AMBASSADORS CHAIR AWARDED TO PROF. FRANK LEFERINK

FACULTY NEWS

This year, KU Leuven Campus KULAK granted Bruges Campus its first Ambassadors Chair of the Faculty of Engineering Technology. The title has been awarded to Prof. Frank Leferink, Chair of Electro-Magnetic Compatibility (EMC) at the University of Twente and also technical advisor at Thales Netherlands and manager of the Thales Network of Excellence on EMC. The ambassadorship is the culmination of many years of collaboration with the research group Mechatronics at Bruges Campus.

Prof. Davy Pissoort and Prof. Frank Leferink

“ The Ambassadors Chair is actually an initiative of KULAK, our sister campus in Kortrijk”, says Prof. Davy Pissoort, specialist in electrical and electronic systems at the M-Group. “Every year, KULAK awards this title to an internationally renowned academic whose research is closely related to what happens on campus. By proclaiming Prof. Leferink as Ambassador of 2020-2021, we hit two targets with one shot. Frank is not only a global authority in one of our group’s main research topics; he also has both feet firmly in business practice. This symbiosis is virtually the DNA of education and research on our campus and, by extension, the faculty. The recent European ITN project “PETER” on electromagnetic risk management is a good example of this”.

Invisible forces

Prof. Leferink specialises in electromagnetic interference, or EMI. He describes his field of expertise as follows: “We all know EMI when the sound from a loudspeaker is disturbed by a series of beeps coming from a mobile phone. Pretty annoying, but not bad in itself. It becomes problematic when crucial high-tech equipment in cars, aeroplanes, hospitals, nuclear power plants or just in your own home turns out to be sensitive to EMI. While with conventional devices the risks are usually visible or audible, with high-tech devices or systems the situation is rather different. Invisible forces can be at work there. This means that as electronic devices become more complex and the user more dependent on them, the risks increase accordingly. What’s more, there may be several EMIs simultaneously interfering with each other”.

“Until today, most engineers are not sufficiently aware of the importance of proper EMI risk management”, Prof. Leferink continues. “This has to do with the fact that the education initially still functionally aims at rapid R&D and production. This puts risk factors to the back burner. The tragic accident involving an electric wagon in Oss two years ago is a sad example of this. Just as it was entering a railway crossing, the brakes failed. Four children died. Not safe enough for passenger transport, the TNO research centre arbitrated after the disaster. The cart was equipped with the risk protection of a forklift truck for moving goods”.

Risk management

“Complete immunity for EMI is a noble goal, but not feasible in practice,” says Prof. Leferink. “That is why we are making every possible effort to make EMI management as much risk-based as possible. This requires an interdisciplinary approach covering the entire life cycle of the product or system. This involves chance and risk analysis, risk reduction, verification and validation. The aim is to build in an inherent EMI-robustness from the early design phase”.

The scope of the research is virtually endless. Nearly all industrial sectors are involved and interested: shipping, aerospace, transport and transportation, defence and (cyber)security, telecommunications, banking and insurance, micro-electronics, etc. No wonder Prof. Leferink sees a ‘bright future’ for his profession.

Game changer

For the M-Group at Bruges Campus, the Ambassadors Chair is both an important boost and an asset. “Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) has been in the centre of our attention since the beginning of the 90s”, confirms Prof. Pissoort. “Key concepts here are reliability, robustness and safety in complex and/or rough conditions. Thanks to our cooperation with the manufacturing industry - large companies as well as SMEs - we have become an integral part of the economic life in the region and beyond. With the help of our new ambassador, we can significantly increase our impact on industry and social life. In that respect, the future looks bright for the M-Group”.

Yves Persoons