Smolders was trained within the university: he graduated from the Department of Electrical Engineering in 1989 and also obtained his doctorate there in 1994. Since 2010 Smolders has been professor in the Electromagnetism (EM) group at TU/e. Currently he is also program director of the department.

In the EM research group Smolders’ main focus is advanced antenna systems and related applications such as Antennas-on-Chip. In the past he has worked for TNO (radar systems), Thales and ASTRON (radio telescopes), among others, and from 2000 till 2010 he was responsible for innovation in the Radio Frequency (Smart Antenna Solutions) business line of NXP in Nijmegen. Five years ago TU/e appointed him full-time professor in the chair of Electromagnetics in Wireless Telecommunication.

As dean, Smolders is keen to further strengthen ties with industry and partners such as fellow universities, cultivate new areas of research and maintain the developing growth of the department. “The ambition of Electrical Engineering is to continue the recent growth towards a figure of 300 first-year students. The labor market needs these engineers. So the main challenge our department faces is to ensure that this growth is well supervised.”

Apart from his role as dean, Bart Smolders will remain active as professor and researcher. He also chairs the Benelux section of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (a global organization of electrical and electronics engineers committed to technical innovation) and the Netherlands Radio and Electronics Society (NERG).

TU/e rector magnificus Frank Baaijens is pleased that in Smolders the university has found a successor from within its own ranks. “Bart Smolders is an excellent scientist with a real heart for the education we champion here in Eindhoven. Moreover, it is a statement of the top talents we have here.”

The current dean, Ton Backx, is to be general manager of the new Institute for Nano Photonics that is to be established.

Source: TU/e press team