5,200 exhibitors. Over 190,000 visitors. More than 1,500 lectures. 1 U.S. President. RoboValley sent out a delegation to Hannover Messe, 25-29 April.

RoboValley, powered by TU Delft Robotics Institute, was part of the Holland High Tech presence, with over 120 exhibitors, where student teams of the three Dutch universities of technology were present – TU Delft, TU Eindhoven and TU Twente. TU Delft’s student team was DARE – “Europe’s most successful university student rocket society.”

Early Monday morning, 25 April, while another hall was buzzing with U.S. President Obama’s presence, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte joined the Holland High Tech stand to enjoy a cup of coffee. While there, TU Delft professor Chris Verhoeven presented the book “Robotics for Future Presidents” to our Prime Minister. Professor Verhoeven made a personal adjustment to the book presented to the PM by crossing out the “Future” of the title.

Minister of Education Jet Bussemaker also received a copy of the book. After hearing what Chris Verhoeven did to the PMs copy, she jokingly said that she would circle the word “Future”.