Projects
The World is Really There KU Leuven
My doctoral project in the arts is titled The World is Really There. It consists of two parts but is actually a 3-unit of tensions and fractures. The artistic part comprises two medium-length essayistic documentaries Internal Clock (2021) and The Open Eye (2023). The discursive part consists of the dissertation and a collection of annotated images and quotations. The epistemological status of the doctoral project is that of the essay. The the ...
Roots in Progress. Semi-lexicality in the Dutch and Afrikaans verbal domain KU Leuven
This project seeks to bridge the gap between formal-theoretical and quantitative-statistical linguistics. It combines a quantitative methodology with hypotheses taken from the formal-theoretical literature. On the one hand it investigates to what extent theoretical analyses of language phenomena can narrow down the hypothesis space created by quantitative-statistical analyses of large digital collections of language data, but on the other ...
Formulation and processing of a clean label apple base juice: The integration of high pressure based technologies and the use of natural ingredients KU Leuven
In recent years, food industry has shown a high interest in clean label foods, which are produced with more organic, natural, and transparent formulations and the use of less invasive processing technologies. Fresh or ‘not from concentrate fruit juices as natural and health-oriented beverages, have gained increasing market value around the world, particularly in developed countries. For these juices, browning, cloud losses, and flavor changes ...
Combining Modeled and Learned Information to Rapidly Deploy Human-Robot Collaborative Tasks KU Leuven
One of the main challenges for emerging robots in industry 4.0 is the capability to expedite and facilitate the deployment of a large variety of robot applications in non-structured and unpredictable environments. Typically, the cost associated with the time and expertise needed for programming these robot applications correspond to a substantial share of the total costs of an automation project. Moreover, it is expected that this share may ...
Languages of Evangelization: The Early Modern Circulation of Missionary Knowledge on Indigenous Languages in New Spain, Peru, And New France KU Leuven
Not long after the first European explorations of the Americas religious orders set out to evangelize the natives inhabiting these territories across the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Missionaries operating in the (for them) unknown and vast lands all faced similar challenges when establishing contact with local communities. The language barrier presented enormous and one of the most important obstacles to European religious men ...
Ecology and molecular biology of bacterial adaptation to pesticides KU Leuven
Pesticides are indispensable for ensuring a stable food supply chain and their world-wide use is increasing. However, they are a major environmental concern due to their recalcitrant nature and toxicity towards non-target organisms. Despite increasingly stringent regulations, pesticides continue to exceed mandated threshold levels in ground and surface waters. To address this persistence issue, a better understanding of the environmental fate ...
System-level Co-simulation of Mechatronic Systems for Design Space Exploration KU Leuven
Cost-driven design optimization helps companies to increase their net profits by reducing their production and planning costs from the design to mass production phases. Involving an accurate performance model as well as a cost estimation model at the design stage is essential to manufacture cost-optimal products that meet design specifications. Therefore, the developments in the accuracy and efficiency of the modeling, simulation and ...
Missionary development spin-offs in the postcolonial era. Case study: The Village Reconstruction Organization (India) KU Leuven
This case study aims to contribute to historical research of missions and international development, as well as to contemporary debates concerning faith-based development aid. The Village Reconstruction Organization (°1970) provides a striking example of missionaries looking for new meaning and legitimacy for their ‘mission’ in the context of Western secularization, postcolonial sensitivities and changing missiology (Vatican II). VRO’s ...
Radar-based Fine-scale Rainfall Estimation and Probabilistic Nowcasting of Urban Flooding KU Leuven
Urban flooding is a highly relevant topic for recent years due to its social-economic impact. Growing urbanisation and climate change amplify the risk, bringing new challenges to the management of urban flooding. Supplementary to infrastructural and planning measures, urban flood forecasting that could warn citizens to take precaution measures, offers immediate mitigation effects.
Urban flood forecasting is, however, difficult, as urban ...