Supervisor: Prof. Dr. ir. Johan A. K. SuykensProject: E-DUALITY (ERC Advanced Grant)Temporarily title: Matching model to system characteristics in data-driven modellingData-driven modelling is increasingly challenging for many systems due to higher complexity levels. The aim of the thesis is to realize a powerful new framework for data-driven modelling by exploring duality principles. It relates to different methods such as support vector machines, kernel-based learning, deep… Show more Supervisor: Prof. Dr. ir. Johan A. K. SuykensProject: E-DUALITY (ERC Advanced Grant)Temporarily title: Matching model to system characteristics in data-driven modellingData-driven modelling is increasingly challenging for many systems due to higher complexity levels. The aim of the thesis is to realize a powerful new framework for data-driven modelling by exploring duality principles. It relates to different methods such as support vector machines, kernel-based learning, deep learning, tensor-based models, and other. Given different system characteristics and a learning task, the framework should deliver optimal model representations and efficient algorithms for predictive modelling. Show less

It's one thing to found an association, it's another to pass it to the next generation to ensure it living on. I am happy to have found a new generation of motivated people to take the lead. I am still in charge of the teaching aspects.

First French-speaking association of parliamentary debate in Belgium.➤ Give everyone the keys to speak outSpeech is a powerful art that opens many doors. Rugir learns to master it as well as possible, to get the best out of it.➤ Training the young talents of tomorrowEveryone is welcome, motivation being the only prerequisite. Rugir learns to translate his thoughts, to articulate them and to express them as well as possible.➤ Building debateThe themes… Show more First French-speaking association of parliamentary debate in Belgium.➤ Give everyone the keys to speak outSpeech is a powerful art that opens many doors. Rugir learns to master it as well as possible, to get the best out of it.➤ Training the young talents of tomorrowEveryone is welcome, motivation being the only prerequisite. Rugir learns to translate his thoughts, to articulate them and to express them as well as possible.➤ Building debateThe themes discussed attempt to cover the main current issues. Debating is encouraging everyone to listen to the others, to form an well-built opinion and to defend it in a way that respects those of the others. Show less

Working there is primarily done for the love of the place and the pleasure of meeting tourists. The Cathedral of Brussels is closely tied to the history of Brussels, which I am fond of. Furthermore, meeting people from all over the world visiting it, is a constant pleasure.

The Olivaint Conference Royal Association is an independent leadership organisation whose aim is to provide extra-curricular education on governance issues to promising graduate students of Belgian universities. The education provided by the Olivaint Conference is based on values of pluralism, multidisciplinary and multilingualism requiring a good command of both Dutch, French and English.The main activities are the bimonthly thematic reunions where the members hold oral speaking… Show more The Olivaint Conference Royal Association is an independent leadership organisation whose aim is to provide extra-curricular education on governance issues to promising graduate students of Belgian universities. The education provided by the Olivaint Conference is based on values of pluralism, multidisciplinary and multilingualism requiring a good command of both Dutch, French and English.The main activities are the bimonthly thematic reunions where the members hold oral speaking exercises after a guest speaker presents some insightful subject of his expertise. But the organisation also focuses on writing journalism exercises, participating to an annual eloquence contest and the preparation for the yearly study session during summer time. Show less

➤ Holding speeches and winning the annual eloquence contest;➤ Writing articles for our monthly journal and attending conferences on a large variety of subjects;➤ Participation to the Weimar Youth Forum in Paris; and➤ Annual study trip for diplomacy, that year to Iran: meeting with officials, the UN-representation and academics.

On Saturday April 1st 2017, I was designated president by the General Meeting. A formidable opportunity to bring a fresh wind to an association that was celebrating its tenth birthday. Together with my board, I've set up various new projects:➤ Open Democracy:Exploring how new technologies can improve democracy by letting our simulation be a laboratory for innovative ideas. ➣ We filmed the whole last day with a 360° camera to allow each and everyone to attend to the debates as if… Show more On Saturday April 1st 2017, I was designated president by the General Meeting. A formidable opportunity to bring a fresh wind to an association that was celebrating its tenth birthday. Together with my board, I've set up various new projects:➤ Open Democracy:Exploring how new technologies can improve democracy by letting our simulation be a laboratory for innovative ideas. ➣ We filmed the whole last day with a 360° camera to allow each and everyone to attend to the debates as if they were there. ➣ We introduced CapCollectif in Belgium. During the closure ceremony, we had the opportunity to talk about it to an MP of the Walloon Region who was asking some questions. Some time after, we discovered that on an initiative of that MP's, the Parliament of Wallonia was officially starting a partnership with CapCollectif. These little stones makes you proud of your work!➤ Big Debate: On the beautiful stage of our partner, BOZAR, we set up an full debate of 3 hours between all Belgian political parties present in the Federal Parliament; in French and Dutch with live translation. The originality however was in the fact that as an association representing the political youth of our country, we invited all the presidents of the youth sections of each party. A unicum!➤ New sponsors: Who wants set up new projects needs more money. You therefore need to convince your sponsors of the quality of your ambition: the Senate, the Federal Government (Office of Prime Minister), the National Lotery, BOZAR, KU Leuven, WEP, USaint-Louis and UMons all resigned for an additional year. Furthermore, we also convinced new sponsors such as Solvay, UCLouvain or ULB. This also allowed us to reduce the social fee of more than 50%.➤ But also:School project, better preparation for the participants, 5 days of simulation, 130 people, 2 weekends, 4 law drafts, experts... Show less

Leading a party is a quest for influence. Exploring the power of negotiation and listening to the other, leading a group of various profile. In a certain sense, this was a beautiful prelude to my next year as president of the association. The power of marketing and public speech is astonishing. From a small party at the beginning of the simulation, we ended the biggest one, leading the game.➤ As the old website was getting older, I proposed myself to design a full new one from scratch… Show more Leading a party is a quest for influence. Exploring the power of negotiation and listening to the other, leading a group of various profile. In a certain sense, this was a beautiful prelude to my next year as president of the association. The power of marketing and public speech is astonishing. From a small party at the beginning of the simulation, we ended the biggest one, leading the game.➤ As the old website was getting older, I proposed myself to design a full new one from scratch. HTML/CSS, PHP, JavaScript, server management, various APIs... What a good opportunity to deepen my webmaster skills! Please feel welcome to check it out. Show less

This national Simulations brings students from all of Belgium together in the center of the Parliamentary power. During one week, students debate and write law-proposals about different topics such as cyber security or justice reforms. The students place themselves in the role of ministers, party president or representatives.

Student job.Project E-Working: a new online solution for higher flexibility in the Horeca sector.