Title: CWI joins two large-scale energy projects

Date: 2014-12-05 10:20

Slug: energy_project

Authors: M.A. Guravage

tags: energy

# CWI joins two large-scale energy projects

Researchers of CWI will participate in the projects ‘Smart Energy

Systems in the Built Environment’ and ‘Excellence in Uncertainty

Reduction of Offshore Wind Systems (EUROS)’ of the STW Perspective

research programmes that were recently awarded.

‘Smart Energy Systems in the Built Environment’ aims to develop new

technologies that make buildings handle supply and demand for energy

use in a more efficient manner. The main scientific challenges of the

programme are to identify and explore the synergies between the built

environment and emerging smart grid technologies and applications. The

research programme is headed by TU Eindhoven and consists of 38

academic and industrial partners, including TU Delft, TNO, VSL, Royal

HaskoningDHV, Brainport and the municipality of The Hague. Han La

Poutré and Eric Pauwels, members of the Intelligent Systems group at

CWI are participating in the project. Their research focuses on the

development of market based supply and demand matching mechanisms

including the ancillary services, and on the use of sensor networks

and data analytics to obtain more accurate predictions of supply and

demand.

‘Excellence in Uncertainty Reduction of Offshore Wind Systems (EUROS)’

investigates the uncertainties associated with the design and

installation of large-scale wind parks. This might prevent costly and

unnecessary large safety measures due to poor understanding of

uncertainties associated with wear and tear. This can reduce high

costs of developing wind parks, making wind energy a more attractive

source of durable energy. This research programme is headed by the TU

Delft and includes ECN, KNMI, Deltares, GNV-DL, Ballast Nedam, Eneco

and several other. Jeroen Witteveen of the Scientific Computing group

at CWI will contribute on the correlation between wind and waves, and

on combining difference sources of uncertainty.

The Dutch STW Technology Foundation awarded these grants within the

framework of the so-called Perspective Programmes. Scientists in these

programmes work with a consortium of companies on specific scientific

themes. STW received a total of 41 research initiatives and awarded

grants to six of them. The total amount of funding is €22 million, 7.6

of which is provided by industrial partners.

Title: Jos Baeten appointed professor at the UvA

Date: 2014-12-05 10:20

Slug: jos_baeten

Authors: M.A. Guravage

tags: uva, cwi, education

Jos Baeten has been appointed professor of Theory of Computing at the

University of Amsterdam’s (UvA) Faculty of Science. It is a part-time

appointment that Baeten will combine with his directorship of CWI.

In recent years, Jos Baeten’s research focuses on the notion of

computability in theoretical computer science. In previous research he

worked on formal methods, most prominently in process algebra. At the

Institute of Logic, Language and Computation (ILLC) of the UvA, were

his position will be situated, he will mainly focus on teaching and

supervising students and PhDs. “I think it is important as director of

a research insitute to remain active as a scientist,” Baeten

says. “The ILLC, where I can join a renowned research group in

theoretical computer science, is the best place for computability

research,”

Since 2011, Baeten has been general director of CWI. He was also

professor of Theoretical Computer Science at Eindhoven University of

Technology (TU/e), where he also occupied the position of both dean

and vice-dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science for

two terms. Previously he worked as assistant professor Computer

Science at the UvA and senior researcher at CWI. Baeten is cofounder

and currently board member of the Institute for Programming research

and Algorithmics. He was also advisor of the Foundations of Software

Engineering group at CWI, board member of the Nederlandse Vereniging

voor Theoretische Informatica, the Dutch professional organization of

ICT professionals and managers. Baeten authored various influential

textbooks and published in several influential magazines including

Journal of the ACM and Information and Computation.

Title: Lynda Hardman appointed Distinguished Scientist ACM

Date: 2014-12-05 10:20

Slug: lynda_Hardman

Authors: M.A. Guravage

tags: acm, cwi, education

Lynda Hardman, senior researcher and scientific staff member at

Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI) in Amsterdam has been named

Distinguished Scientists by ACM, the Association for Computing

Machinery. On Friday December 5, ACM officially announced the new

members as part of their ACM Distinguished Member program. New members

are selected for their individual contributions and singular impacts

on the vital field of computing. Among the new members in 2014 Hardman

is the only scientist from the Netherlands.

ACM President Alexander Wolf hailed the ACM members as "drivers of the

advances and inventions that are propelling the information revolution

in new directions. Their creativity and commitment to their craft

ensures that we will benefit as a society in the digital age.” Wolf

also mentioned that the ACM membership empowers and inspires a bold

vision for advancing computing and the computing community.

At CWI, Hardman is member of the Interactive Access research group and

coordinator of the Information theme. Her research focuses on 'human

computer interaction’, the improvement of design methods for human

interfaces under circumstances of evolving technologies. Since the

development of the semantic web, Hardman is working on improving human

access to the growing linked data cloud. Further, Hardman represents

CWI in Informatics Europe and she regularly speaks on events to

inspire and encourage a new generation of female talents in computer

science.

ACM is the Association for Computing Machinery, the world’s largest

educational and scientific computing society, uniting computing

educators, researchers and professionals to inspire dialogue, share

resources and address the field’s challenges. ACM strengthens the

computing profession’s collective voice through strong leadership,

promotion of the highest standards, and recognition of technical

excellence. ACM supports the professional growth of its members by

providing opportunities for life-long learning, career development,

and professional networking.

Title: About CWI

Date: 2014-12-05 10:20

Slug: about

Authors: M.A. Guravage

# About Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI)

CWI is the national research institute for mathematics and computer

science in the Netherlands and is an institute of the Netherlands

Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). The institute was founded

in 1946 and is located at Science Park Amsterdam. The institute has a

strong international position and is renowned for its high quality

research. CWI's strength lies in the discovery and development of new

ideas, and the transfer of knowledge to other scientific areas,

society at large and trade and industry in particular. Research of CWI

is applied for instance in payment systems, cryptography,

telecommunications, public transport, smart energy networks and

meteorology.

# An international network

With 55 permanent research staff, 40 postdocs and 70 PhD students, CWI

is a compact institute that lies at the heart of European research in

mathematics and computer science. Much of its research is conducted as

part of national and international programmes. CWI maintains close

contacts with the industry and academic world, both in the Netherlands

and abroad. More than half of its permanent research staff is also

associated with universities as part-time professors. This research

network strengthens CWI’s reputation, acting as a magnet in attracting

academic talent. The postdocs and PhD students originate from more

than 25 different countries.

# A source of pride

CWI was the birthplace of the European internet and registered one of

the first country domains in the world, the NL top level domain

‘.nl’. CWI helped developing of the wing for the Fokker Friendship

aircraft and was home tot the invention of the popular programming

language Python. CWI also applied its research in combinatorial

algorithmics to improve the design of the Dutch train

timetables. Recent highlights include breaking the MD5 internet

security system and research into smart grids to secure our future

energy supply.

## Themes

Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI) is the national research

institute for mathematics and computer science in the Netherlands. We

conduct pioneering research in these fields and transfer our results

to society.

To give focus to our efforts, we concentrate on five broad,

societally-relevant themes:

* Software

* Information

* Life Sciences

* Logistics

* Energy

</br>

## Sharing Knowledge

Mathematics and computer science research are the invisible driving forces behind innovation. CWI contributes by:

* cooperating with industrial partners

* starting spin-off companies

* developing innovative software tools

* contributing to international standards

* The institute also plays a central role in several (inter)national programs and organizations.