A great turnout and successful first edition of the KIVI EngD Award
On Tuesday, 2 December 2025, KIVI, together with the four Dutch technical universities (4TU’s), announced the winners of the KIVI EngD Award and the KIVI EngD Public Award. The ceremony, held at KIVI’s head office in The Hague, celebrated EngD trainees for their ability to translate complex engineering challenges into practical solutions that benefit industry, research, and society. The finalists were assessed on three main criteria:
- Innovation – creating smart and useful engineering solutions that break new ground.
- Impact – delivering measurable benefits for industry, research, or society.
- Leadership & Collaboration – showing strong teamwork, professionalism, and clear knowledge sharing across disciplines.
Shachi Marthu Shanbhag and Elze Swinkels, winners of the KIVI EngD Award 2025
Well-deserved KIVI EngD Award winner
From a competitive pool of 19 candidates, the jury selected Elze Swinkels (Qualified Medical Engineer at TU/e) as the recipient of the KIVI EngD Award 2025 after careful deliberation. Elze’s EngD project addressed the underdiagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) in low-resource healthcare settings. The award was presented by Jacolien Eijer, Jury Chair and President of the KIVI Awards Committee, and includes a trophy, €1,500, and flowers. Jacolien Eijer described Elze’s project as outstanding and impressive, calling her a well-deserved winner of the award.
The KIVI EngD Public Award 2025, voted by the audience, went to Shachi Marthu Shanbhag (Product, Process and Equipment Design at TU Delft) who focused on reducing energy consumption in industrial food drying processes.
Elze Swinkels, EngD The 19 candidates for the KIVI EngD Award, in The Hague
More information
Read the full article on the KIVI website