Learn the basics of process design for biobased products. From feedstock to biomaterials, chemicals and biofuels.

As fossil-based fuels and raw materials contribute to climate change, the use of renewable materials and energy as an alternative is in full swing. This transition is not a luxury, it is has become a necessity. We can use the unique properties of microorganisms to convert organic waste streams into biomaterials, chemicals and biofuels.

This course provides the insights and tools for biotechnological processes design in a sustainable way. Five experienced course leaders will teach you the basics of industrial biotechnology and how to apply these to the design of fermentation processes for the production of fuels, chemicals and foodstuffs. Throughout the course, you will be challenged to design your own biotechnological sprocess and evaluate its performance and sustainability. The undergraduate course includes guest lectures from industry as well as from the University of Campinas in Brazil, with over 40 years of experience in bio-ethanol production. The course was a MOOC in a joint initiative of TU Delft, the international BE-Basic consortium and University of Campinas.

Through four lessons and three hands-on activities, students learn the concepts of refraction and interference in order to solve an engineering challenge: "In 2013, actress Angelina Jolie underwent a double mastectomy, not because she had been diagnosed with breast cancer, but merely to lower her cancer risk. But what if she never inherited the gene(s) that are linked to breast cancer and endured surgery unnecessarily? Can we create a new method of assessing people's genetic risks of breast cancer that is both efficient and cost-effective?" While pursuing a solution to this challenge, students learn about some high-tech materials and delve into the properties of light, including the equations of refraction (index of refraction, Snell's law). Students ultimately propose a method to detect cancer-causing genes by applying the refraction of light in a porous film in the form of an optical biosensor. Investigating this challenge question through this unit is designed for an honors or AP level physics class, although it could be modified for conceptual physics.

Computability Theory deals with one of the most fundamental questions in computer science: What is computing and what are the limits of what a computer can compute? Or, formulated differently: ‰"What kind of problems can be algorithmically solved?‰" During the course this question will be studied. Firstly, the notion of algorithm or computing will be made precise by using the mathematical model of a Turing machine. Secondly, it will be shown that basic issues in computer science, like "Given a program P does it halt for any input x?" or "Given two program P and Q, are they equivalent?" cannot be solved by any Turing machine. This shows that there exist problems that are impossible to solve with a computer, the so-called "undecidable problems".

The idea behind topological systems is simple: if there exists a quantity, which cannot change in an insulating system where all the particles are localized, then the system must become conducting and obtain propagating particles when the quantity (called a “topological invariant”) finally changes.

The practical applications of this principle are quite profound, and already within the last eight years they have lead to prediction and discovery of a vast range of new materials with exotic properties that were considered to be impossible before.
What is the focus of this course?

Applications of topology in condensed matter based on bulk-edge correspondence.
Special attention to the most active research topics in topological condensed matter: theory of topological insulators and Majorana fermions, topological classification of “grand ten” symmetry classes, and topological quantum computation
Extensions of topology to further areas of condensed matter, such as photonic and mechanical systems, topological quantum walks, topology in fractionalized systems, driven or dissipative systems.

The objective is to get insight and practice in the design and use of mathematical models for the estimation of transport demand in the framework of major strategic transportation planning. The course consists of a number of lectures and several exercises in OmniTRANS.

1. Objectives of modelling in transport and spatial planning. Model types. Theory of travel and locational behaviour. System description of planning area. Theory of choice models. Aggregate and disaggregate models. Mode choice, route choice and assignment modelling. Locational choice modelling. Parameter estimation and model calibration. Cases and exercises in model application; 2. Role of models in transportation and spatial systems analysis; model types; designing system description of study area (zonal segmentation, network selection); role of shortest path trees; 3. Utility theory for travel and location choice; trip generation models, trip distribution models; applications; 4. Theory of spatial interaction model; role of side constraints; distribution functions and their estimations; constructing base matrices and estimating OD-tables; 5. Theory of individual choice models; 6. Disaggregated choice models of the logit and probit type for time choice, mode choice, route choice and location choice; 7. Integrated models (sequential and simultaneous) for constructing OD-tables; 8. Equilibrium theory in networks and spatial systems; 9. Route choice and assignment; derivation of different model types (all-or-nothing model, multiple route model, (stochastic) equilibrium model); assignment in public transportation networks; analyses of effects; 10. Calibration of parameters and model validation; observation, estimation, validation; estimation methods; 11. Individual exercise computing travel demand in networks; getting familiar with software; computing all transportation modelling steps; analyse own planning scenarios; writing a report.Study Goals: 1. Insight in the function of mathematical models in transportation and spatial planning; 2. Knowledge of theoretical backgrounds of models; 3. Knowledge of application areas of models; 4. Ability to develop one's own plan of analysis for model computations; 5. Ability to apply models on planning problems; 6. Ability to present outcomes of model computations.

This course will focus on basic technologies for the treatment of urban sewage. Unit processes involved in the treatment chain will be described as well as the physical, chemical and biological processes involved. There will be an emphasis on water quality and the functionality of each unit process within the treatment chain. After the course one should be able to recognize the process units, describe their function and make simple design calculations on urban sewage treatment plants.

This course is the first in the introductory surveys of U.S. History. After exploring North America before the arrival of Europeans, students will study the early interactions of Europeans with indigenous peoples and, as the course progresses, study the history of peoples in the area now defined by the United States' borders. Those who would like to pursue their study of American history will also want to take Hist 147 (U.S. History II) and Hist 148 (U.S. History III).Login: guest_oclPassword: ocl

Welcome to History 147, the second in the introductory surveys of U.S. history. We begin in that decade when the United States in three years (1845-48) grew by 50 percent. Through the Civil War to the 20th century, we explore how different people experienced the transformation of the country into an industrial nation and emerging world power. Those who would like to pursue their study of American history will want to take Hist 146 (U.S. History I) and Hist 148 (U.S. History III).

This course is the third in the introductory surveys of U.S. history. The course surveys the significant forces and people that have shaped American civilization from the Progressive Era to the present. This course starts at the beginning of the 20th century and explores how different people, including you, participated in the nation's transformation through that century until today. Those who would like to pursue their study of American history may wish to take Hist 146 (US History I) and Hist 147 (US History II).Login: guest_oclPassword: ocl

U.S. History II covers the chronological history of the United States from Reconstruction through the beginning of the 21st Century.

U.S. History I covers the chronological history of the United States from before Discovery through Reconstruction.

You will learn the physics behind nuclear science, how to gain energy from nuclear fission, how nuclear reactors operate safely, and the life cycle of nuclear fuel: from mining to disposal. In the last part of the course, we will focus on what matters most in the public debate: the economic and social impact of nuclear energy but also the future of energy systems.

Unmanned Aerial Systems, or drones, are developing aggressively, and many government and non-government agencies are considering acquiring such systems. This course will focus on the geo-spatial utilization of a UAS. It will cultivate students' knowledge of the capabilities and limitations of the UAS and data post-processing systems. It introduces fundamental concepts surrounding operating a UAS such as strategies for selecting the right UAS, assessing its performance, managing resulting products (i.e. imagery), selecting the appropriate commercially available processing software, assessing product accuracy, figuring ways and means of producing metric products from UAS, and understanding rules and regulations governing operating a UAS in the United States.

Are you an urban planner, designer, policy maker or involved or interested in the creation of good living environments?

This course will broaden your scope and diversify your take on the field of urban planning and design. We will focus on a unique Dutch approach and analyze how it can help those involved with urban planning and design to improve the physical environment in relation to the public good it serves, including safety, wellbeing, sustainability and even beauty.

You will learn some of the basic traits of Dutch Urbanism, including its:

contextual approach;
balance between research and design;
simultaneous working on multiple scale levels.
You will practice with basic techniques in spatial analysis and design pertaining to these points. You will also carry out these activities in your own domestic environment.

This course is taught by the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment at TU-Delft, ranked no. 4 in Architecture/Built Environment on the QS World University Rankings (2016).

All the material in this course is presented at entry level. But since the course has an integral perspective, combining planning and design aspects, it can still be relevant for trained professionals who feel they lack experience in either field.

Students obtain basic knowledge of the multidisciplinary aspects of the use of undergrounds space. Based on knowledge about the characteristics of several construction technologies they are able to asses their applicability in different situations. This may be different geological or physical conditions. They are able to analyze and structure the complex decision making process that is related to the use of underground space and define an integral approach

This unit on nanoparticles engages students with a hypothetical Grand Challenge Question that asks about the skin cancer risk for someone living in Australia, given the local UV index and the condition of the region's ozone layer. The question asks how nanoparticles might be used to help detect, treat and protect people from skin cancer. Through three lessons, students learn about the science of electromagnetic radiation and energy waves, human skin and its response to ultraviolet radiation, and the state of medical nanotechnology related to skin cancer. Through three hands-on activities, students perform flame tests to become familiar with the transfer of energy in quantum form, design and conduct their own quality-control experiments to test sun protection factors (SPFs), and write nanotechnology grant proposals.

Students are presented with a biomedical engineering challenge: Breast cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer-related death among women and the American Cancer Society says mammography is the best early-detection tool available. Despite this, many women choose not to have them; of all American women at or over age 40, only 54.9% have had a mammogram within the past year. One reason women skip annual mammograms is pain, with 90% reporting discomfort. Is there a way to detect the presence of tumors that is not as painful as mammography but more reliable and quantifiable than breast self-exams or clinical breast exams? This three lesson/three activity unit is designed for first-year accelerated or AP physics classes. It provide hands-on activities to teach the concepts of stress, strain and Hooke's law, which students apply to solve the challenge problem.

EME 812 explores the main physical principles of core solar energy conversion systems, including direct power conversion photovoltaics, concentrating photovoltaics (CPV), and thermal conversion to electricity via concentrating solar power strategies (CSP). It also covers the fundamentals of enabling technologies such as light concentration, solar tracking, power conversion cycles, power conditioning and distribution. Learning in EME 812 relies on analysis of design and performance of existing solar plants that have been deployed in areas such as the southwestern USA, Spain, and North Africa.

Solar thermal energy is a vast renewable energy resource that has been harvested by human civilizations for centuries. Now as energy conversion technologies quickly develop, we look at solar thermal energy as a significant contributor to the future world's energy profile. Solar heat, when properly collected and stored, can provide cost-effective benefits to a wide array of industrial and residential applications. In EME 811, Solar Thermal Energy for Utilities and Industry, we talk about both the main principles of solar thermal energy conversion and some implementation scenarios, such as utilization of solar heat in buildings, solar cooling, solar desalination, solar drying, and chemical processing.