Ton Koonen Knight of the Netherlands Order of the Lion

September 24, 2021

The fact that many people were able to continue their work at home during the Corona crisis, online, is partly to his credit.

Professor Ton Koonen with his wife Annemie. Photo: PhotOdette.

Professor Ton Koonen received a royal decoration at his valedictory speech today. He has become Knight in the Netherlands Order of the Lion. Koonen has been of great influence on the global development of broadband communication technology.

Koonen belongs to the world top in the field of broadband science. Koonen is the scientific expert in the field of fiber optic communication in the Netherlands, with a major global influence. He has particularly distinguished himself in terms of groundbreaking research into broadband fiber optics and connection networks, education in this field, knowledge dissemination on a global scale and promotion of fiber optic infrastructure on a regional and national level. The fact that many people were able to continue their work at home during the Corona crisis, via online connections, is partly to his credit.

Numerous innovations have resulted from the work of Koonen and his research group. He gave direction to research worldwide to fully utilize the potential of fiber optics. The high quality and impact of his work has led to honorable awards such as Bell Labs Fellow, IEEE Fellow and OSA Fellow.

In addition to being a professor, Koonen was also scientific director of the Institute for Photonic Integration and vice dean of the department of Electrical Engineering.

Ivo Jongsma
(Communications Adviser)

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