As a follow-up of our successful international symposium on advanced ceramic manufacturing last autumn in Eindhoven, the next NKV networking event for young people working in ceramic R&D will take place on Friday 9 May 2025 at Delft University of Technology.

Part of this symposium will be the bi-annual NKV Student Speech Contest. In this contest, a total of 7 PhD and MSc students from Dutch universities give a presentation of about 15-20 minutes in the English language about their ceramics-related research, and at the same time they compete with each other for the honour to represent The Netherlands in the European Student Speech Contest during the ECerS XIX Conference in Dresden, Germany (August 31 to September 4, 2025).

Originally, this symposium had allocated time for young researchers to present their work outside of the Student Speech Contest. However, given the fortunately large number of Contestants, registered non-contestants are asked to present their work at a subsequent NKV networking event sometime in the autumn.

Although the presentations are largely given by young ceramic researchers, people who have already earned their spurs in the ceramic field are also expressly invited to attend this symposium to keep abreast of new developments.

The event will be preceded by the annual NKV General Meeting (NKV members only).

Program
10.45 Walk-in for General Meeting/ALV (NKV members only)
Location: Lecture hall M, accessible from the main entrance of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Mekelweg 2, 2628 CD, Delft
11.00 NKV General Meeting/ALV (NKV members only)
12.15 Simple lunch
13:00 Lab tour at Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Delft University of Technology 
13.55 Start of the symposium program
Location: Instruction hall L (close to Lecture hall M), accessible from the main entrance of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Mekelweg 2, 2628 CD, Delft
Welcome, start with some announcements and short pitches
14:00 NKV Student Speech Contest
- Yun-Ching Lin (PhD student Delft University of Technology), “Three-stage oxidation and passivation of spark plasma sintered ZrC ultra-high temperature ceramic”
- Claudia Morilla Espino (PhD student Leiden University Medical Center), “Advancements in brushite cement formulations for bone repair”
- Joost Guiking (MSc student Eindhoven University of Technology), “Manufacturing the next generation of fibre reinforced ceramic materials”
15:10 Short break
15:20 Continuation of the Student Speech Contest
- Anne Timmermans (PhD student Eindhoven University of Technology), “Numerical and experimental analysis of the sintering behavior of bilayer ceramic membranes for hydrogen separation”
- Marzio Saccinto (PhD student University of Twente), “Next generation of reactive ceramic nanofiltration membranes: The role of graphene oxide nanosheets”
- Tim Creusen (MSc student Delft University of Technology), “Cold spray deposition of Ti2AlC MAX phase powder onto carbon-carbon composite substrates”
- Apurv Rahul Kode (MSc student Delft University of Technology), “Microstructural study of ultra-high temperature ceramic matrix composites developed via reactive melt infiltration”
16.40 Short break (jury deliberation)
16:50 Announcement of the NKV Student Speech Contest winner
17.00 End of the symposium

Costs
- NKV members who only attend the General Meeting/ALV and lunch: no costs
- Contestants to the NKV Student Speech Contest: no costs
- ECerS members (European Ceramic Society members, including NKV members) and other students: 30 euros (no VAT) for the afternoon symposium
- Non ECerS/non NKV members: 50 euros (no VAT) for the afternoon symposium  

How to register?
You can register - preferably instantly, but on Tuesday May 6 at the latest - by sending an e-mail to info@ceramics.nl titled 'NKV symposium for young ceramic researchers',
- stating your name and possibly the organisation/company you represent;
- indicating if you will be present at the General Meeting (NKV members only) and/or at the afternoon symposium;
- indicating if you will join for the (simple) lunch at TU Delft.
At the same time as your registration, you will pay the amount due (when relevant) on bank account number NL10 INGB 0001 8560 32 (for non-NL accounts: BIC code INGBNL2A) of 'Nederlandse Keramische Vereniging', mentioning your name, company and 'NKV 9 May 2025'.

Kind regards,
Netherlands Ceramic Society NKV