Expertise

Clinical Biomechanics, human movement analysis, motion capture, human gait, electromyography, computational biomechanics, medical technologie, technical medicine, clinical technology, Virtual Reality, orthotics

Biography

I was educated as an electrical engineer at the University of Twente (Enschede, the Netherlands)  where specialized in biomedical engineering, with a focus on electroneurophysiological instrumentation, signal processing and computational simulations. My professional career started at the department of rehabilitation medicine of the VU University Medical Center, where I designed, developed and evaluated several instruments for the assessment of motor function to assist clinical decision making. That was at the dawn of desktop computers. In the nineties I build a laboratory for clinical movement analysis based on multimedia technology, and obtained a PhD at the VU University in 1998. After 2000 I also became lecturer at the department of human movement sciences, and in 2012 I became full professor at VUmc with a chair in clinical movement analysis. My professional activities (research, education, technology development related to biomechanics of human movement)) have always been characterized by an intense collaboration with clinicians. Until 2012 mainly in the area of neurorehabilitation, especially paediatric physiatrists regarding gait in children with cerebral palsy, with some focus on orthotics. More recently I started a research program on the biomechanics of gait knee osteoarthritis. In 2017 I handed over the management of the movement laboratories of the VUmc Rehabilitation Department, i.e an overground gaitlab, a Virtual Reality gaitlab, am exercise physiology lab and a neuromuscular lab.

I served at the board of ESMAC (European Society of Clinical Movement Analysis), now being immediate past president  and organized the first joint ESMAC-GCMAS meeting in 2006 in Amsterdam, which still is the largest international congress on clinical movement analysis . I am also co-founder and past president of SMALLL (Dutch chapter of ESMAC). I was a very active ISPO member (International Society  of Prosthetics and Orthotics). being member of the board of ISPO Netherlands, including 4 years of presidency, and member of ISPO International Scientific Committee  for many years, holding the scientific chair of ISPO 2015 in Lyon.  I have a large network with many national and international research collaborations, including participation in the EU networks MD-Paedigree (on gait in CP) , CMAster (on education in clinical movement analysis) and KneeMo (on gait in knee osteoarthritis).

Since 2017 I mainly work at Delft University of Technology, at the department of biomechanical engineering, where I hold a chair in clinical biomechatronics, and serve as director of the educational program technical medicine. Both activities are in strong collaboration with Leiden University Medical Center and Erasmus Medical Center Rotterdam.

Biography

I was educated as an electrical engineer at the University of Twente (Enschede, the Netherlands)  where specialized in biomedical engineering, with a focus on electroneurophysiological instrumentation, signal processing and computational simulations. My professional career started at the department of rehabilitation medicine of the VU University Medical Center, where I designed, developed and evaluated several instruments for the assessment of motor function to assist clinical decision making. That was at the dawn of desktop computers. In the nineties I build a laboratory for clinical movement analysis based on multimedia technology, and obtained a PhD at the VU University in 1998. After 2000 I also became lecturer at the department of human movement sciences, and in 2012 I became full professor at VUmc with a chair in clinical movement analysis. My professional activities (research, education, technology development related to biomechanics of human movement)) have always been characterized by an intense collaboration with clinicians. Until 2012 mainly in the area of neurorehabilitation, especially paediatric physiatrists regarding gait in children with cerebral palsy, with some focus on orthotics. More recently I started a research program on the biomechanics of gait knee osteoarthritis. In 2017 I handed over the management of the movement laboratories of the VUmc Rehabilitation Department, i.e an overground gaitlab, a Virtual Reality gaitlab, am exercise physiology lab and a neuromuscular lab.

I served at the board of ESMAC (European Society of Clinical Movement Analysis), now being immediate past president  and organized the first joint ESMAC-GCMAS meeting in 2006 in Amsterdam, which still is the largest international congress on clinical movement analysis . I am also co-founder and past president of SMALLL (Dutch chapter of ESMAC). I was a very active ISPO member (International Society  of Prosthetics and Orthotics). being member of the board of ISPO Netherlands, including 4 years of presidency, and member of ISPO International Scientific Committee  for many years, holding the scientific chair of ISPO 2015 in Lyon.  I have a large network with many national and international research collaborations, including participation in the EU networks MD-Paedigree (on gait in CP) , CMAster (on education in clinical movement analysis) and KneeMo (on gait in knee osteoarthritis).

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