Thomas Geernaert
Thomas Geernaert joined VARIO as policy advisor in May 2022.
He obtained a doctorate in Engineering in 2011 (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) in the domain of photonics, which was awarded with the ‘Photonics21 Student Innovation award’. After his PhD he was involved in numerous fundamental, applied and industrial research projects in Flanders and Europe. Thomas was professor at VUB (2016-2022) and leader of the research team for optical fiber sensors with applications in industry 4.0, biomedicine and structural health monitoring of structures and materials.
With his switch to VARIO he wants to contribute to successful innovation and entrepreneurship policy.
Advices and reports
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VARIO-memorandum 2024-2029: Greater impact through excellence in innovation and entrepreneurship
14 December 2023
Memorandum for Flemish policymakers ahead of the June 2024 Flemish elections.
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Advisory report 33: Amendments to the Industrial Research Fund and Interface Activities Decree
7 November 2023
VARIO interprets the conclusions of the 5-yearly evaluation of the Industrial Research Funds and the interface activities of the…
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Report: The leaky pipeline at work: women heavily underrepresented as inventors in patents
5 September 2023
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