Prof. Dr. Ir. G.J. (Bart) Verkerke (male) is professor in BioMedical Product Development at both the University Medical Center Groningen and the University of Twente. He is technical-scientific director of  SPRINT, a Dutch Center of Research Excellence, focusing on realisation of a sustainable healthcare by designing smart implants, prostheses, orthoses and by the application of wearables and nearables to inform citizens and patients, which of the designed intervention systems works best to improve their health and lifestyle. User and industrial involvement is a prerequisite for 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 has ample experience in leading large international projects (EU, Eureka). He is a 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 (Educating Students in Engineering and Medicine) and Councillor of the European Alliance of Medical and Biomedical Engineering Societies (EAMBES). He owns 18 patents, supervised 33 PhD-students, realized more than 200 publications, and 45 book chapters, and realized grants for in total 20 M Euro.