Walter de Raedt, IMEC [BE]

Taking the quantified self and personal health monitoring one step further, leading nanotechnology research institute IMEC and its Dutch affiliate Holst Centre develop Body Area Networks (BANs): highly sensitive, intelligent, small, ultra-low power, wearable sensor networks that enable comfortable, continuous, reliable and long-term monitoring of health parameters during daily-life activities. At Coded Matter(s) #7: Extended Senses, researcher Walter De Raedt will be telling us about and showing us this state-of-the-art technology, which is truly the vanguard of the field. Their work already garnered attention from such websites as Engadget in 2010, so be ready for the leaps and bounds that were made in the past four years, as we’re sure to see the latest advancements.

Walter De Raedt joined IMEC in 1984 at its start as project leader on submicron technologies for advanced semiconductor devices until 1997. From 1997, he became head of the RFCDM group at IMEC in charge of the high frequency design, modelling and characterisation activities for chip packaging and was involved in many ESA and EU technology projects. In 2003 he received the IEEE microwave prize with his team. He authored and co-authored more than 200 papers, several patents and book chapters in the field of microwave/mmwave wireless devices. Since September 2012 he is Program Manager Wearable Healthcare in the BAN (Body Area Networks) department at IMEC. His current research interests are centred around healthcare applications for sensors in body area networks (BAN). In the BAN project, research is carried towards new application domains for body-centred sensor devices and how they can improve people’s life and health.