FOM Valorisation Prize for Pieter Kruit
The FOM Foundation has awarded the FOM Valorisation Prize 2011 to Prof. Pieter Kruit. He receives the prize worth 250,000 euros for his research in the area of electron and ion optics and his active role in the valorisation of this knowledge in an industrial context. "Kruit is known as somebody who uniquely combines the characteristics of a 'die-hard' scientist with those of a real engineer," says the jury. The prize will be presented on 17 January 2012 during the congress Physics@FOM Veldhoven.
Pieter Kruit started his career as a FOM PhD student at the University of Amsterdam, where he carried out research into multiphoton ionisation of noble gas atoms. After that he took up a research position at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. Since 1989, he has led the Particle Optics group at Delft University of Technology. Kruit is the author of more than 160 publications in peer-reviewed journals and also has 46 patents to his name.
Within FOM, Kruit is the workgroup leader and programme leader of the Industrial Partnership Programme 'Microscopy and modification of nano-structures with focused electron and ion beams'. The jury under the leadership of Joop Sistermans (chair of the Advisory Council for Science and Technology Policy), was impressed by the results: "Various techniques have been developed that are highly promising for applications in the electron microscopes of the future." His application-oriented research has also led to intensive collaborative relationships with various organisations including Shell, Leica, IBM, TNO, ASML, Philips, FEI and Mapper.
Kruit's direct efforts have also led to the creation of new high-tech jobs. Ten years ago he set up the company Mapper, which develops machines for the computer chip industry. In 2010 Kruit started a second spin-off, DELMIC BV, based on the idea of combining confocal light microscopy and electron microscopy in a single instrument. The jury's evaluation is: "Kruit has built up an impressive track record in the area of valorising scientific knowledge and has improved both 'the eyes' with which we observe the nano world as well as 'the hands' with which we manipulate it."
FOM Valorisation Prize
The FOM Valorisation Prize was inaugurated by the Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter to encourage the valorisation of physics research. The prize is awarded each year to a Dutch researcher (or group of researchers) working in physics who has succeeded in making results from his own research useful for society. The FOM Valorisation Prize is a tribute and serves as an inspiring example for other researchers.