Nerd Nite Amsterdam

Author Archive

Have you found our website because you’d like to be a speaker? Awesome! The Nerd Nite alums are an esteemed group of which we’d love for you to join the ranks. Send us an email with which events you’re available for (see the right sidebar), a description on what you’d talk about (and why it’d make for a great Nerd Nite talk), and whether you have any experience with public speaking.

You don’t have to be from Amsterdam; we welcome all nerds from Utrecht, Leiden, Haarlem, Nijmegen & beyond! We’re the only official Nerd Nite in the Netherlands.

Keep in mind that we ask our speakers for a title, abstract, bio, and photo about 5 weeks before each event, and we do a practice session with each speaker about two weeks before. And FYI, this is an unpaid gig — we do it for the (nerdy) love of it!

Found! Keep your eyes peeled come September 🙂

Calling all nerds artists! We’re looking to hire a poster designer for the next season of Nerd Nite Amsterdam, September 2015 – May 2016! The posters will need to be completed one month before each event (5 in total), with the event info and talk titles and some catchy graphics to grab attention and draw an audience! Take a look through our event archives to see past posters; we like for there to be a theme to the posters of each season. The creative direction is yours and we’re excited to see what you make.

Hey Amsterdam nerds!

We hope you’re soaking up the summer sun in Amsterdam or elsewhere! In case you have your agenda handy, here are the dates for the next season of Nerd Nite Amsterdam:

2 October

13 November

8 January

11 March

13 May

We’ll announce the details of each Nite a month beforehand. Same sitch: doors open at 20:00, first talk at 20:30, in the CREA muziekzaal (Nieuwe Achtergracht 170), bar is hoppin’, dj is spinning, & the event is in English.

Be there and be square!

Hey nerds! Just a reminder that we’re taking a break for summer (the weather is finally nice enough that we actually want to leave the lab/office!), but we’ll be back in September with a new season of Nerd Nite Amsterdam! Stay tuned for the dates of the upcoming season 😎

— The Nerd Nite Amsterdam bosses

Nerd Nite Amsterdam, get ready to blush those cheeks on May 29th! Our last edition will penetrate deeply into the definition of sex: because there’s more in life than males and females. Confused? Worry not, Tim van de Grift’s overview will be thorough and mind blowing. And hey, while we’re at it: why not take a different persextive? Always wondered how watching porn affects your sex life? And what the major sex related issues are for our generation? Rieky Dikmans takes us on the journey through 21st century sex!

*This Nerd Nite is sparked up with the one and only Liar’s club quiz*

Be there and be square.

Tim van de Grift

Intersex: there’s more to sex than men and women

One of the first questions asked when a baby is born is whether it’s a boy or girl. The answer is often clear, but not always. Intersex (also known as disorders of sex development) is an umbrella term used to describe various congenital conditions in which the development of one’s biological sex differs from what is generally understood as male or female. In individuals, intersex can range from ambiguous genitals to more than two sex chromosomes. Tim van de Grift, medical doctor and PhD candidate at the VU Medical Center, will explain the concept of sex as a continuum and what role medical professionals played in determining the sex of people’s bodies.

Tim is (or at least thinks he is) not the typical kind of medical doctor. He works part-time at the gender clinic of the VU medical center researching the effects of care on the health of transgender, transsexual, and intersex people. He also teaches an art and science collaboration course at the University of Amsterdam. Besides that, he has got some pretty standard hobbies like traveling, reading, arts and politics.

Rieky Dikmans

The Sexual Revolution 2.0

Are you truly sexually free? Or don’t you have a clue what that question means? Worry not, next nerd nite you will find out. Against a background of historical, biological and academic facts, Rieky Dikmans will take you through the sexual revolution: a social movement that challenged traditional codes of behavior related to sexuality and interpersonal relationships throughout the Western world. Sex, love, and childbearing have become increasingly de-institutionalised. Serial monogamy is commonplace. Sexual pleasure as a basic human need is taken for granted, and every woman’s magazine gives advice on how to achieve it. In a world where everything is possible, visually available and even consumable, nothing is abnormal anymore, is it? But how liberated are we really?

Rieky is currently enrolled in a PhD program at the VU Medical center in Amsterdam, with a particular focus on breast reconstructive surgery and quality of life.  Her passion about both the physical and psychosocial aspects of the female inspired her to become a sexologist. Rieky finds she reaches truly higher levels during her mindful bikram yoga sessions.

The 21st edition will take nerdism out on a journey! So dust off those hiking shoes and lace up for a wild walk because we start the night off with… Geocaching! Yvette Cendes will share her adventures around the world using billion dollar GPS satellites to find tupperware in the woods. Awesomeness? Oh yeah.
From the woods we hike on… to walk on water! We kid you not. Stuff might just get tense as Ton van den Bremer reveals the driving force of the messias’ steps on water. AND he will give a live demo with cocktail boats. Believe it when you see it!

Friday March 20 at CREA Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 170.
Be there and be square.

Yvette Cendes

Found it!: Geocaching around the world

Geocaching is a real-life treasure hunt that is happening right now, all around you, where people hide boxes all around the world and upload the GPS coordinates to the Internet for others to find.  In this talk I will give a brief overview of what geocaching is, and share some stories from my adventures geocaching around the world.

I am a 29 year old Hungarian-American, born in the USA to a Hungarian family, and I came to Amsterdam 3.5 years ago for a PhD. In addition to my PhD (which focuses on radio astronomy), I do some professional freelance writing for various science magazines in the USA.  Beyond geocaching and travel, my hobbies include embroidery, my boat “Sterrestof”, collecting fake Internet points on Reddit, amateur ham radio, and planning for what I politely call “galactic domination”.

Ton van den Bremer

Fluids under tension: how to walk on water

Ever wondered why tears appear on the inside of a wine glass? Or why a drawing pin floats? Ton van den Bremer will reveal these secrets by introducing you to Mr Marangoni. He is not a magician, but a 19th century physicist who discovered the mechanism behind these phenomena. Ton will show you how the surface tension of a fluid may cause a flow, which is used deftly by water-walking insects as a propulsion mechanism. He will also bring along 3D printed boats and, in a real-life experiment, show how this Marangoni propulsion can make you the most interesting person at any cocktail party!

Ton is a PhD candidate in geophysical fluid dynamics at the University of Oxford. He currently works as a research associate at VU University Amsterdam in collaboration with the University of Oxford, and lectures Environmental Economics at Amsterdam University College. He does not like cocktails himself.

The twentieth edition of Nerd Nite will portray some excellent hibernation projects! Serving both nerds that are out to save the world and those simply wanting to kill time while waiting for warmer and sunnier seasons. Our first speaker, Johannes von Engelhardt will shine his light on demographics in Africa using the modern take on Maslow’s pyramid… with ‘Cell Phone’ at the bottom level. Can’t wait to hear what he has to say? Second speaker, prof. Jean-Sébastien Caux, will most definitely have a suggestion for you to pass the time: he’ll share his passion for the board game Go. A simple yet simultaneously complex game that is honoured with full-time tv coverage in eastern Asian countries.

Curious? January 30th. Be there. Be square.
Doors open at 20:00, first talk starts at 20:30.

(Ooh, and don’t forget to sign up for Nerd Speed Dating! (pre Nerd Nite, from 18:15-19:30) http://goo.gl/forms/o9iRPb1fFS )

Johannes von Engelhardt 

Mobiles, data and development: mobile surveys in challenging environments

Did you know that 75% of all simcards worldwide are in use in developing countries? In these poorer parts of the world, it is one type of data that matters more than any other: survey data. Contrary to television, computer and landline phones, the mobile phone has the potential to actually affect the lives of even the poorest of the poor. Yet what does this mean for the developing world? Can mobile phones battle poverty, cure diseases and spread democracy? Talking directly to citizens is invaluable for tracking change and working toward targets such as the UN Milennium Goals. This is not an easy task, but in order to make a start, we probably need to change the way we think about data, and how to use technology. This Nerd Nite, Johannes will tell you how the advent of mobile phone technology can be used for gathering much needed real-time data in times of crises such as wars or epidemics. Data matter.

 
Jean-Sébastien Caux

Go, godly nerdism

Go – arguably the simplest yet most unfathomably complex board game – is the ultimate mind bender. Even the great chess grandmaster Emanuel Lasker admitted that “it is something unearthly… If there are sentient beings on other planets, then they play Go.” Mostly ignored in the West until recently, it has been played for thousands of years in East Asian countries, where nowadays it even enjoys full-time TV coverage. This Nerd Nite Jean-Sébastien will open your eyes to a new level of nerdiness by introducing you to the subtleties of this addictively profound game.

Are you still looking for your intellectual significant other? Join in the 3rd edition of Nerd Speed Dating (for straight and gay nerds!) on 30 January. Sign up by filling out this form:
http://goo.gl/forms/o9iRPb1fFS

Nerdsters! Feeling tired and slow?

Well, buckle up for the 19th edition of Nerd Nite Amsterdam and get ready to be launched out of your mind! To jump-start our adventure, we’ll fuel the mind with…coffee! Elmer Oomkens will teach us the nerdy details of how to brew the perfect cup. If you weren’t an all-around coffee connoisseur before, you will be after this. Afterwards, ESA fellow Thijs Versloot visits us for some outer space trend-spotting: next-level energy propulsion systems.Migrating to Mars might become a reasonable option. Be there and be square.

Elmer Oomkens 

A hot perspective on your morning grog: Tasty coffee, from seed to cup

Sorry to break it to you, but you’re probably drinking bad coffee. In spite of what we have grown accustomed to in terms of its flavour, coffee doesn’t need to taste sharp, bitter, or burned. The coffee bean is actually the seed of a fruit — the coffee cherry — so it’s no surprise that the underlying flavour of coffee itself should be sweet and acidic, and can develop many intricate flavours depending on where it grows. By stripping down coffee to its essentials we can do away with flavour enhancers such as milk and sugar, and enjoy it for its own sake. In this talk I’ll simplify the chemistry that gives coffee its taste and share my passion for coffee’s journey from humble seed to your cup. Maybe you’ll find that (good) coffee really is your cup of tea.

After finishing master degrees in both psychology and law, Elmer choose to pursue the perfect cup of coffee instead of an academic career. Working in several coffee bars and roasters inspired him to start his own coffee roastery: White Label Coffee. In his spare time he used to develop websites, play soccer and dj electronic music, but since very recently he spends that time taking care of his first-born daughter Thura 🙂

Thijs Versloot 

Reaching the Final Frontier: Next generation space travel

How fast do you need to go to escape Earth’s gravitational field? How much faster to reach the edge of our solar system? A massive amount! But as they say, size does not matter. What matters is whether we manage to produce this enormous amount of thrust. Ever since the dawn of space travel, this quest has fascinated many scientists – and aspiring astronauts. In my short talk I will explore the physical mechanisms available, ranging from the historically proven to the downright insane and futuristic, and you will see that the problem is by no means a lack of imagination. Buckle up for the next generation of space travel!

Thijs Versloot is a researcher with an interest in next-next-generation technology in the areas of energy and propulsion. After his PhD in fusion physics and a brief flirtation with industry, he is now exploring novel technologies in the Advanced Concepts Team at the European Space Agency in Noordwijk. During his time off, he is either training hard for a promising-yet-dreaded triathlon, pretending to be an amateur landscape photographer, or fully submerged in the art of artisan bread making.

Join us on November  28th (8:00 pm) at CREA Amsterdam: Nieuwe Achtergracht 170, 1018 WV Amsterdam.

“Thanks” to Facebook’s algorithm for showing and sorting posts, many of you might not see when we post, either announcing an up-coming Nerd Nite Amsterdam or occasionally sharing nerdy internet finds. We think we’ve found a fix! On our Facebook page, the Liked button has a dropdown menu, from which you can select Get Notifications. Then you should be set! The subsequent screencap should assist those who prefer visual instructions.

For those of you who prefer email, we have a mailing list sign-up on our website. It’s in the righthand sidebar, labeled Stay in touch here. We won’t to sell or give away your email address, or spam you ourselves.

There’s also Twitter. See you on September 26! We tip our figurative hats to The Worst Things For Sale for the Facebook solution.