Since 2019 I am Dean of the Tilburg School of Humanities and Digital Sciences at Tilburg University. For may years, I have been working as scientist and professor in the field of cyber-physical systems, in leadership roles in the Netherlands (University of Twente, Embedded Systems Institute, and currently Tilburg University) and Germany (at the RWTH Aachen), and in a large number of ntional and international (European funded) research and innovation projects. Data science, AI and digitization do not hold secrets for me. Fields of application I have worked in include wireless and wearable communication systems, internet-based systems, smart industry, embedded systems, smart grids, energy efficient data centers and cyber-security of industrial systems. The applications I work at relate to the great societal challenges: sustainability, mobility, and safety & security. About my work, I published well over 200 papers in full-review scientific journals and conferences, two books (both at Wiley), and held leadership roles in many international conferences, and was editor of many edited volumes. I have advised numerous students towards their MSc, as well as 30+ doctoral students towards their PhD. I am very experienced in governance and leadership roles in higher education institutions, as well as in public-private partnerships. I have been director of an independent public-private research institute on Embedded Systems Engineering (2009-2013; now part of TNO), head of the department of computer science at the University of Twente (2008-2009, 2017-2018) and serve as chairman of the Dutch national research and innovation program on big data and its applications (Commit2Data) since 2016 (ongoing). In 2019 I started my first term as Dean for the Tilburg School of Humanities and Digital Sciences at Tilburg University; in 2022 I was reappointed for a second term (2023-2026). I have an inviting and inclusive working attitude and stimulate people to conect and to grow; I strongly believe in teams and cross-sectoral cooperation (team = together everyone achieves more). Transparancy and integrity are very important to me, and I do stimulate diversity and inclusion actively. I find inspiration in art, music, architecture, literature and "the great outdoors" (I am an active cyclist, both MTB and Gravel). I am happily married and the proud farther of a son and a daugther.

From 2003 until the end of 2018, I was full professor for Design and Analysis of Communication Systems at the University of Twente, in the faculty for Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS).

My work, both in research and teaching, focuses on the design and analysis of cyber-physical systems, that is, computer and communication systems that interact with their physical environment. Over the last few years, I have been working on themes related to security and safety of critical infrastructures, smart grids and energy storage, wearable computing systems, smart industry and energy-efficient data centers. My research is mostly funded through national (NWO) and international projects (EU).

Next to the technical content, I have always enjoyed research management. I am chairman of the national research and innovation program Commit2Data since 2016, and I previously was Head of the Department of Computer Science (May 2017--November 2018, as well as August 2008-February 2009). I also was scientific director of the Embedded Systems Institute (2009-2013), a public-private open innovation institute for high-tech embedded systems design.

I obtained my Ph.D. in 1991 and my M.Sc in 1986, both from the University of Twente. I wrote my master's thesis, in 1986, at the University of Dortmund, Germany.

Positions & Roles

• Since 2016, I am chairman of the national research and innovation program Commit2Data, on behalf of the Topteam ICT.
• In 2018, I served on the scientific advisory board of the Fraunhofer Project Centre at the University of Twente, which focuses on Smart Industry and Intelligent manufacturing Systems.
• In the period March 2009—February 2013, I have been scientific director and chairman of the Embedded Systems Institute in Eindhoven. ESI was an independent public-private open innovation applied research institute for high-tech embedded systems, employing around 35 FTE. As of January 1, 2013, ESI has been acquired by TNO.
• In 2012 I served on the program council of Point-One, the Dutch innovation program for high tech systems. As of January 1, 2013, Point-One has been transformed into High-Tech NL; in 2013 I served on the program council of High-Tech NL..
• Throughout 2011, I have been serving on an advisory committee of the Province of Overijssel to shape the Innovation Policy for the Region Twente for the next 5 years.
• Board member of the Dutch computer science research school ASCI (Advanced School on Computing and Imaging), November 2005 – November 2015.
• Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Breedned (2009-2011).
• Head of the Department of Computer Science and Member of the management team of the EEMCS faculty at the University of Twente (August 2008-February 2009; again since May 2017).
• Member the management team of 3TU.NIRICT, the National Institute for Research on ICT (August 2008-February 2009).
• Co-leading the 3TU Centre of Excellence on Dependable ICT Systems (CeDICT) as part of NIRICT (2005-2009).
• Professor for Design and Analysis of Communication Systems, University of Twente, 2003-2018.
• Professor (C3) for Distributed Systems in the Department of Computer Science at the Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule (RWTH) in Aachen, Germany (October 1995-December 2002).
• Lecturer (Univesitair Docent) at the University of Twente, in the Department of Computer Science (January 1990 through September 1995).
• Visiting scientist in the Teletraffic Research Centre at the University of Adelaide in Australia (spring 1993).

Scientific Memberships and Honors

• Fellow of the IEEE (see also this Dutch wikipedia page).
• Member of the editorial board of the journal Performance Evaluation.
• Past member of the steering committee of the International Conference on Quantitative Evaluation of SysTems (QEST).
• Member of IFIP WG6.3 on ""performance of communication systems"" and of IFIP WG7.3 on ""computer performance modeling and analysis"".
• Member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM).
• Member of the IEEE, in particular, of the IEEE Computer Society.
• Member of the German Gesellschaft für Informatik (GI) and board member of the GI/ITG special interest group on performance modeling of computer and communication systems.

At the University of Twente, I have been teaching courses on computer networking, model-based performance and dependability evaluation of computer and communication systems, and design of cyber-physical system, in the B.Sc. and M.Sc. programs for Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Embedded Systems. I have also been active in the new program on Creative Technology, as well as on a minor module on Smart Industry. In the past, at the RWTH Aachen, I also taught courses on Operating Systems, Computer Architecture and Distributed Systems, primarily for Computer Science students.

I have guided numerous master students through their final project, and have had the honor of acting more than 30 times as PhD advisor (“promotor”).