Pieter Guldemond

Faculty

Technology, Policy and Management

Date of Achievement

2010-04-01

Achievement Short

While graduating he was already an alderman of the city Delft and before that he was in the city council

Motto

If in doubt: do it!

In Delft, you get a huge number of opportunities to do great things besides studying. So do them. Don’t limit yourself to the safe boundaries of your own house, your own club or your own faculty. Take a look at what others are doing, expand your borders. This will widen your view on things and give you unforeseen chances, such as I experienced with the aldermanship.

Achievement

Alsways a passionate discussion partner

If there is one word that applies to Pieter Guldemond, it is involved. Pieter devotes his efforts to students, the university and to the city of Delft. On behalf of STIP, he is one of the five aldermen of Delft. He combined his graduation in Systems Engineering, Policy Analysis and Management (SEPAM) with the aldermanship. During his studies, Pieter was always a passionate discussion partner for TU Delft in his various positions. Now that he is completely concentrating on governing the city, he will be devoting himself to such matters as the realisation of student accommodation. TU Delft and the city of Delft are important to each other. Contacts between the council and university have always been good; with Pieter as ‘ambassador’, they can only get better.

Story

“Are you an alderman? I thought they were much older!”

I hear people say this a lot. But I have been interested in politics since my childhood. When I came to study at TU Delft I soon became a member of STIP (Students of Technology In Politics). In my third academic year, I was elected as council member for STIP. A few years later, when I was about to complete my studies, I was asked to become an alderman in Delft. This meant both taking my degree and starting as an alderman. A difficult task, but partly with the support of my graduation committee, I managed to do it.

Combining what at first sight seems to be an impossible number of tasks is one of the things that I learned at Systems Engineering, Policy Analysis and Management (SEPAM). In my view, merely following the programme at TPM is not enough. You must make space to discover the world around you. During educational trips, I had some unforgettable experiences, such as a visit to Lehman Brothers just before the financial crisis, a visit to the palm oil plantations in Malaysia and a reception at the ambassador’s home in Singapore. Study and travelling go well together. In this way, I was able to study in Harbin (China) for six months and do a research internship for the Allseas offshore company in India.

I quickly feel a great involvement with the place where I live, work and study. A remarkable aspect of living in the Netherlands is your opportunity for codecision about your own environment. I enjoy being able to get practically involved. For me, this started in the OWee Committee and the faculty student council, then in the production of the TU Delft television programme Delft Blauw, later as member of the city council and now as alderman in Delft. I regard it as an honour to be able to contribute to the city at such a young age. For example, I am now responsible for the realisation of 2200 student homes at different locations in Delft.

I have various sources of inspiration. These range from the power of persuasion of President Obama to the sincerity of Marc Marie Huijbregts. And from the enthusiasm of Claudia de Breij to the unbridled energy of Mark Rutte. I use the charisma and energy of others as fuel to do my work.