Sustainability seems to be discussed in all areas of our lives nowadays. But what does it actually mean for a materials engineer? And most importantly, how can we convince the consumers to buy sustainable materials not only because they are better for the environment, but because these materials are simply pleasing to the eye and nice to touch?In this episode we had a chance to talk to Dr. Tim Huber (LIST) about his multi-disciplinary approach to designing sustainable materials. Tim, who also has extensive experience of teaching design students, is currently trying to convince more people about the necessary dialogue between material engineers and designers. He definitely got us hooked. And you?USEFUL LINKSTim Huber on Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.co.nz/citations?user=i97I4r4AAAAJ&hl=en LIST: https://www.list.lu/

After a couple of weeks of discussion we finally had the pleasure to talk to the head of the amazing space labs at SnT (University of Luxembourg) and one of the postdocs who is a member of the space robotics group (SpaceR). Prof. Miguel Olivares Mendez and Dr. Carol Martinez told us what a robot really is, what it means when it has some intelligence and how it is to create labs which emulate space conditions. We also touched about the increasingly important issue of space debris and talked about an upcoming conference iSpaRo24.USEFUL LINKSSnT - https://www.uni.lu/snt-en/SpaceR - https://www.uni.lu/snt-en/research-groups/SpaceR/Carol Martinez's Website - https://carolmartinez.github.io/iSpaRo24 - https://www.isparo.space/

It is not the first episode in which we learn how interconnected everything is. Health economics is all about trying to see the big picture and taking the right cost-effective decisions. Prof. Marc Suhrcke from Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER) took the time to explain what his field is about and also presented the various projects he is involved in, spanning from universal health coverage to disability assistance.USEFUL LINKSAbout Prof. Marc Suhrcke - https://liser.elsevierpure.com/en/persons/marc-suhrckeProject "Financing UHC in challenging times: leaving no-one behind": https://hfacts.net/Personal Assistance - https://liser.elsevierpure.com/en/projects/assistance-personnelle

What if we just used the soil that is on your plot instead of bringing the building materials from somewhere else? Doable? Angelika Bocian-Jaworska, the founder of Äerd Lab, convinced us that this is going to happen. Right now Angelika focuses on developing the right sustainable materials, but the future is hers - she wants to 3D print your next house.USEFUL LINKSÄerd Lab - https://aerdlab.com/Institute for Advanced Architecture (Barcelona, Spain) - https://iaac.net/Circular by Design Challenge - https://www.luxinnovation.lu/cbdc/Fit4Start Programme - https://www.startupluxembourg.com/fit-4-start

They fly above our head in the thousands yet we tend to forget about them - the satellites! In this episode we had a chance to learn a lot about them, how to communicate with them, where they are, but we also went beyond to quantum communications. All thanks to our amazing guest, Prof. Symeon Chatzinotas from SnT (University of Luxembourg).USEFUL LINKSAbout Symeon: https://ism.uni.lu/person/prof-dr-symeon-chatzinotas/Symeon about the SIGCOM Group at SnT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YG7tib0BE9E

Ever wondered how housing policies and markets add to inequalities within and across countries? And how does it work in Luxembourg?In the PROPEL project, Prof. Lindsay Flynn looks at the forces shaping patterns of inequality within and between generations in affluent democracies. In this episode we look both at the housing situation of younger generations, changes in housing policies as well as try to give some solutions.The PROPEL project is supported by the Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR-ATTRACT project 14345912). USEFUL LINKS:PROPEL website: https://propel.uni.lu Institute of Political Science at the University of Luxembourg:  https://www.uni.lu/fhse-en/research-groups/institute-of-political-science/About Lindsay: https://www.uni.lu/en/person/NTAwMzMzNjBfX0xpbmRzYXkgRkxZTk4=/ The article about wealth concentration since the Global Financial Crisis is: Post-crisis developments in young adults’ housing wealth: https://doi.org/10.1177/09589287211040443The article about financial strategies and housing wealth in the United States: Acquisition capital: using a new concept to explore housing outcomes among millennials in the United States: https://doi.org/10.1080/02673037.2023.2241841 

Would you think about building a bridge or constructing a house before actually making a plan? Probably not. Yet for software we have a tendency of not starting with the bigger picture. We often forget that for complex programmes we need proper software engineering. And this is exactly the domain in which our guest, prof. Jordi Cabot from LIST and University of Luxembourg, specialises in.We also had a chance to ask Jordi for explanations of quite a few buzzwords so this episode is definitely worth a listen!USEFUL LINKSJordi’s Website - https://jordicabot.com/Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology - https://www.list.lu/Modelling Languages Portal - https://modeling-languages.com/

It was great to have the opportunity to sit down with Dr. Kathleen Mommaerts, who works at the Integrated BioBank of Luxembourg, an institution affiliated with the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH). Our conversation revolved around sample preparation, storage, variability, and, of course, the fact that Kathleen received the Rosalind Franklin Society Award, a recognition of her contribution to the field of bio-banking.USEFUL LINKSMore about Kathleen on LIH Website: https://researchportal.lih.lu/en/persons/kathleen-mommaertsKathleen’s 3-minute thesis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFbG8ZwgXZc&t=1sMore about Kathleen receiving the Rosalind Franklin Society Award: https://www.lih.lu/en/rosalind-franklin-society-award-bestowed-to-lih-researcher/

Ever wondered how mentorship worked in academia? We did for sure, and that's why for the first episode of the new season we invited two experienced mentors: Prof. Simone Niclou, the Vice-Rector for Research at the University of Luxembourg and Prof. Andreas Fickers, the Director of the Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C2DH). Simone and Andreas not only defined mentorship for us, talked about the starting point and their own experiences as mentees, they also shared some surprising questions and comments they encountered on their paths as mentors. Exceptionally we went so deep into the subject that we found no time for the pub quiz question. But worry not, it's coming back in the next episode!USEFUL LINKSUniversity of Luxembourg - https://www.uni.lu/en/C2DH - https://www.c2dh.uni.lu/More about ADVANCE mentoring programme - https://www.uni.lu/en/about/gender-equality/advance-mentoring-programme/Luxembourg Charter on Mentorship in Academia - https://www.researchluxembourg.org/en/mentorship-charter/Outstanding Mentor Award - FNR Awards - https://www.fnr.lu/fnr-awards-new/