Fifteen years at TU Delft

On September 1st 2009, I started to work at TU Delft.

I remember my first day at university clearly. It was a Tuesday, and I had to be at 9am in the secretary’s office. At that time, every professor still had a personal assistant, who would take care of all travel arrangements, and type out handwritten letters and papers. So, I went in first to arrange the paperwork, get introduced to all colleagues, and get my office assigned. My first assignment that day, for my PhD research, was to dimension a steel member for my test setup – I remember contemplating the irony of designing a steel member on the first day of my PhD in concrete structures.

After getting my PhD in June 2013, the remainder of my contract became a post-doctoral position, followed by two more part-time post-doctoral positions. After that, I became a tenured assistant professor, and last April an associate professor.

A lot has changed in these 15 years. The field of research and publishing has changed. University regulations and priorities have changed. I, as a person, have changed.

I will spend more time reflecting on these changes and what I have learned in these 15 years over the next months. For now, I just want to take a moment and celebrate 15 years at this iconic university – and thank all my mentors, colleagues, researchers, students, and friends who have been with me on this journey for part of the road or the full 15 years.