Building Earth Observation imaging systems in a regional innovative ecosystem

Jan Vermeiren graduated from the University of Leuven in 1979 as Academic engineer with speciality micro-electronics on a dissertation about: “Development of a system to measure speed of cars based on a CCD camera and a micro-controller”.  Following his studies he was research assistant at KU Leuven, developing 2D analog filters and optimizing the CCD process.

In 1984 he joined imec, Leuven, where he was responsible for the CCD and CMOS group developing ROICs (CCD as well as CMOS) for Infrared imagers.  Major realisations were made with AIM-Heilbronn, Elettronica – Roma, MBB – Munich, ETH – Zurich and for the ISOPHOT instrument.

In 1994 he joined OIP-Delft Instruments were he was responsible for the R&D activities on the Belgian site in Oudenaarde and he was product manager for Image Intensifier based night vision equipment for the detached solder and for weapon sites.

In 1998 he joined INNOTEK in Geel, Belgium, where he was contribution to the regional development as a technology manager.

In 2000 he was co-founder of Xenics, Leuven, where he was CTO, responsible for the development of InGaAs SWIR image sensors and cameras as well as for uncooled thermal cameras.  In 2010, he became scientific advisor and business development manager, where he was managing several FP7, Eurostars, Horizon 2020 projects in the field of plasmonics, hyperspectral imaging and radiation hardening.  He developed also the image sensors for Egyptsat-1, Sich-2, Eartchcare (both BBR and MSI) and Proba-V.

In 2015 he joined Caeleste in Mechelen, Belgium as partner and Business Development Manager, responsible for marketing and sales.  He grew the company from a turn-over of 2 M€ to 10 M€.  the main developed market segments are Space & Scientific image sensors, Industrial imagers, Photonic devices for Medical and life science and ToF based automotive sensors.  He is specialized in Gamma and X-ray imaging, Electron detectors and UV, Vis, NIR detectors.

Mr. Kris Vanderhauwaert graduated in 2000 at the Ghent University as Master in Political sciences, specialization Public Management. He owns a post-graduate in Communication (Ghent University) and started his professional career at the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (BELSPO). In 2004, he became counsellor of several Ministers of Science Policy where he was responsible for providing policy advice for space, aeronautics and defence related matters. He held this position for more than seven years. In 2011, he joined the European Commission as Belgian national expert where he was involved in the execution of the European GNSS programmes Galileo and EGNOS. In 2012, Kris became assistant-director at the von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics, an international research institute located in Belgium. In 2019 he joined the Flemish Space Industry Association (VRI) and acts as Managing Director and Manager of the Flanders Space cluster organisation, an initiative supported by the Flemish regional authority to shape the space economy in Flanders. In parallel, he works as a consultant for SME4SPACE, the European association of SMEs involved in space activities.