Strengthening Electrical Engineering in the Netherlands
A modern society would not function without the accomplishments of Electrical Engineering in providing energy and communication, to name a few of the areas in which the discipline is involved. But its invisible omnipresence makes it easy to underestimate the efforts that have been made to get this far, and even easier to misjudge the future investments required to maintain and advance the related technology in a secure, reliable and sustainable way.
The Dutch Electrical Engineering Council EE-NL has been established to represent the discipline everywhere decisions are made or prepared on technology-related issues that affect the future of the Dutch society. EE-NL will:
- create visibility for the discipline in the Netherlands;
- be a single partner to discuss topics which involve, require or affect Electrical Engineering research and education on the national level;
- coordinate initiatives undertaken by the three Dutch departments of Electrical Engineering in the areas of research, education and valorization;
- strengthen the Dutch Electrical Engineering community.
The mission of the Council is to enhance the Dutch Electrical Engineering contribution to a range of societal challenges, by strengthening the Electrical Engineering community, increase the visibility of the discipline, increase the awareness of the value of Electrical Engineering technology, and increase the amount and the effective use of funding for research activities in the discipline.
Members of EE-NL are the section Electrical Engineering of the department of EEMCS at Delft University of Technology, the section Electrical Engineering of the department of EWI at Twente University, and the department of Electrical Engineering at Eindhoven University of Technology. Small Electrical Engineering units at Wageningen University and Groningen University contribute occasionally.
Visibility of the discipline
The EE-NL Council will enhance the visibility of Electrical Engineering in the Netherlands, in the EU and internationally. This will be established by:
- Networking activities at the regional, national, European and international level for both the EE community and for a broader public.
- Coordinated appearances in schools, media, exhibits, festivals. The Council will look for collaboration in education, to enlarge the number and diversity of students, and to address the shortage of EE engineers.
- Regular meetings with representatives of other major engineering disciplines, of industry and of governmental organizations.
A single partner for government and industry
The EE-NL Council will be the single contact point for government, industry, NWO, 4TU Federation etc. This will be facilitated amongst others through an EE-NL website.
The Council will be present in relevant committees.
Coordinated initiatives for funding
The EE-NL Council will initiate coordinated applications for larger project calls such as LTP, ‘Zwaartekracht’, NWA and ‘Perspectief’. The better alignment will lead to increased success rates.
With respect to infrastructure, initiatives will be aligned for more frequent sharing, as well as for putting forward the discipline’s needs. These will result in joint proposals for NWO Groot and GWI.
The Council will make sure there is permanent awareness of the discipline’s need for long-term investments in fundamental research, even though a significant part of the discipline is oriented towards application.
Strengthen the community
The EE-NL Council will organize a national EE community event (networking/exchange/interact etc.). This will be open to both the more fundamental researchers as well as for the workers the EE application domains.
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