As one of the founders of Forcebit, I focus on bringing innovative sensor solutions towards a market ready product. I constantly keep an eye out for new developments in the field and am keen on getting insights in how testing on rotary drives can be improved. We focus on measuring loads such as torque and bending but also rotational displacement, velocity & accelleration.

I continue to work on the development of a smart watch for mechatronic drives measuring torque, bending and power in an easy way. As the university acknowledges that research and hardware development is very hard, they granted me a short-term innovation mandate to further pursue this trajectory.

Within my own research experience and collaborations with industry, I noticed how incredibly cumbersome and time consuming it is to perform measurements on mechatronic systems, especially on rotating or fast moving machinery. There the idea originated to develop easy solutions for torque/bending and power measurement in the form of a smart watch, where monitoring of torque and power becomes as easy as tracking your steps and heart beat during a running session. The outcome was a proof of concept, which we aim to formalize into a patent.

As a research engineer and project manager at the Leuven Mecha(tro)nics and system dynamics group (LMSD), I was fortunate join the track on systemic level modeling of mechatronic drives and to aid in the start of a research trajectory ‘Virtual sensing’. In the former, we focus on modelling the dynamics through port based modelling (such as Simcenter Amesim, Simscape from Mathworks), finite element modelling and multibody in service to performance, energy efficiency, durability, control or vibration troubleshooting. As we soon acknowledged that all fields have their merits depending on the modeling purpose, we expanded towards co-simulation and 3D/1D nesting strategies.In the virtual sensing line, we direct our attention to estimating states, parameters and unknown inputs, modeling identification, input modelling through compressive sensing etc. In both domains, I had to opportunity to guide PhDs and maintain a close relationship with industry throughout various research projects. I also enjoyed an intense collaboration with Flanders Make, a strategic research centre in Flanders for the manufacturing industry, where I represented the research group and was heavily involved in every step i.e. project initiation, definition, management, execution, closing & follow-up trajectory. That has also been my inspiration for my future trajectory.