By independent study of the book Sustainable Development for Engineers (K.F. Mulder, 2006) students acquire basic knowledge about sustainable development
A transition to sustainable energy is needed for our climate and welfare. In this engineering course, you will learn how to assess the potential for energy reduction and the potential of renewable energy sources like wind, solar and biomass. You’ll learn how to integrate these sources in an energy system, like an electricity network and take an engineering approach to look for solutions and design a 100% sustainable energy system.
This course aims to give insight in the chain of hydrogen production, storage and use, and the devices involved. Electrical storage in the form of batteries will be discussed. Physical and materials science advances that are required to bring forward hydrogen and batteries as energy carriers will be highlighted.
Did you know that cities take up less than 3% of the earth’s land surface, but more than 50% of the world’s population live in them? And, cities generate more than 70% of the global emissions? Large cities and their hinterlands (jointly called metropolitan regions) greatly contribute to global urbanization and sustainability challenges, yet are also key to resolving these same challenges.
If you are interested in the challenges of the 21st century metropolitan regions and how these can be solved from within the city and by its inhabitants, then this Sustainable Urban Development course is for you!
There are no simple solutions to these grand challenges! Rather the challenges cities face today require a holistic, systemic and transdisciplinary approach that spans different fields of expertise and disciplines such as urban planning, urban design, urban engineering, systems analysis, policy making, social sciences and entrepreneurship.
This MOOC is all about this integration of different fields of knowledge within the metropolitan context. The course is set up in a unique matrix format that lets you pursue your line of interest along a specific metropolitan challenge or a specific theme.
Because we are all part of the challenges as well as the solutions, we encourage you to participate actively! You will have the opportunity to explore the living conditions in your own city and compare your living environment with that of the global community.
Life in the city relies on the smooth operation of urban logistics. Everything from retail to services, construction to waste collection rely on an efficient and reliable freight transport system. However, with the increasing pressures of urbanization, this has to be balanced with the environmental and social impacts caused by transport activity. This is the challenge of City Logistics, a field of study that has significant practical implications for the world and the cities we live in. It is not merely a question of what is involved, but what can be done about urban freight transport to improve it for the sake of economic efficiency, quality of life, and sustainability.
From a systematic scientific foundation of the field, this course will take you on a journey to learn how city logistics is understood and practiced in cities around the world. Our instructors, members of a renowned global expert network, will teach you the basics of this highly complex social system. Using their experience in real-world projects, they will illustrate how the knowledge learnt in this course is applied across industry and the public sector.
This course caters primarily to university students or professionals working in urban transport infrastructure planning or logistics management. Whether you are simply curious about the topic or you intend to develop a career in these fields, this course will give you the tools you need to understand the complexities of urban freight transport systems.
The course emphasizes the theoretical foundation, the rigorous evaluation, and a multi-disciplinary approach to this complex area. Course participants will benefit from numerous case studies of best practice in selected cities around the world, in a variety of business settings. Our emphasis on the global perspective is particularly relevant, since an understanding of local culture and political climate is an important factor in the success of any city logistics intervention. The course will provide an avenue for students to learn from their peers about the challenges faced in their respective cities, and how to apply the principles learned to the challenges faced in their own cities.
The purpose of this course is to learn how to specify the behavior of embedded systems and to experience the design
of a provably correct system. In this course you will learn how to formally
specify requirements and to prove (or disprove) them on the behaviour. With a practical assignment
you will experience how to apply the techniques in practice.
Companies and governments have to decide upon technological strategies, i.e. which products are to be developed and which processes and infrastructures are required for the future. Several tools to consider technological strategies are dealt with in this course.
The course gives knowledge of and insight into
(1) technology development from a societal perspective,
(2) a wide range of impact assessment procedures and methods to assess and regulate the potential impact of technological projects, programmes and technology policies, and
(3) ethical theories and tools to judge and manage social consequences of these initiatives.
This version of the subject Technology Dynamics and Transition Management was taught in co-operation with the Harbin Institute of Technology in China. At the heart of this module lies a model of technology development from a social perspective, which will be applied to water problems in present-day China.
Companies and governments have to decide upon technological strategies, i.e. which products are to be developed and which processes and infrastructures are required for the future. Several tools to consider technological strategies are dealt with in this course.
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.
Next to their master all TU Delft students can specialise in sustainable development. This course is one of the requirements for the specialisation. It consists of a full-time week of guest lectures and workshops which takes place on a boat, and a group assignment to solve sustainable 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.
This course discusses fundamental traffic flow characteristics and traffic flow variables. Their definitions are presented, and visualization/analysis techniques are discussed and empirical facts are presented. The empirical relation between the flow variables and the bottleneck capacity analysis are discussed. Shockwave analysis and a review of macroscopic traffic flow models are presented. Traffic flow stability issues are discussed as well as numerical solution approaches. The lectures also show how macroscopic models are derived from microscopic principles. This course provides an overview of human factors relevant for the behavior of drivers. The car-following model and other approaches to describe the lateral driving task will be discussed. The lectures also pertains to general gap acceptance modeling and lane changing. Microscopic models for pedestrian flow behavior are discussed and an in depth discussion of microscopic simulation models will be presented. The study goals of this course are to gain insight into theory and modeling of traffic flow operations, to learn to apply theory and mathematical models to solve practical problems and to gain experience with using simulation programs for ex-ante assessment studies.
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.
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.
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.
The lectures will discuss characteristics of urban water flows, hydraulics, hydrology and how to apply knowledge of these phenomena to the design and analysis of urban water systems. Integration of various scientific disciplines and technological and practical approaches is a central theme in this course.
Students will design an urban drainage system for a real case in the Netherlands or abroad using the Rational Method. They will use this design as input for a hydrodynamic computer model and perform model calculations for various conditions to check the performance of the designed system and improve where needed. They will prepare a written report of their data, design choices and results and present main results in a plenary session that concludes the lecture series.