TECHNICAL EDUCATION IN THE NETHERLANDS

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28532, 11 March 1958, Page 10

TECHNICAL EDUCATION IN THE NETHERLANDS

Universities have the same problems the world over, according to Professor J. G. Hoogland, professor of chemical technology at Eindhoven University, in the Netherlands, who will lecture in the chemical engineering department at the University of Canterbury this term. Professor Hoogland will take up his duties at the University this week. One of the major problems for universities today was the need for facilities for technical education, said Professor Hoogland. The university of Eindhoven, which had opened in September last year with 200 students, was a technical school, with facilities for electric, chemical and mechanical engineering. At present the university consisted of a temporary, prefabricated concrete block of buildings, which had taken less than a year to build. Plans had been made for a permanent block, the first of several to be built in a seven-year programme to be completed in two years. When the block was ready the staff and students would shift from the temporary rooms. Numbers Rising

•‘The number of students is rising rapidly,each year,” said Professor Hoogland. “Last year we had 200 first-year students only; this year we expect 250 more, as well as the 200 going on to their second year. By the time the buildings are finished in seven years there should be at least 2000 students.” <

The engineering course at Eindhoven took five years as a minimum but not very many would complete it in that time, he said. "By the time all our permanent buildings are up, we will probably still have to use the present buildings; there are so many going to university in the Netherlands.”

Even though Eindhoven University was relatively small at present, it had a full staff, said Professor Hoogland. There were 20 professors and about 80 general staff. “We all the staff we will need for the next few years, when the University will expand so much. “Some of the staff members have come from Indonesia, where they worked in industry. For them it is a welcome opportunity; for us it is a great advantage to get trained and experienced staff We have facilities for original research too: for the teaching staff

to be efficient, they must keep in touch with the latest developments in science, and they can only do that through research.” Separate technical universities had many advantages, but there were a few disadvantages, said Professor Hoogland. “A separate university for engineering can go its own way, and it does not have to abide by restricting regulations which may be applicable to the more liberal arts but not to engineering. On the other hand, it is to the advantage of students that they should have access to other disciplines, such as the arts and philosophy. At present we have separate universities in the Netherlands for engineering, economics and agriculture.” Professor Hoogland graduated from the Technical University at Delft in 1927, and worked for the Royal Dutch Salt Works. Ltd., for many years, rising to joint-general manager. In 1948 he accepted a position as extraordinary professor at Delft, a great scientific honour. He resigned from the chemical firm in 1951, but has helped it in an advisory capacity since. At the outbreak of World War II he was an officer in the artillery. He and his wife were active in the underground movement after the fall of the Netherlands.

After his term at Canterbury University, Professor Hoogland will go to Wellington to spend three months on research.