Increasing the commercial pulling power of the campus for parties outside TU/e, this is one of the tasks facing Woertman as of June 1st, says the university in its intranet announcement about his appointment. Or, as the new  commercial director Campus describes it himself: “Putting the campus on the map; generating even more activity here.”

Woertman speaks of a broad assignment, comparable to the role he took on nine years ago at the High Tech Campus (HTC). Although how he plans to shape the role in detail, he can't yet say: “I could swagger and start talking in precise terms, but first and foremost I want to get to know TU/e really well from the inside out, as well as I currently know it from outside. Take a good look around, talk to lots of people and, above all, listen.” He has no specific assignment, for example, to bring more companies to the TU/e campus, says Woertman. “Attracting companies or institutes is all very well, but not an aim in itself. They need to add something to what is already here, build the ecosystem.” He refers to the company SMART Photonics, established on both the university grounds and the High Tech Campus. “They make chips that enable fiber optic networks to carry much more data. Without companies like these, the further growth of companies like Google will eventually be restricted. This indicates the importance of our region to the development of technology worldwide.” Here at TU/e, Woertman will be working directly for the Innovation Lab, and cooperating with other TU/e entities such as Real Estate Management (DH) and the Communication Expertise Center (CEC).