Pulse. A magazine where we share the stories of people who are on a mission to make a positive impact, pushing themselves and our society forward, day by day. An ode to entrepreneurship in its broadest sense and purest form. We explore, view and highlight innovation and research from different perspectives.
What is the key to success? Is it about personal traits, like talent, intelligence or creativity – and what about your resources, like money, a vast network and power? Some think it has everything to do with grit: the passion and perseverance one dedicates to reaching long-term and meaningful goals. Wang Long Li, CEO of Tinybots.
If we wish to see which technological developments are helpful and necessary in healthcare, we need to clarify the fundamental questions in our society. We need to take responsibility and ask ourselves: What are the fundamental questions in our society? An interview with Bertine Lahuis, Chair of the Radboudumc Executive Board.
During The Vibe of the Future Festival Nijmegen is transformed into a hotbed for innovation and inspiration. Hilmer Thijs (INNOVATE), one of the driving forces behind the festival, and Yvette Akkermans (community manager Noviotech Campus) and co-organiser, share their vision, planning and ambitions for this remarkable event.
The High Tech industry is still seen as predominantly male, but in fact women are paving the way for the future. We spoke to three women about working in these industries – both the fun parts and downsides – and their tips and best practices for future female talent. Christelle Le Cam (NXP), Kasia Nowak (Nexperia) and Anna Walesieniuk (Ampleon).
Radboud University astronomer Marc Klein Wolt boasts an impressive track record of aerospace achievements: from putting a telescope behind the moon to his involvement with the first ever picture of a black hole. How does he do it? And why? What’s pulling him towards the limits of what we know, pushing him to make the most of his potential?
Since March 2023, Mark Luke Farrugia has been the General Manager of Nijmegen’s Chip Integration Technology Center (CITC). He has a clear mission; to make the chip industry more sustainable and to bring it to Europe and to Nijmegen in particular. “When I joined CITC two years ago, I saw that something was needed, a change, a new direction and a revolutionary product.”
The Big Data Robot lab is being developed in cooperation with Fontys University of Applied Sciences Eindhoven and the goal is to establish the robot lab at Noviotech Campus in Nijmegen. According to Radboud University professor Wilhelm Huck, the chemistry of the 21st century is Big Chemistry. He has ground-breaking plans to build a new world-class infrastructure for research into complex molecular systems.
“We want to be a stepping stone. We try to find partnerships and let new companies cooperate. I’ve had some meetings with the government to make the Netherlands a better place for start-ups. Funding is the biggest issue, and we try to make that happen by making it more regular and accessible. From our offices in Ede, we try to find companies or people that want to invest in these start-ups.”
Nijmegen tops the international rankings of cities using artificial intelligence (AI) to fight breast cancer and other diseases, alongside universities such as Harvard and Stanford. “Research, business, and government come together here in a unique way”, says Jaap Kroes, AI team leader at Screenpoint Medical. They specialises in developing technology that allows breast cancer scans to be analysed faster and more efficiently.
Viral diseases can radically change the world, yet there are several infectious diseases that still require better treatments and procedures for diagnosis. One of them is tuberculosis. Even though we can already treat its symptoms with antibiotics, there are still challenges when it comes to preventing it from spreading. Klaus Werner, CEO and co-founder of pinkRF, plans on changing that.
Diversity finds its way into the high tech industry. Women are raising their voice and an increasing group of internationals embraces the advantages of working and living abroad. We reached out to learn from their experiences – both the fun parts and downsides – and their advice and best practices for future talent. Francesca Chiappini (CITC), Roy Kanjanapornpreecha (Nexperia), Carlota Salamat (NXP).
“We hope to bring some of the American mindset to our work and lives in the Netherlands.” Lisanne Peters and Auke Bleij won the ‘Innovatiefste Student van Nederland’ (in English: The most innovative student of the Netherlands) competition in 2023 and 2022 respectively. The grand prize: a trip through Silicon Valley.
Joyce de Ruiter was sixteen years old when her parents had to tell her that she’d been diagnosed with Usher syndrome: an inherited disorder which deteriorates hearing and especially vision during life, often resulting in people becoming deaf and blind. “Finally, the puzzle pieces of hearing loss and night blindness had been named, but at the same time your whole future outlook wavers.” Joyce tells us about the impact this diagnosis had on her life and how it gradually turned into something she now draws strength and courage from.
In 1965, Intel co-founder Gordon Moore observed that the capacity of computer chips doubles every two years; not only describing the industry’s expontential growth at the time, but also setting in motion a self-fulfilling prophecy for the technological development of our society in the decades to come. As we commemorate his legacy, we take a look ahead: will we be able to keep Moore’s Law alive, and do we even want to, given the ecological impact technology has on our planet and its energy resources? By Maarten Steinbuch.
ICU patients on mechanical ventilation do not use their respiratory muscles, which weakens them. As a result, patients may be on life support for longer and some may need to be resuscitated after being taken off the ventilator. In an international context, Radboudumc and other centres are investigating whether electrical stimulation of the respiratory muscles can help patients to be resuscitated less often and for shorter periods of time. Professor Leo Heunks, head of the ICU department Radboudumc.
For more than 30 years, architect and urban planner Winy Maas has been putting up buildings and designing cities that amaze people and make them think. Urban planning, architecture and landscape architecture are his instruments, which he uses to tell a story and make a difference. Together with his agency MVRDV, he works on the cities of the future all around the world.
When Ton Arts comes out of anaesthesia after surgery, he can only move his head. “I was panicking, of course”, says Arts, “but it was also a calculated risk. I had a double hernia. Before the operation, the doctors at the St. Maartenskliniek in Nijmegen told me that there was a significant risk of suffering a spinal cord injury. But I had no real choice without the surgery…”
Connections are vital to transformation, change and personal growth – especially in the realms of innovative startups and science. In this column, Saskia Eijkelhof (EnginX) and Marc Klein Wolt share their experiences of crossing paths and the ways in which it impacted their careers and personal lives.
“Look around the world and allocate your opportunities: where is your niche, where is your workforce?” – according to Tech Parks Arizona Vice President Carol Stewart, these are the questions you should ask when determining where to start or grow your business. Don’t pin it down locally, but focus on finding a community and place where you’re valued.
Are urban innovation districts the future of healthy, smart and sustainable living? In the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the United Nations defined a framework of seventeen goals aimed at designing and implementing a “shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and in the future.”
Students from ArtEZ – University of Arts – presented their work during a pop-up exhibition at the Papierfabriek in Nijmegen. Around 150 visitors
attended the event to see how a new generation of students, inspired by radar technology, had created a unique series of artworks. – with NXP and ArtEZ
As the labour market is tightening, many health and high tech companiesand organisations are looking for new talents to join their team. However, what is it like to be a talented, young person at this moment in time? What has been their journey so far and what are they dreaming about or struggling with when it comes to their future? Ankita Jadon (Nexperia), Eef Lamers (Micro Cosmos), Josephine Dodemont (HCM Medical), Micheal Geurtsen (Nexperia).
A biotech campus with the vibe of Berlin. In the international biotech hub Berlin, the Campus Berlin-Buch (CBB) is growing to become the beating heart of future innovation. On the biomedical campus, scientists from all over the world work on the future of medicine. Christina Quensel – CEO of the campus – tells us all about the CBB, her journey and her vision for campuses and tech parks around the world.
In this series, expats talk about their lives in the Netherlands. How did they end up here? What is their everyday life like, and what do they think of the Netherlands and its culture? In this edition we share the story of Khaoula from Morocco…
More expat lives stories: Expat life in Nijmegen | Into Nijmegen
Art enchants, inspires, surprises and makes you think. But what are the values of art if the mind is failing? Research into Parkinson’s disease shows that art has a potentially great impact on many areas of health. We dive into the complexity of our mind, and the sometimes unexpected contribution of art when the brain is failing us, with Bas Bloem and Blanca Spee.
The semiconductor industry is celebrating its 70th anniversary in 2023. How did we get from the first transistors to chips that use light and quantum mechanics to enable our everyday lives? We interviewed four generations of people working in the world of chip technology, as they shared their stories, dreams and hopes for the industry.
Mercator Launch, Radboud University’s incubator, is located on the Heyendaal Campus in Nijmegen. It offers a dynamic track for students, researchers and alumni who want to turn their ideas into successful startups. With a 2–3 years guidance track, each entrepreneur receives coaching, support and housing to build a business, solve problems and make the impact they want to achieve.
Transfer information, make cars drive themselves and precisely measure and detect diseases – all in the blink of an eye. Photonics technology is already here, and it’s here to stay. The Dutch government has recognised it as a key enabling technology and is investing billions of euros. Read about PhotonDelta, CITC and Enzyre.
Startups are shaping and changing healthcare innovation. We selected nine startups whom we believe are on the road to make a lasting impact, while growing a healthy and sustainable company: VivArtX, Aerocount, Micro Cosmos, Zereau, Tworby, Orikami, Predica, TropIQ, Suweve.
We are invited to Nexperia’s headquarters in the impressive 52 Degrees building on the Noviotech Campus in Nijmegen. Jean-Pierre Kempeneers, Chief Corporate Affairs at Nexperia, welcomes us. With a broad smile, he proudly shows us the view from his office. “We collaborate with local initiatives to create a fun and healthy work environment.”
It’s alive! Professor Nael Nadif Kasri, a professor of Medical Neuroscience at the Radboud University in Nijmegen, has found a way to turn skin or blood cells into brain cells. “Twenty years ago, we thought that what we are doing right now, was absolutely impossible.” We are already on our way from organ-on-a-chip to human-on-a-chip.
In Bruges, he got a pie and the word ‘murderer’ thrown in his face. On social media, people commented that it should have been a rock, a brick, or a bullet. Earlier, he and his family had to go into hiding for weeks because of death threats by a professional soldier. Welcome to the world of scientist and virologist Marc van Ranst.
Innovation festival INNOVATE and science magazine Quest present the 8 finalists of the ‘Innovatiefste Student van Nederland 2024’. The winner will join a growth trip through Silicon Valley. Will it be: Pava, AlphaPace, SimplePark, Hippotrainer, Pedal Towards Sustainability, FABBS, IN-DUC, HealthBot?
Sometimes art shines a new light upon something we consider to be ‘normal’, changing our experience from an unexpected perspective. Graduation students at ArtEZ University of the Arts worked on artistic interpretations and expressions of technology, research and innovation. We visited the exposition at ArtEZ in Arnhem, where the students exhibitioned the final works of their study ‘Design, Art & Technology’.
As our world is digitizing at a rapid pace and data is everywhere, our society faces a huge wave of bits and bites, containing information about you, me and the world around us. How can we stay in charge of our information? We asked three AI experts, about the impact of Artificial Intelligence as a tool to oversee complex data streams and the opportunities of deploying it for better and more reliable data within our society.
We meet Rob Nelissen, director of operations at Organon, shortly before he is about to leave for the Women’s Health conference in Boston. “I want to foster economic opportunities for Dutch innovative startups in the US, and vice versa. Organon has something to offer in this regard, but we can also learn a lot from fellow companies in the region. That’s what we need Pharma Delta for.”
Currently more than 50 percent of all people worldwide live in cities; by 2050 this is expected to be almost 70 percent. Creative green solutions are needed to make and keep cities safe, sustainable and attractive –often by applying the latest technology and healthcare innovations. With the theme Growing Green Cities, Floriade Expo 2022 Amsterdam- Almere aims to make cities more sustainable and livable.
Tackling chronic wounds with cold plasma: “More people die each year from the effects of chronic wounds than from breast and prostate cancer combined”, says Bas Zeper, CTO of Nijmegen-based health tech company Plasmacure. Yet wound healing has received relatively little attention. Perhaps because wound healing is not an independent medical specialty. “We know oncologists, but no woundologists”, he said
“The best thing about my job is that it all starts with a vision, an ambition and – of course – policy”, says Frans Holleman. “Then, slowly, it turns from 2D into 3D. With regard to the Winkelsteeg development in Nijmegen, the structural requirements, like roads and infrastructure, already start to become visible.” Frans Holleman, Area Developer Winkelsteeg municipality Nijmegen.
The worldwide chip industry has grown explosively over the last years and won’t stop growing in the coming years. The European Union wants to respond to this growth with the European Chips Act. Jean Schreurs, Executive Director of NXP Semiconductors Netherlands, shares his opinion on the act and what it means to the worldwide industry of chips and semiconductors.
Even as a little kid, Daisy van de Zande was already fond of stories, often with her nose in books, or marvelling over the magic of films. “The idea of storytelling has always fascinated me.” We meet with Daisy, now festival director of InScience – International Science Film Festival Nijmegen, as she takes us on her journey through the world of science, art, and culture with five InScience films that impacted her.
Matthias Salewski (35) works as a project leader at Neways Advanced Microsystems developing chip packages for smart sensing and actuation applications. “All the physics takes place at small scales – our products are only millimeters in size. At ‘Die Physikanten‘, I do quite the opposite, as I’m performing physics experiments on the big stage so that everybody can see and understand them.”
There is a lot going on behind the (sometimes) closed doors of laboratories and cleanrooms in the world of health and high tech. In Unpacked, we meet the people behind innovations, research and technology. We take pictures of them in both their work environment and in their free time, as they share their story – showing what the face of innovation looks like. Berry Langen (NXP), Leon Fokker (NTS), Tania Perneel & Arjan Stunnenberg (EPR).
In the rapidly evolving world of Health & High Tech, not a day goes by without an innovation that promises to revolutionise patient care and treatment. One of these innovations is Eva van Rikxoort’s. The CEO of Thirona successfully made the leap from a scientist to a business leader, all while sticking to her roots in Artificial Intelligence (AI). Eva takes us along on her unique journey and tells us everything about the transformative role of AI in the treatment of lung diseases , and her vision for the future.
Cities and societies worldwide increasingly look at nature as a source of intelligence, health and inspiration. In the 1980s, the famous Dutch landscape designer Piet Oudolf was one of the first to envision a new way of gardening and landscape architecture in the public domain. In symbiosis with nature and attuned to ecology he created healthy and sustainable plant communities. Today, his planting designs are celebrated worldwide, from the High Line in New York City to the gardens of restaurant Noma in Copenhagen – and recently he was awarded the Elizabeth Medal of Honour by Prince Charles.
Nexperia has been on the rise for decades, but they’ve been adhering to a new growth strategy since 2019. They used to be a part of Philips, then NXP, and now the company is moving forward with a Chinese investor. Although the Chinese influence on the global chip market is a sensitive subject, it enables us to invest in our people, expand our production capacity, and make new expansion plans. In the last five years, we’ve grown enormously: our turnover has doubled, and we’re employing over 500 people in our headoffices in Nijmegen alone.
This time, we caught up with Ashley Shih – Business Developer at Protinhi Therapeutics – to find out who she is at work and what she likes to do in her spare time. She shares her story and shows us the face of innovation.
