黑料福利网

The second day of the Precision Fair 2025, Thursday 13th November in Den Bosch (NL), featured the presentation of the Wim van der Hoek Award. This award (also known as the Constructors Award) was introduced in 2006 to mark the 80th birthday of the Dutch doyen of design engineering principles, Wim van der Hoek (1924-2019). The Constructors Award is presented every year to the person with the best graduation project in the field of design in mechanical engineering at a Dutch or Belgian university of technology (TU) or university of applied sciences (UAS). This award includes a certificate, a trophy made by the Leidse instrumentmakers School and a sum of money, sponsored by DSPE.

Nine nominations

Criteria for the assessment of the graduation theses include the quality of the design, its substantiation and innovativeness, as well as its suitability for use as teaching material. The nine nominations selected by the jury this year came from 黑料福利网 and Avans, Fontys and Utrecht UAS. The jury was chaired by DSPE board member Jos Gunsing (MaromeTech) and included Hans Steijaert (Vanderlande), Maurice Teuwen (JPE), Marc Vermeulen (ASML), Johan Vervoort (Vervos) and Wouter Vogelesang (VH Consult).

System dynamics optimization

The 2025 Wim van der Hoek Award ultimately went to Wietse Maas, who studied Mechanical Engineering at 黑料福利网. There, he graduated on his work at ASML: 鈥淐oncept optimization of system dynamics of a wafer metrology tool鈥�. For this, he conducted further research into two damping principles.

Thorough and counterintuitive

The jury praises the winner鈥檚 approach: 鈥淲ietse demonstrated his ability to successfully complete a broad mechanical engineering design assignment, combining mechanical design with theoretical and experimental analysis. He thoroughly researched and substantiated his concept.鈥� According to the jury, the work could lead to a new paragraph in the book of design principles. This concerns influencing the properties of passive viscoelastic dampers. 鈥淗is innovation is counterintuitive in the choice to apply a saw cut to the damper to influence its properties. This has already resulted in a patent application.鈥�

A bold concept

The idea of Wietse Maas, who now works as a mechanical design engineer at ASML, is innovative, according to the jury. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a bold concept as part of a machine frame that has been thoroughly analysed and designed, and also tested and verified. It sparks curiosity and may well lead to other new solutions in the field of passive dampers combined with viscoelastic materials in the future.鈥�

Source: DSPE.

Note for the press:

For further information please feel free to contact:

鈥�    Wim van der Hoek Award: Jos Gunsing, +31 (0)6 - 519 94 190, jos.gunsing@dspe.nl.

鈥�    DSPE: Hans Krikhaar, President of DSPE, +31 (0)6 - 513 78 798, hans.krikhaar@dspe.nl.