Eindhoven University of Technology will be celebrating a special milestone throughout 2021: its 65th anniversary. With the anniversary theme Heroes Like You, TU/e turns the spotlight on its many heroes, who together make up the university in all its sparkling diversity. What started in 1956, powered by industry, has become the beating heart of the Brainport region, with international allure.
In the coming year, the university will host a large number of online and, where possible, live events, which it will celebrate together with the city. Planned events include a four-day 'Heroes' festival, a theater production, 'artist in residence' novelist Arnon Grunberg, special participation in King's Day, the Glow light festival, Dutch Design Week and much more.
An anthology of highlights of the past year gives a good impression where TU/e stands as of 2021. Erik Bakkers won the Physics World Breakthrough of the Year, Jan van Hest received a Spinoza prize, Johanna Höffken became national lecturer of the year, the Education minister came to find out about our 'challenge based learning', and researchers from TU/e worked hard on all fronts to find solutions for the COVID pandemic. In short, excellent education and research, aimed at solving societal challenges.
More than ever, the university is at the heart of the special ecosystem of the Brainport region. Over the years, TU/e has become the main supplier of highly skilled engineers to the regional high-tech industry. In addition, the university is the research partner par excellence for that industry, and a source of inspiration and entrepreneurship. Executive Board president Robert-Jan Smits: "In the 65 years we have existed, we have become a top international university that forms the beating heart of the Brainport region. We are very proud of that, and we are grateful to our partners."
65 years has yielded TU/e plenty to be proud of: 50,000 graduates, 150,000 scientific publications, some 6,000 doctorates, students and employees from more than 100 countries, hundreds of start-ups. These include top high-tech companies such as Prodrive, Smart Photonics and Security Matters, and a particularly long line of winners of Dutch and European awards. And last but not least, dozens of student teams who use their sky-high ideas and ambitions to come up with new solutions for societal challenges that inspiring many. Solar Team Eindhoven for example, that won the World Solar Challenge at the end of 2019, for the fourth time in a row.
The university kicks off the anniversary year with a video, which focuses on a series of its own heroes. The many other lustrum activities can be seen on the lustrum website. Everyone is welcome, to come and celebrate #TUE65 with us.
