André J.A. Vandenput
(1949-2008)

André Vandenput received his M.Sc. degree in electrical power engineering from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, in 1973 and his Ph.D. degree in Applied Sciences from the same university in 1977. From 1973 till 1991 he worked in the Laboratory for electrical Machines and Drives of the Catholic University of Leuven, first as research associate of the Belgian National Fund for Scientific Research and since 1987 as Professor.

In 1991 he was appointed as full time professor and chairman of the section Electro mechanics and Power Electronics in the Electrical Engineering Department at the Eindhoven University of Technology.

André Vandenput obtained an Alexander von Humboldt Stipendium for performing research the simulation of the transient characteristics of asynchronous machines at the R.W.T.H. in Aachen from 1980 to 1981. In 1983 and 1984 he worked as a visiting professor at the University of Colorado in Boulder, USA, on the improvement of the efficiency of small single phase induction machines. He was a research fellow of the Japan Society for Promotion of Science at the University of Tokyo in 1986, where he worked at the simulation of power converters.

The strength and love of André Vandenput were the asynchronous drives with vector control methods. Later he turned to permanent magnet machines and last but not least the famous “Flying Carpet” (Magnetically Levitated Planar Actuator with Moving Magnets) which was the last and most impressive research achievement under his guidance. He wrote numerous research papers and holds several patents.

As a teacher he gave several courses on Modern Power Conversion and Electrical Drives. He received many times student awards for the quality and clarity of his courses.

The main management achievement of André Vandenput was the turnaround of his chair in Eindhoven from an average research group to the top group in electro mechanics and power electronics in the Netherlands which easily beats comparable groups in the industry and other universities. The last ten years the productivity and quality of his chair Electro mechanics and Power Electronics reached an unequalled level. André Vandenput was one of the founders of the successful programme “Electromagnetic Power Technology” which was adopted by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and made a lot of research projects in this area possible.

André was a typical charming Flemish character, with lots of humour. He was a serious, hardworking and honest person with a very high level of integrity. He would never stop before he had checked a thesis of his students to the last details. He was loved by his students and staff and very highly respected by his colleagues.

We wish his wife and children the strength to bear this heavy loss. The faculty of electrical engineering in Eindhoven will miss André Vandenput dearly.

Jan H. Blom

Eindhoven University of Technology

The funeral of André Vandenput will take place in a close community of his direct family. To commemorate André a ceremony is organized; 14.00 hour Tuesday 22 January, his colleagues, family, students and acquaintances will gather with his in the lecture room of Electrical Engineering. There will be the possibility to sign the register of condolence near the lecture room. After the ceremony there will be coffee and tea in the Lounge.