Department of History of Engineering
The History of Engineering Department deals with the history of engineering from an interdisciplinary perspective.
Objective
The objective of this Section, founded in 1980, is to promote interest in the history of engineering. The Section tries to achieve this goal by holding lectures and organising excursions and study trips.
Activities
About 10 lectures are held annually at the Science Center Delft. In addition, once a year a lecture is held at an industrial heritage site, in September 2025 this will take place at the Maritime Museum in Amsterdam. In 2024, the awarding of the Willem Wolff prize was combined with a visit to the National Flax and Sugar Beet Museum in Klundert followed by an excursion to the sugar factory in full operation in Dinteloord.
In 2024, a study trip was organised to the Basque Country and its surroundings in September in which 44 members participated. In May 2025, there was a short 2-day study trip to Liege and environs.
The following lectures were held at the Science centre in 2024:
| Speaker | Title |
|---|---|
| drs. B. van de Ven | Technology in the Middle Ages; decline, stagnation or progress? |
| dr K.D. van der Mast | The development of the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) |
| prof. F.A. Bais | Quantessence: the Quintessence of the Quantum World |
| prof. dr. ir. F.J. Dijksterhuis | The Ingenious Thinking of Christiaan Huygens |
| prof. ir. J.F. Abbink | How do we achieve a 'net-zero' CO2 in aviation by 2050? |
| ing. K.L. Raven | Failure is a good motivator for innovation |
| Ir. drs. G. Moeyes | Towing devices and tow tanks in the Netherlands; maritime hydrodynamic research since the 18th century |
| Ir G.F. Boulogne | The industrial development of the Veluwe; from copper mills to cooling machines |
| drs M.J.M van der Meer | Plans concerning the Science Centre |
The lectures and the study tours are organised in cooperation with Histechnica, the Association of Friends of Academic Heritage of TU-Delft."