Eindhoven University of Technology

Overview

Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) is a public technical university in Eindhoven, Netherlands established by the Dutch government in 1956, a second initiative of its kind in the country. It offers courses in engineering and applied sciences, as well as doctoral programs and honors programs. The institute is also active in various research fields across pure and applied sciences. It envisions lending social relevance to engineering education.

TU/e is a member of the EuroTech Universities Alliance, a network of technology and science-based universities in the European Union. Likewise, it is a consistent placer in the top 200 university rankings worldwide on the strength of its research collaboration with industries.

Founded as the Technische Hogeschool Eindhoven, the institute followed the German educational system of offering undergraduate courses for four to five years, until 2002. From there, it aligned its bachelor and masters programs based on the Bologna Accords, where students receive a master’s title. In the meantime, its engineering doctoral programs were introduced in 1986, in cooperation with TU Delft and the University of Twente.

TU/e boasts of notable graduates who gained prominence in the Netherlands and Europe in the fields of science, politics and the academe. These include: Arno Kuijlaars (mathematician, professor at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven), Martijn van Dam (House of Representatives member), Wil van der Aalst (computer scientist), Sjoerd Soeters (architect) and Marijn Dekkers (chairman at Unilever).

The institute consists of nine departments, which include engineering and applied sciences. These are, among others, biomedical engineering, built engineering, industrial engineering, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering and applied physics, chemistry, mathematics and computer science. TU/e also hosts scientific departments dedicated to university teaching and research.

As for its Ph.D. program, TU/e differs from its United Kingdom and United States counterparts in terms of intent. A doctoral student in TU/e is working towards obtaining a degree for a research position in the university. Doctoral programs are offered in the fields of, among others, healthcare systems, process and product design, smart buildings and cities, clinical informatics, software technology and data science.

Meantime, TU/e’s honors degrees can be obtained at the bachelor and master level. Students can choose from eight potential tracks, including masteral studies in personal leadership and professional development.

The institute has faced budget cuts and economic crisis through 2014, but it aims to meet its 2020 goals, including increasing by 50% its student population and Ph.D. awardees and moving up to the top 100 university rankings given by reputable organizations.