TValley 2019
TVALLEY ANNUAL CONFERENCE - INFLUENCES OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ON ROBOTICS AND MECHATRONICS
On 6 June last, the TValley Annual Conference 2019 took place at Saxion University of Applied Sciences in Enschede. For the 150 participants present, it was a knowledge-intensive and inspiring day with fascinating presentations by keynote speakers Jim Stolze and Nico Nijenhuis and interesting parallel sessions around the themes 'Unmanned Systems' and 'Smart Industrial Systems'.
In addition, the KIVI/TValley prize 2019 was also awarded. The expert jury this year consisted of:
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Ir. Paul de Jong, Chairman KIVI Region East
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MSc Ton Pothoven, CEO Integrated Mechanization Solutions B.V.
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Ir. Peter van Dam, Director Life Sciences, Engineering and Design Saxion
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Hendrik Haaksema, Programme Manager Novel-T
Three students - Suhaib Aslam, Teun Brookhuis and Thomas van Zonneveld - were allowed to pitch their work. In conjunction with the audience, Teun Brookhuis was ultimately declared the winner of the 2019 KIVI/TValley prize. He received a certificate and a cheque for 500 euros from the hands of jury chairman Paul de Jong. In addition, all three nominated students were offered a year of free KIVI membership by Erik Kemp, board member of KIVI Students Twente.
CONGRES TVALLEY with presentation of KIVI/TVALLEY PRIZE
On 6 June, the annual TValley congress will take place at Saxion in Enschede. The congress was created by a partnership between knowledge institutions, governments and companies in the field of mechatronics.
In addition to mechatronic education and profiling the high-tech industry in the eastern Netherlands, knowledge exchange on concrete projects on robotics and smart industry will take place. TValley is both about getting and bringing knowledge.
Part of the congress is the presentation of the KIVI/TValley prize, an annual award of €500 for an exceptional Bachelor's assignment at the University of Twente or Saxion in the field of Robotics. Students can be nominated by a lecturer, but can also apply themselves. From the entries, three finalists will be chosen who will be allowed to make a pitch during the congress. Based on this, an expert jury, in conjunction with the audience, will choose the winner.
Theme: Robots in society
Robots are slowly but surely entering our society. They can no longer be found only on production lines, but they will soon help us in airports, on campuses and in hotels. In the future, they will even operate inside our own homes. But before we get to that point, there is still a lot to be done. The technical challenges are great, but in addition there are also ethical, business, legal, psychological and a host of other issues to solve before robots can really join society. All these issues are important for the further development of robotics. The KIVI/TValley Thesis Prize is awarded to the student whose research contributes to this development. This may be demonstrated by an infectious enthusiasm, a top performance, a technical solution with a human heart, an investigation into the business model surrounding robots, an intriguing ethical question or by looking at developments in robotics from a completely new perspective.
Students can be nominated by lecturers or they can submit themselves. Only internship or bachelor theses will be considered, so no MSc theses. Researches from different studies are welcome. The research must have been carried out in the past academic year.
Process and criteria
Three finalists will be chosen from all submissions. This selection takes place on a number of points. Quality of research remains paramount. Theses that do not meet the high requirements will not be considered. These include the research methodologies, the conclusions formed, the research question, etc. Besides the quality of the thesis, the originality of the research is the second distinguishing factor. A good and inspiring research question makes the difference between a solid thesis and a fantastic thesis. The third and final criterion is the extent to which the research is (potentially) important for the social development of robotics. Does it solve an existing problem? Can the research (or follow-up research to it) have a major impact?
From the entries, the jury will choose three finalists. They will receive an invitation to the TValley Congress on 6 June. During this congress, they will have the opportunity to pitch their research to the audience present. On this basis, the audience - in conjunction with the jury - will choose the final winner.
Theses must be submitted by 20 May 2019 via email to elfride.dijkstra@kivi.nl stating 'KIVI/TValley Thesis Prize'. An abstract (this may be the standard abstract accompanying the thesis or one written specifically for this competition) and the grade obtained must be attached. Applications received later than 20 May will not be considered. For questions or further information, please contact Elfride Dijkstra(elfride.dijkstra@kivi.nl / 053 489 4097).
Organiser
Name and contact details for information
Elfride Dijkstra