Looking back at the Annual GEC Scientific Meeting

The GEC annual scientific meeting took place on Monday the 18th of September and it was a great opportunity for RUG researchers to interact with the industrial sector. We had more than 100 registrations and many representatives from the industry in the north of the Netherlands were present.

The event was focused on the keynote presentation of our speaker Lise de Jonge from NWO that informed us of the additional funding available and the various grants that researchers together with companies can apply to. Very interesting was also the new fund Venture Challenge and the Faculty of Impact. The second part of the meeting focused on parallel sessions where RUG researchers and the industrial sector presented their latest research and discussed the topic with the audience. From industry the presenters were Jan Leideman (DEMCON), Robin Post van der Burg (Co-funder Torrgas), Marinus Tabak (RWE) and Jan Willen Slijkoord (Founder CiorC) and the sessions were on electrolysis, fuel cells and hydrogen, carbon circularity, predictive maintenance and polymer recycling. The event ended with a nice talk about the Smart and Circular Alliance initiatve, a borrel and drinks.

During the meeting, we also took a moment to acknowledge the transition of directorship from professor Jacquelien Scherpen to profs. Moniek Tromp and Bayu Jayawardhana. We want to express our deep appreciation for Jacquelien's years of unwavering commitment to elevating the profile of engineering and technology at the University of Groningen. Her tireless efforts have played a pivotal role in placing these fields in the spotlight within our institution, and her legacy will continue to inspire us as we move forward.