Prof. Dr. G.J. (Bart) Verkerke (male) is professor in BioMedical Product Development at both the University Medical Center Groningen and University of Twente. He is technical-scientific director of  SPRINT, a Dutch Center of Research Excellence, focusing on mobility of elderly. An important aspect of SPRINT is user and industrial involvement in all projects from the early start. Research interests are biomechanics and the methodical design of medical products, including teamwork± how to work together with many different disciplines in an efficient and effective way. He is also Director of the Groningen Biomedical Engineering master’s curriculum.

He has ample experience in leading large international projects (EU FP7, Eureka). He is member of the working group A2 of EIP-AHA (European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing). He has many industrial contacts, is board member of ESEM (European Society for Engineering and Medicine) and Councilor of the European Alliance of Medical and Biomedical Engineering Societies (EAMBES). He owns 12 patents, realized more than 160 publications, and 40 book chapters, and realized grants for in total 17 M Euro.