Dr. René Peter Paul Smeets

René Peter Paul Smeets received the M.Sc. degree in physics from the Eindhoven Univ.of Technology in 1981. He obtained a Ph.D. degree for research work on vacuum arcs. Until 1995, he was an assistant professor at Eindhoven University, dealing with high-frequency phenomena in power engineering. During 1991 he worked with Toshiba Corporation’s Heavy Apparatus Engineering Labora­tory in Japan in the development of low-surge vacuum interrupters. In 1995, he joined KEMA. At present, he manages the R&D activities of KEMA's High Power Laboratory. In 2001, he was appointed part-time professor at Eindhoven University of Technology in the field of high-power switching technology. He is convener of CIGRE TFA3.01, member of CIGRE WGA3.12, IEC MT32 of IEC 17A, IEEE (M 1995, SM 2002) and CIGRE.