Nienke
Driessen

ABOUT ME

Hi, my name is Nienke Driessen. By the end of April, I will have completed my Master’s degree in Computer Science. I have a strong interest in both programming and design, which led me to pursue two bachelor’s degrees: one in Computer Science and Engineering, and one in Industrial Design Engineering. I enjoy learning new things and taking on challenging problems. For my Master’s thesis in the Computer Graphics department, I developed an end-to-end pipeline for forest fire simulation. I also have 2+ years of experience in software development.

Master's Thesis

(1)

A Physics-Based Forest Fire Simulation using Semantic Gaussian Splatting

Existing methods of wildfire predictions are often created with the assumption that the forest scene is a (digital) environment with complete knowledge of every tree, terrain feature, and other parameters. This is applicable for real forests. My thesis covers a practical approach for forest reconstruction and wildfire prediction using semantic Gaussian splatting and a physics based wildfire simulation.

A complete pipeline for simulating forest fire dynamics from aerial drone-style imagery using 3D Gaussian Splatting reconstructions.
A preprocessing framework to prepare reconstructed forest scenes for combustion simulation, including semantic classification, noise filtering, procedural stem insertion, and material column filling.
A physics-based particle-driven combustion model operating directly on Gaussian primitives, modelling heat transfer, ignition, fuel combustion, and fire propagation.
Integration of the wildfire simulation into the NeRFStudio framework, for interactive visualization.
An implementation of a voxel hash data structure for acceleration.
Qualitative and quantitative evaluation of wildfire spread behaviour in reconstructed forest environments.

Projects For the Science Centre

For the past two years, I have worked as a software developer at the Science Centre in Delft. As part of the OnTour project, the goal is to bring TU Delft research closer to the public. In each project, the challenge was to translate complex and often abstract technologies into interactive applications that are accessible and engaging to visitors, especially for younger audiences. The projects varied in modality, technical requirements, and priorities, so each project differed in the design and implementation.

Swarming Drones

Web (Vue)

Microbial Biology

Web (Vue)

Floating Cities

Python

Sustainable Fashion

C# (Unity)

Swarming Drones

(2)

• Developed an interactive web-based (Vue) application for visitors to control a drone swarm via a tablet.
• Designed a group-based charades game where drones form shapes and users vote on the correct answer.
• Implemented a free-draw mode where users define flight paths executed as a conga-line movement.
• Integrated frontend with backend routing system for real-time communication with drones.

Microbial Biology

(3)

• Developed a web-based simulation tool (Vue) for the TuD BioLab where children can explore the effect of
environmental parameters on microbial population growth.
• Designed dual interface, one for for children and one for lab assistants.
• Implemented server-based system for updating growth curves.
• Created 3D visualization (Three.js) to visualize population growth in addition to the graph used in the lab.

Floating Cities

(4)

• Built a digital souvenir system linked to a workshop where kids build their own floating cities.
• Used OpenCV to capture and reconstruct user-built floating cities.
• Implemented web interface for users to revisit their creations after the event.

Sustainable Fashion

(5)

• Developed an educational application in Unity for a large touchscreen table.
• Designed a three-part experience: quiz, interactive puzzle, and concluding video.
• The app raises awareness about the environmental impact of clothing production.

Education

Master's degree	Computer Science and Engineering	Delft University of Technology
Bachelor's degree	Computer Science and Engineering	Delft University of Technology
Bachelor's degree	Industrial Design Engineering	Delft University of Technology

Skills

Progrmaming languages	Python, C++, Java, C#, JavaScript
Web Development	Vue.js, React, JavaScript, Typescript, HTML, CSS,
Graphics & Simulation	OpenGL, Unity, Computer Vision (OpenCV)
Data & AI	Machine Learning, Language Models, Conversational Agents, Neural Networks, Data Visualization
Design	Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Blender, Figma
Other	Microsoft Excel, Dashboarding