2009 Christiaan Huygens prize for UT researcher

On 7 October, Raluca Marin-Perianu was presented with the prestigious Christiaan Huygens prize for her research.

Just one day later, she was one of the three nominees for the Simon Stevin Gezel prize at the annual conference of the Dutch Technology Foundation STW.

The Romanian Raluca Marin-Perianu came with her husband, Mihai, to the University of Twente in 2004 to carry out doctoral research. The couple attended the same secondary school, studied the same subjects and moved together to Twente, sharing a room at the university. They have now set up a company together. "We are always talking about work and are involved in it all day. Fortunately, we work very well together." Both of them received their doctorates last year. For her thesis, Raluca Marin-Perianu was awarded the prestigious Christiaan Huygens prize on 7 October.

Prestigious prize

Raluca was in Romania when news came through that she was to receive the prize. Amazingly, she almost discarded the e-mail notification, not having heard of the Christiaan Huygens prize. "I thought at first that it was junk e-mail. However, after I'd taken a closer look, I phoned my supervisor, who of course knew of the prize, and he was very pleased and proud." Raluca then made it her business to find out more about the prize. "It's a very prestigious award that is only bestowed on one person each year." The prize consists of the sum of 10,000 euros, a bronze sculpture of Christiaan Huygens and a certificate. The theme for this year's prize is Information and Communication Technology. "Because the prize only goes to the same discipline once every four years, I was competing against theses in my own field from the last four years, so I am very honoured to receive the prize."

A few days after the e-mail about the Christiaan Huygens prize, Raluca received more good news. It appeared she was also one of three nominees for the Simon Stevin Gezel prize. This prize was awarded during the annual conference of the STW Technology Foundation, the day after the presentation of the Christiaan Huygens prize. Raluca and her two competitors had to give a presentation. The audience voted Rick Scholte of the Technical University of Eindhoven winner, Raluca finished second.

Dynamic sensor networks

Raluca carried out her doctoral research into wireless sensor networks. These are networks of small, intelligent sensors that communicate with each other over a wireless network and without being connected to a central computer system. Marin-Perianu specialized in dynamic sensor networks, in which the sensors are attached to moving objects. She says: "When I started with this, it was a new discipline in which few people were working." What pleases her about her research is the range of application. She explains that her networks can be used in many different places. As an example she mentions logistics, with sensors being placed on containers to determine whether the container has the right shipment and is going to the right destination. Another example is healthcare, in which carers of patients who have chronic lung disease can see at a distance whether the patient is performing the right exercises and how the body is responding to them. The system provides feedback to carers and to the patient himself. Marin-Perianu says: "The nice thing is that with this research you really can make an improvement to people's lives."

New company

Following her doctoral studies, together with her husband the researcher set up the company Inertia Technology. Within this company they are developing the results of their research into commercial products. Among other things, the company is developing specific products for healthcare and the sporting world. They are working, for example, on a product for professional cyclists. "With this, we place sensors at various points on the cyclist and on his bicycle. When the cyclist becomes tired, he is inclined to change his posture, which can lead to poor performance and even injury. Our system sees when the cyclist adopts the wrong posture and gives him feedback, allowing him to correct his posture on the bicycle."

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