The first-ever TU/e MOOC will be finalized this week. A tight schedule on purpose, because that way the online course can incorporate the latest research results, says creator Bert Blocken on Wednesday afternoon. One of the recent findings that have been incorporated into the course is the conclusion that the Bahrain World Trade Center has not been constructed properly. The 240-meter skyscraper is made up of two V-shaped towers. Wind turbines have been installed between the towers to generate energy. The towers have been placed in a position that forces the wind into a sort of funnel, because intuitively that seems to yield the most energy. However, meticulous wind tunnel measurements and computer simulations by Blocken prove that in fact, that’s not the case: in reverse position, the turbines would generate fourteen percent more wind energy.

On Wednesday, approximately nine thousand people had registered for the course already, reason for Coursera to expect twelve thousand applicants by Monday. Blocken is very content with that estimate.

And the work isn't over yet: starting Monday a team of ten people, mostly PhD students, will be at hand to answer questions that students post to the forum. But it’s no waste of time, because prior to the start of the MOOC, the venture has been quite fruitful for Blocken and his research group already. “You reach an audience you’d never reach otherwise. Shortly, we’ll have four PhD students starting with us as a result of the MOOC, all self-funded. And my LinkedIn account is flooding with requests to connect from all over the globe.