Engineer of the Year 2007

Micha Mulder and Ronny van 't Oever named 2007 Engineer of the Year

The jury, chaired by former mayor Wim Deetman of The Hague, consisting of Jan Dekker (chairman KIVI NIRIA), Foeke Kolff (engineering firm Lummus) and Eckhart Wintzen named ir Micha Mulder and ir Ronny van 't Oever as Ingenieur van het Jaar 2007.

They chose the winner from the three nominees. according to last year's chairman of the jury, former mayor Deetman, the pair 'have made an extremely relevant invention with which they put technology and the engineering profession on the map, also because they are very successful in business terms.'

The festive announcement of the winner took place during the Ingenieursmanifestatie, organised by the municipality of The Hague in cooperation with KIVI NIRIA.

ir. Micha Mulder and Ronny van 't Oever

Ir Micha Mulder (32) was "very surprised" when he turned out to be nominated. "When I received a call telling me that I had been nominated, I thought at first they wanted to ask if I knew someone else He does like it a lot "although I am not someone who naturally seeks publicity" mulder studied Applied Physics at the University of Twente, where he graduated in 1998 on calculations - a computer simulation - of electrical currents in the human head. Brain surgery normally involves drilling a hole in the skull and sticking electrodes on the skull that measure the currents in the brain. Mulder demonstrated with his calculations that drilling a hole causes the currents to flow differently: in the direction of the drilled hole because there is the least resistance, resulting in incorrect measurements and the risk of operating on the wrong part of the brain.

After his studies, he went to work at chip machine manufacturer ASML in Veldhoven through a software employment agency. There, he worked on control mechanisms for the latest chip machines and came into contact with the micro-industry. "Very interesting, especially also the work in the clean rooms," he says He liked the work at ASML very much but "I had some struggles with the dispatcher and then I finally started looking further." That looking further culminated in him founding his own company with his friend and fellow student Ronny van 't Oever in December 1999: Micronit Microfluidics. The rapidly developing company is already a global leader in developing and manufacturing microchips. It now employs over 30 people who make microchips for protein analysis, DNA research and the pharmaceutical industry's development of new drugs, among others. "Because our chips have a surface area of only a few square centimetres, they work faster and better and require less fluid in the channels which is more pleasant for an examined patient. Moreover, this chip is cost-effective, which is why customers from all over the world know the way to the company in Enschede."

Fast-growing Micronit Microfluidics has been in the 'ranking' of the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 for two years now. Deloitte wants to use the election to highlight fast-growing technology companies. A Micronit is growing fast. Mulder: "If you consider that the two of us and basically we started with nothing, it did go very fast yes." The company achieved 11.57 times more turnover last year than in 2000. He now spends a lot of time on management tasks, but still remains technically active as well. "I like that variety," he says

Co-director Van 't Oever also studied Applied Physics at the University of Twente and graduated in 1998 with the creation, via microsystem analysis, of a miniature liquid system with which to check how strong the bonds within dna material are. after graduating, he first worked free lance for some time, including from the Netherlands, for Abbot Diagnostics in California, where he had done an internship during his studies and had made an invention there: a method to better determine haemoglobin levels in red blood cells using laser light. "That got a patent, unfortunately not for me," he says he considers his nomination "very special" and expresses his delight. "I absolutely did not expect that. It's quite an honour, although I have never aspired to winning awards." he finds an additional fascinating aspect of his work that "You cannot run a company like ours without technical knowledge. In terms of management, other experienced colleagues can assist you but it takes technical knowledge to be able to translate customer wishes into a product. I have inventor blood myself, my heart is in engineering."

The two other nominees for the Engineer of the Year 2007

• Ir. Jos Dijkman
• Adriaan van Hooijdonk