Ronald Thoelen was born in Zonhoven, Belgium, in 1980. He obtained his master in applied physics at the TU Eindhoven in 2004. In 2008 he obtained his Ph.D. in physics at Hasselt University with the topic of impedance based biosensors. He is currently dean at the Faculty of Engineering Technology of Hasselt University.
Ronald Thoelen is performing research in the domain 'biomedical device engineering'. The research focuses on the development of “dedicated” sensor devices in environmental, food and health(care) domains. Here the group develops advanced diagnostic systems for screening the presence of various molecules in aqueous solutions. Devices are developed which can process the signals of sensors with sufficient precision and speed in order the translate each impedance, thermal or optical based (bio)sensor, into a fully functional point-of-care system. Secondly research is performed using existing sensing technologies to obtain a ‘smart’ sensor device. The expertise here lies in the know-how of embedded sensor development in combination with deep learning algorithms.