Uploaded September 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago
When one of my PhD or Master’s students graduates, if I have enough time and energy, I like to make a small model for them—usually a model of their experimental setup or a piece of equipment from the HV lab.
Mark graduated in August, and it happened that his birthday was on the same day as his graduation. So I decided to make him a special gift.
Mark worked on the investigation of air breakdown at elevated temperatures at TU Delft, supervised by myself, lab technician Luis Castro, and company supervisor Ed Roovers. As part of his research, we had to build an oven that could heat up to 1000 °C and perform air-breakdown measurements for different electrode geometries, as well as measurements involving a filament heated to even higher temperatures.
At first, I wanted to make the whole experimental setup as his gift, but due to time limitations, I decided to make only the oven.
And yes… I forgot to put the heating plates inside the oven! 😄
PhD students will always receive a gift when they graduate. For my Master’s students, if I have enough time, I try to make them something special—but unfortunately, I cannot guarantee it.
So, if you are one of my students (doing MSc thesis with me) and you are reading this and would like a gift, write your name in the comments and say that you want one—or tell me during one of our progress meetings. If I see this at least 3 months before the defense you will have a gift guaranteed.
Music: Away by Patrick Patrikios, from Youtube audio library
Music: Night Snow by Asher Fulero, from Youtube audio library
Music: Fresh Fallen Snow by Chris Haugen, from Youtube audio library
When one of my PhD or Master’s students graduates, if I have enough time and energy, I like to make a small model for them—usually a model of their experimental setup or a piece of equipment from the HV lab.
Mark graduated in August, and it happened that his birthday was on the same day as his graduation. So I decided to make him a special gift.
Mark worked on the investigation of air breakdown at elevated temperatures at TU Delft, supervised by myself, lab technician Luis Castro, and company supervisor Ed Roovers. As part of his research, we had to build an oven that could heat up to 1000 °C and perform air-breakdown measurements for different electrode geometries, as well as measurements involving a filament heated to even higher temperatures.
At first, I wanted to make the whole experimental setup as his gift, but due to time limitations, I decided to make only the oven.
And yes… I forgot to put the heating plates inside the oven! 😄
PhD students will always receive a gift when they graduate. For my Master’s students, if I have enough time, I try to make them something special—but unfortunately, I cannot guarantee it.
So, if you are one of my students (doing MSc thesis with me) and you are reading this and would like a gift, write your name in the comments and say that you want one—or tell me during one of our progress meetings. If I see this at least 3 months before the defense you will have a gift guaranteed.
Music: Away by Patrick Patrikios, from Youtube audio library
Music: Night Snow by Asher Fulero, from Youtube audio library
Music: Fresh Fallen Snow by Chris Haugen, from Youtube audio library
