Ir. Kemo Agović appointed as new director of I&IC
The Executive Board has appointed ir. Kemo Agović as the new director of the Innovation & Impact Centre (I&IC) from 1 April 2023. He is currently Director of Information & Sensor Systems at TNO Defense, Safety & Security. Agović will succeed Paul Althuis, who has led TU Delft's valorisation activities since 2005.
Kemo Agović studied electrical engineering at Eindhoven University. After graduation, he joined TNO in 2006, holding positions as research scientist, senior project manager and programme manager. Among other things, he served on behalf of TNO on the management committee of NanoLabNL, the national facility for nanotechnology research. As research manager for radar technology, he joined the management committee of the Dutch RAdar Centre of Expertise (D-RACE), a collaboration between TNO, Thales Netherlands and the Ministry of Defence, in 2011. Between 2015 and 2018, he was managing director of QuTech, the research centre for Quantum Computing and Quantum Internet jointly established by TU Delft and TNO in 2014. Agović has been Director of Information & Sensor Systems at TNO since 2018.
The Executive Board is pleased with Agović’s appointment: “By becoming an independent organizational unit, the Innovation & Impact Centre has recently entered a new phase where we aim to maximise our societal and economic impact. Kemo Agović has many years of experience in both technological research and collaboration within the triple helix of academia, industry and government, and he understands the innovation arena at a local and national level. We have every confidence that under his leadership I&IC can strengthen our current alliances and initiate new ones. All this, of course, with the aim of bringing the benefits of our knowledge to society even faster,” said Rector Magnificus/President Tim van der Hagen.
Kemo Agović: “I am delighted to join such a dynamic and ambitious organisation and I hope to find many (new) ways to disseminate TU Delft research results and turn them into practical applications, together with my colleagues at TU Delft. This, among other things, by bringing scientists, government, businesses and civil organisations together to collaborate on projects that have a real impact on society.”
Kemo Agović succeeds Paul Althuis, who has led TU Delft’s valorisation activities since 2005. “Paul Althuis pioneered what has become today's Innovation & Impact Centre. At the time, when valorisation became the third core task of universities, no one could have predicted how these activities would take off. We are enormously grateful to Paul for his commitment and driving force in this, which has made ‘impact’ part of TU Delft’s DNA.” Paul Althuis will hold the position of director holding TU Delft Services and director Delft Enterprises for the foreseeable future.