Author: Tom Cassauwers

At the Las Matas train station in the town of Las Rozas, just north of the Spanish capital Madrid, life is going on as usual. The sound of a highway can be heard in the background as a train pulls in. On the roundabout in front of the station, a churros vendor is selling his […]

In 1990, Fried Vancraen visited a German trade show and was captivated by a 3D printer displayed there – so much so that he bought one for his new company, Materialise. Two years later, with the help of EU funding, he took his small Belgian start-up on a journey that would change the world of […]

The festive season can be a lonely time for many, and too much time spent online can add to the feeling of isolation.  “We have this fantastic tool with the internet, which is really changing the way the people interact,” said Pieter van der Linden, co-founder of French digital solutions company Vivitnet. But the way […]

A human brain-on-a-chip sounds like something from a science fiction film, a gadget powering its cyborg villain.  But chemical and biological engineer Dr Raquel Rodrigues at the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL) in Braga, Portugal, believes that such a device will be key to developing more effective treatments for serious neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer’s. […]

When brothers Svilen and Konstantin Rangelov first set up a small start-up called Dronamics in their native Bulgaria in 2014, their ambition was to democratise cargo deliveries in Europe and make affordable next-day delivery of packages a reality for even the remotest regions.  Remote access They had spotted a major sticking point in the global trade system: the […]

For Piotr Olbryś, a 19-year-old from Poland, it was his brother’s hearing aid that motivated him to look into how to make lithium-ion batteries more environmentally friendly.  His work earned him one of the four first prizes, each worth € 7 000, at the 2024 edition of the EU Contest for Young Scientists (EUCYS).  “My […]

In August 2023, a five-year old cargo ship, Pyxis Ocean, made history when it set sail from Shanghai, China, heading towards the southern Brazilian port of Paranaguá. A journey of nearly 25 000 km.  What was historic about the journey was that, instead of running solely on heavily polluting bunker fuel, the Pyxis Ocean would be […]