DACS is a natural fit for graduates in telematics. In layman's terms, telematics is essentially computer science with less programming and more emphasis on communications, networks and computer protocols. Under the supervision of Professor Hans van den Berg (Senior Research Fellow within TNO ICT and part-time professor of `Traffic Engineering in Mobile and Ad Hoc Networks' for DACS), Dimitrova is working on a joint project between the UT and TNO in Delft.
As Dimitrova explains it, the project concerns UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecom Systems). In mobile telephone history, there have been three main phases (`not including the initial radio access network and the Swedish NMT'): GSM, GPRS and now UMTS. GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) is still the most widely used by individuals who have cellular phones. It was invented in 1985 by a French company. The next step was GPRS (General Packet Radio System), which allowed for the transfer of data like files and pictures. UMTS takes all of this even further, providing wireless broadband data access to email, the Internet, corporate networks, web broadcasts, streaming audio and video, and games. Thus far it has proved especially valuable for companies whose employees now are better able to stay connected with colleagues and customers while away from their office.
There are cons, however, to UMTS. Currently, UMTS mobile phones are far more expensive than their GSM counterparts. There are few models available. And, the average mobile phone customer is content with the status quo, not yet acknowledging the need for so many functions in a single gadget. Nonetheless, Dimitrova see the future with `fewer devices - an all-in-one phone.'
When Dimitrova is not contributing to the next great mobile phone innovation, she is an avid film watcher. Her taste runs from Silence of the Lambs to Love Actually. What appeals to her the most is `psychology, the effect on how people think, how they feel.' The petite Bulgarian is also a voracious reader. Reading, she says, is `peaceful, you can be in your own world.' There too her taste varies wildly from Stephen King's It to Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden.
Dimitrova is comfortable in the Netherlands. Like most foreigners, she initially found the Dutch to be `so open.' But over time she has come to view them as `quite conservative' in their rigorous observation of traditions, family ties, social mores. `Social norms are quite fixed. It is hard to always take the right step.' Four more years at the UT will undoubtedly reveal even more surprises.
Favorites:
Hometown: Sofia, Bulgaria
Languages: Bulgarian, English, Dutch, Spanish
Favorite film: Chocolat
Favorite book: Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz.
Favorite author: Stephen King
Favorite Bulgarian author: Jordan Jovkov
Favorite activity: walking in the forest
Favorite drink: Coca Cola
Favorite dish: Lutenitza (roasted red pepper and tomato spread)
Favorite pastry: Tom pouce (Napoleon)
Favorite Dutch city: Leiden
Favorite Dutch museum: Openlucht museum in Arnhem
Best part of living in NL: `My boyfriend'
Worst part about living in NL: administrative snags
Desislava Dimitrova
