow suit and join forces

and recognise their common interests”, teeu-

wisse emphasises. “We find ourselves on the eve

of a development they started a while back. if we

tackle this situation together, we can mobilise

fantastic forces.”

Selling themes

“Know-how and talent act as a strong magnet

for even more know-how and talent. there-

fore, science Port holland needs to sell themes

rather than square metres of the business park.

i’m certain that biotechnology should be one

such theme, which is beneficial for us too. DsM

is pleased to cooperate with science Port hol-

land on how we may assist and strengthen each

other. the message is to quit individual think-

ing, to increase visibility and attraction, and to

enhance each other in every respect!”

royal DsM nv is a global

science-based company

active in health, nutrition and

materials. By connecting its

unique competences in Life

sciences and Materials

sciences DsM is driving eco-

nomic prosperity, environ-

mental progress and social

advances to create sustainable

value for all stakeholders. DsM

believes that sharing ideas and

know-how can open up new

avenues to innovation. real

breakthroughs can only be

achieved by those able to see

beyond the boundaries of their

own expertise, discipline or

group. the company is reali-

sing the DsM Biotechnology

Center on a part of the site in

Delft.

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.

biotechnology

is Sexy

15

1. What is the core business of Windchallenge?‘Wind energy in built-up areas. since

2009, we’ve been working at develop-

ing an innovative small wind turbine:

the yournergy. this wind turbine weighs

10 kg, has a rotor diameter of 1.7 meters

and was designed for installation on

roofs or masts. it will allow companies

and private persons to partially meet

their own energy requirements.’

2. Do you have any direct competition?“no, we’re on virgin territory here. the

crux is the wind load. Current turbines

withstand the wind, but this produces

enormous forces on the construction.

the yournergy can rotate the blades to

ensure the turbine is not subjected to

such forces. it’s a very complicated con-

cept that is not likely to be copied any

time soon.”

3. Do you think it will change the world?“there is certainly a great deal of inter-

est and the future is looking rosy. We use

top-quality synthetic materials and pay

a great deal of attention to the price/

performance ratio. a product is only as

good as its weakest link. that’s why we

have really taken the time to conduct all

the necessary research. up until Janu-

ary of this year, we concentrated solely

on the product without allowing our-

selves to be distracted by investors or

the media.”

4. Is it stimulating to be part of an incubator for technical companies?“Definitely, and probably even more so

for recently graduated entrepreneurs.

We already have some commercial

experience and therefore required less

feedback in that field. however, we do

attend workshops and master classes on

a regular basis and we make very grate-

ful use of the coach that was offered via

yes!Delft. a fresh look provides new

insights at times. it’s also a lively and

professional working environment.”

5. Where do you plan to be in five years time?“in the global top 3 of companies in the

field of wind energy in built-up areas. if

the yournergy passes all the tests we

plan to subject it to, this wind turbine

can be marketed full on from early

2013. We will start with the commercial

market, possibly followed by the private

market. after that we will take it one step

at a time. We have plenty of plans for

development.”

Technostarters are the future. especially if there are other starters to spar with

over their ingenious ideas and business issues, when they are given opportu-

nities and can rely on the know-how of experienced, commercial technicians.

That’s what it’s all about at YeS!delft; incubator for technical companies. We

put five questions to entrepreneur eline Mertens …

Let’s Build Future

the ambitions oF technostarter windchallenge

From incubator to world leader

16

Ingenious ‘crystal

balls’

Where there’s technology, there are gadgets. Ingenious products which are fun for consumers or companies and which help to innovate markets. a successful gadget shows the direction in which a market is developing. a few outstanding examples from incubators YeS!delft and dnaMO Rotterdam…

Fluxit is not a magician’s illusion or magic trick, but a prize

winning concept by entrepreneur flux: the flux Chair.

simply fold what looks like a giant envelop of sustainable

material into a design chair. following the full-sized adult

chair, flux has now introduced a version for children. the

flux Junior. easy to fold, easy to store away and also very

sustainable. very much a product of our times.

Xpozerthe latest form of wall deco-

ration: a very clearly defined

photo enlarged on thin plas-

tic photo film with a unique

tensioning system. tension-

ing and changing the photos

is child’s play, and the look

is ultra-modern. the xpozer

tensioning system combines

style with functionality. With

an xpozer Pro photographer,

the optimum experience is

guaranteed. now also available

via heMa.

deLight deLight extends our human

imagination via augmented

reality. using mark software,

a 3D model, product or idea

can be visualised in future sit-

uations. the applications are

unlimited: from the design of a

living room to understanding

technical products. Car manu-

facturer BMW recognised the

potential and has used the

software to optimise the qual-

ity of the entertainment sys-

tem in their cars.

newCompliancethe frequency of opening operating

theatre doors is an important process

indicator for the number of post-oper-

ative wound infections. the wireless

Comsens oK (ot) door counter system

registers, analyses and reports the num-

ber of door movements. this renders

the hygiene and air quality controllable

at all times. Patient safety through inno-

vation.

YUno van Yummm! Conceptsit’s time for healthy sweets! freakyfruits

(fruit sweets) and WackoWaves (veg-

etable crisps) are the healthy yuno

sweets and snacks products the

basic ingredients are fruit,

vegetables, protein and

fibre. Less fat, less sugar,

less calories but more

nutritional value. yuno

is a trendsetter in healthy

sweets. available from

albert heijn and sev-

eral other supermarket

chains.

Let’s Build Gadgets

17

The healthcare sector awaits the intro-

duction of a number of innovations

planned for 2014. Within the cluster

Medical delta, scientists, doctors and

industry join forces to improve the

diagnosis and treatment for oncology

and cardiology patients worldwide.

The 3BIndIng project is quite unique

in bringing these fields together.

Bert Wolterbeek, sector head of radi-

ation and isotopes for health at the

technical university of Delft, explains

how 3BinDinG (a project for innovat-

ing nuclear diagnostics and therapy in

healthcare) makes a difference. “nor-

mally”, he says, “we all tend to work

towards improvements within our

own disciplines. the advantage of our

approach is that the equipment devel-

oper learns what the doctor really wants.

With everyone talking to everyone within

this project, horizontally across the dis-

ciplines, we have been able to achieve

better and efficient targets, and conse-

quently more results.”

Simultaneous breakthroughs

the project is on the brink of achieving

breakthroughs with improved radioac-

tive chemical tracers (radionuclides)

that stick to cancer cells, inflammations,

infarction tissue or other abnormalities

of interest. they can then be seen out-

side the body with new imaging equip-

ment that was also developed within this

project. this equipment uses a popular

combined detection method called Pet/

sPeCt and 3BinDinG achieved an volu-

metric improvement factor in resolution

of 25,000.

Due to its complexity, a project like this

can only by accomplished through a joint

effort of leading global experts in their

fields - and they are present within the

Medical Delta. the researchers from the

universities, medical centres and compa-

nies need to find solutions for many dif-

ficulties at the same time. for instance,

not all tumour cells connect to the detec-

tion molecules in the same way, and

during the production of the detection

radionuclides unusable radionuclides

also appear. When they are used in the

body they need to become attached to

the tumour and they may not get lost

along the way. there is indeed a long list

of issues and criteria.

Therapeutic treatment

at the nuclear Medicine Department of

the erasmus university MC in rotterdam,

a team carries out pre-clinical and clinical

research into the possibilities of detec-

tion and where possible destruction of

tumours. Marion de Jong explains: “We

studied the properties of tumour cells

and started with the so-called neuro-

endocrine tumours. We attack them with

radioactive peptides (small proteins) via

an injection into the bloodstream, so that

the peptides can adhere to receptors (the

antennae as it were) on the tumour cells.

here in rotterdam, we successfully used

the Pet/sPeCt machine, developed by

freek Beekman from Delft, to visualise

tumours in test animals, for example.”

“once we had sorted the imaging side

of things, including in patients at the

clinic, we conducted a study to discover

whether this principle could be used to

develop a therapy for treating neuro-

endocrine tumours. the tumour cells are

blasted from the inside out as it were,

using radioactive particles. By now, we

are treating eight patients a week with

this method.”

3BInDInG creates new insights and treatment for cancer and heart diseases

3binding realises STROng COOPeRaTIOn between ROTTeRdaM, deLFT and LeIden. Founders proF. BeRT WOLTeRBeek ph.d. and proF. MaRIOn de JOng ph.d. talk about their SuCCeSS

Let’s Build Results

18

Other tumours as well

the next step will be to detect other

types of tumours, to make them visible

and then to destroy them. for prostate

and breast cancer, the Delft-based radio-

nuclides allow labelling of newly devel-

oped peptides, which means these types

of tumours can be rendered visible and

then treated. the imaging technology is

already applied pre-clinically and clini-

cally for these types of cancer. the sci-

entists haven’t reached the therapeutic

stage yet, but research is already under-

way to achieve that.

Wolterbeek comments “We are able to

detect the fatty cells that are deposited

in the arteries in cases of atherosclero-

sis (a condition in which an artery wall

thickens as a result of the accumulation

of fatty materials such as cholesterol) at

an early stage, and to treat them. that is

the speciality of the university of Leiden.

the 3BinDinG project also includes the

detection of infarction tissue and the pos-

sibility of making it functional again. the

best thing about this type of research is

that you are faced with issues that were

initially outside your scope of attention

- Can we use the coupling of tracers and

isotopes in Mri scans in the future? Can

the methods developed be deployed for

researching chemotherapy? and further

down the line, is there any chance of

cooperating with civil engineers to dis-

til a method for visualising concrete rot?

this project could provide an enormous

range of spin-offs.”

Joint undertaking

according to Wolterbeek and De Jong,

regional cooperation such as the Medical

Delta (health science & technology) and

initiatives such as science Port holland

stimulate these types of projects. “they

promote joint enterprise. it is also ben-

eficial for participating commercial com-

panies as they will continue to develop

and market the obtained compounds

and instrumentation.”

Ct and Mri are standard imag-

ing techniques for anatomical

scanning of brains, the heart,

sites of inflammation, tumours

etc. Pet and/or sPeCt-

imaging of the distribution of

radioactive targeted molecules

permits the visualization of

brains, heart, tumours and oth-

er tissues of interest in a func-

tional way: the physiological

status quo (the functioning)

of the tissue can be judged.

3BinDinG focuses on the de-

velopment of new and better

targeted molecules, and new

radionuclides of higher specific

activity and of selected chemi-

cal and radiation properties,

specifically developed for car-

diologic and oncologic disor-

ders. furthermore, 3BinDinG

focuses on innovation in imag-

ing instrumentation, by the de-

velopment of a fused sPeCt/

Pet imaging approach.

Me

dic

al D

elt

a is

a s

ucce

ssfu

l co

op

era

tio

n w

ith

tri

ple

he

lix p

art

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m D

elf

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ott

erd

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en

. in

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se c

oo

pe

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on

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h t

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en

Bio

scie

nce P

ark

, W

est

ho

llan

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ore

ign

inve

stm

en

t a

ge

ncy a

nd

th

e r

ott

erd

am

in

ve

stm

en

t a

ge

ncy, s

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nce P

ort

ho

llan

d c

on

-

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ute

s b

y d

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ing

an

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nti

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n s

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gy.

‘this proJect can provide a very wide

range oF spin oFFs.’

19

Only a few years ago, it was still a risky

business to get from a ship onto an

offshore platform. Since 2008, it is as

simple as crossing the road thanks to a

device with an ingenious hydraulic frame

mounted to ships to compensate for the

swell of the sea - the ampelmann.

ampelmann? yes! the device used by

platform personnel to board from ships

once had a codename derived from the

little red or green illuminated figure in traf-

fic lights on pedestrian crossings in Berlin.

Jan van der tempel, founder and owner of

ampelmann Bv explains. “in 2002, i was

at a conference in the German capital,

where i saw a construction intended to

help people board wind turbines at sea. i

didn’t like the design. i was sure i could do

better. While talking about the idea over a

beer in the evening, i decided it would be

sensible to protect my secret idea with a

codename. and i still use it now; but as the

company name.”

Flying start

at that time, van der tempel worked at

the tu Delft and he initiated the research

required to build a prototype. it was an

ideal environment for such an initiative

because the cooperation between Delft

university and companies such as shell

and smit soon resulted in funding. in 2005,

tests using scale models proved that van

der tempel’s design was physically fea-

sible. the government stepped in with fur-

ther financing, which came from natural

gas revenue amongst other sources. three

years later, the inventor of the ampelmann

was able to continue as an independent

commercial enterprise. “a flying start, it

couldn’t have been better.”

the maiden task for the first operational

ampelmann was to dismantle a gas plat-

form. a year later, in 2009, the device

was used for the construction of an off-

shore platform. since then business has

boomed and by March of this year, nine

ampelmanns were operational and num-

ber 13 was completed in May. van der

tempel expects to see twenty of his cre-

ations deployed at sea by the end of this

year. “there is great demand for them”,

he says. “at the end of february this year,

the 100,000th transfer was made from

an ampelmann to a platform. it offers so

many advantages for our clients.”

More effective and less expensive

it is more effective and less expensive

than previous methods. the ampelmann

compensates for the swell of the sea while

people transfer from the ship to the plat-

form or vice versa over a gangplank, and

that means they can work for a much lon-

ger period of the year. “the weather has

to be pretty bad to stop them now”, says

van der tempel.

“furthermore, the ratio of working hours

versus travelling time in a day has also

been improved considerably by the

ampelmann. in the past, a great deal of

time was wasted getting on and off drill-

ing platforms via small boats or unwieldy

constructions, and they were much more

dependent on the vagaries of the weather.

economically speaking, this solution is

very profitable and that has been recog-

nised. offshore is a traditionally conserva-

tive sector, but the ampelmann has been

received with open arms.”

the devices are manufactured in a factory

at the research Design & Manufacturing

Campus in rotterdam (rDM Campus).

according to van der tempel that was

a logical choice, because his company

needs two things - open water and clever

people. there is ample open water in rot-

terdam, and Delft provides plenty of good

graduates with the expertise his company

requires. “however, we are also taking on

people who already have experience in

this sector.”

Own personnel go along

ampelmann Bv currently employs around

a hundred people. they work in the offices

in Delft, the factory in rotterdam and on

the water. Clients prefer to hire an ampel-

mann rather than buy their own. van der

tempel believes strongly in the impor-

tance of safety and effective use, and

therefore the rental price includes opera-

tion by specially trained in-house person-

nel. so boarding an offshore platform is a

piece of cake!

The ampelmann system exists since 2008. the

company has been established as a spin-off of

the Delft university of technology. this is one

of the most innovative and leading technical

universities in the world. Despite the young

age of the company, the ampelmann system

already has operated in several jobs all over

the world. the system effortlessly endured the

harsh north sea, but also coped with tough

conditions in the seas surrounding australia and

trinidad & tobago. the system has 95% reliabi-

lity during the entire year. this means that only

5% of the time, the system is unable to operate

because of too high waves, storms or other se-

vere adverse weather conditions.

Founder Jan van deR TeMPeL ph.d. on the rapid application oF the aMPeLMann by the OFFSHORe InduSTRY

all aboard!

Let’s Build Results

BoaRDInG an oFFsHoRe PLaTFoRm! a PIeCe oF Cake?

20

all aboard!

a v

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.

‘ a Flying start, it couldn’t have been better’

21

Delft platform stimulates global innovation flow

Let’s Build Digital Delta

the corporate and public sectors are investing jointly in

the platform initiated by tu Delft. this will give a strong

impulse to economic growth, innovation and reinforcement

of the Dutch water sector. it will help us realise and safe-

guard access to clean and fresh water in safe and liveable

deltas of our world.

global position

Climate change is a threat not only to the safety of the

netherlands but also to our competitive strength in the

global economy. this platform reinforces our competitive

position. the great know-how of the Dutch water sector

puts it in an excellent international position to make such

a platform a success. the globally increasing demand for

water-related it services is a natural follow-up.

Sea levels are rising and ground levels are sinking, temperatures are on the up and so is the volume of rainfall. These are threatening developments which call for innovative solutions, sustainable cooperation and sharing of knowledge. The digital delta IT platform provides support by lowering thresholds for innovative companies in the water sector.

22

science port holland is

a regional development

corporation Founded in

2008 by three shareholders:

the city oF delFt, the

city oF rotterdam and

the technical university

oF delFt. its ambition is

to oFFer technology

companies an optimal

investment climate, based

on knowledge and open

innovation, leading towards

high impact technological

breakthroughs and

tangible solutions. the

organisation is developing

Five innovation campuses

and is actively working on

strengthening the innovation

inFrastructure in the

region. science port holland

Focuses on the biobased

economy, energy & climate,

urban water management

and medical technology.

more inFormation on

www.scienceportholland.nl

ColophoneditorsMalou spruit – science Port holland nv

Chris van voorden – science Port holland nv

Job nijs – science Port holland nv

roel Kamerling – Medical Delta

hetty van der Lecq – technopolis Delft

annet van der elst – technopolis Delft

Kim Meulenbroeks – science Port holland nv

allard de Wolf – Port of rotterdam

Concept and Design Wijnand de vries – Walvis & Mosmans

Texthans Dalmeijer, Maxim Dalmeijer

– De tekstGroep

PhotographyMieke Meesen

digital delta helps startersDisdrometrics is a spin-off from the tu Delft.

this company develops and implements cost-

efficient and robust rain meter systems. Dis-

drometers (drop sensors) register the acoustic

impact and relate it to the drop size. Dangerous

situations can arise during extreme rainfall, such

as flooding of tunnels. By installing disdrometers

near the tunnel and combining the data flows

with a hydrological model for the specific tun-

nel, an alarm signal can be sent to the traffic

control service before traffic problems occur.

the Digital Delta provides techno-starters with

data, removing the need for them to establish

their own information chain and therefore allow-

ing them to focus on their expertise.

global online marketplaceThe digital delta is a global online marketplace

for professional IT-based water and climato-

logical services and solutions. validated data,

information, software and data processing

facilities can be offered commercially or freely,

within an open or secure environment.

this allows companies and developers to focus

on their core business and to give added value in

combination with fellow companies and develop-

ers. the Digital Delta offers providers and clients

of water management services a transparent and

user-friendly entrance to the latest solutions. the

bundling and online access to validated data and

applications can considerably reduce purchasing

and development costs. the innovation process

is accelerated, allowing for quicker tackling of

water and climate problems.

23

Delft • Water • •Start-upS • CanalS • Open InnOvatIOn KnOWleDge • netWOrK • unIverSItIeS Of applIeD SCI-enCeS • CampuS • InDuStrIal BIOteChnOlOgy • meDICal teChnOlOgy • meDICal CentreS • green energy • Delta • gateWay tO eurOpe • Delta • hIgh teCh • SCIenCe parK • KnOWleDge tranSfer • lanDSCape • fOCuS • CluSterS • InCuBatOr • SOft lanDIng prOgram • SeapOrt • Inter-natIOnal • hIghteCh • Key InnOvatIOn • regIOn • KnOWl-eDge exChange • KnOWleDge InStItuteS • lOgIStIC huB • BuSIneSS DevelOpment • State-Of-the-art faCIlItIeS • attraCtIve envIrOnment • State-Of-the-art arChI-teCture • DutCh lanDSCapIng • teChnOlOgy • Synergy • Delta • InnOvatIOn • peOple • COnneCtIng peOple & BuSI-neSS • reSearCh anD DevelOpment • puBlIC tranSpOrt • green envIrOnment Delft • Water • hIStOry • BuSIneSS • Start-upS • Open InnOvatIOn KnOWleDge • netWOrK • unIverSItIeS Of applIeD SCIenCeS • CampuS • InDuStrIal BIOteChnOlOgy • meDICal teChnOlOgy • green energy • gateWay tO eurOpe • Delta • hIghteCh • SCIenCe parK • KnOWleDge tranSfer • lanDSCape • fOCuS • CluSterS • InCuBatOr • SOft lanDIng prOgram Delta • Delta • Sea-pOrt • InternatIOnal • hIghteCh • Key InnOvatIOn • re-gIOn • KnOWleDge exChange • KnOWleDge InStItuteS • lOgIStIC huB • BuSIneSS DevelOpment • State-Of-the-art faCIlItIeS • attraCtIve envIrOnment • BuSIneSS Devel-Opment • State-Of-the-art faCIlItIeS • attraCtIve en-vIrOnment • State-Of-the-art arChIteCture • DutCh lanDSCapIng • teChnOlOgy • Synergy • InnOvatIOn • peO-ple • COnneCtIng peOple & BuSIneSS • reSearCh anD De-velOpment • puBlIC tranSpOrt • green envIrOnment • State-Of-the-art arChIteCture • DutCh lanDSCapIng • teChnOlOgy • Synergy • InnOvatIOn • peOple • COnneCt-Ing peOple & BuSIneSS • reSearCh anD DevelOpment r&D • puBlIC tranSpOrt • Delta • green envIrOnment Delft • Water • hIStOry • BuSIneSS • Start-upS • CanalS • Open InnOvatIOn KnOWleDge • netWOrK • unIverSItIeS Of applIeD SCIenCeS • CampuS • InDuStrIal BIOteChnOlO-gy • meDICal teChnOlOgy • meDICal CentreS • green en-ergy • gateWay tO eurOpe • Delta • hIgh teCh • SCIenCe parK • KnOWleDge tranSfer • lanDSCape • CluSterS • InCuBatOr • SOft lanDIng prOgram • SeapOrt • Inter-natIOnal • hIghteCh • Key InnOvatIOn regIOn • fOCuS • KnOWleDge exChange • KnOWleDge InStItuteS • lOgIS-tIC huB • BuSIneSS DevelOpment • State-Of-the-art fa-CIlItIeS • attraCtIve envIrOnment • State-Of-the-art arChIteCture • DutCh lanDSCapIng • teChnOlOgy • Syn-ergy • InnOvatIOn • peOple • COnneCtIng peOple & BuSI-neSS • reSearCh anD DevelOpment (r&D• puBlIC tranS-pOrt • green envIrOnment

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