Maarten Weyn – Vice-Rector for Research & Impact, Technoscience & Nerdland Speaker

I am Vice-Rector for Research & Impact at the University of Antwerp, where I help shape research strategy and innovation policy across disciplines. 

My focus is on strengthening research excellence, enabling impactful innovation, and building strong ecosystems that connect academia, industry, and society.

 I work to translate ideas into sustainable impact — through funding, infrastructure, innovation, and talent development.
 

Maarten Weyn is Vice-Rector for Research & Impact at the University of Antwerp, Scientific Director of imec-IDLab, Nerdland speaker, author of Nerdland Bier, and entrepreneur working at the intersection of science, technology and society.

I am a Professor at the University of Antwerp and Scientific Director of IDLab, an imec research group focused on data-driven systems, connectivity, and AI.

In this role, I provide scientific leadership across multiple research programs, help define long-term research strategy, and connect fundamental research with industrial and societal applications

My background is in low-power communication and localization, and I remain actively involved in research, education, and mentoring at the Faculty of Applied Engineering.

My fascination with beer began with homebrewing, but gradually grew into a broader sense of wonder: how science, technology, and chance together shaped a drink that has endured for thousands of years. 

 In this Nerdland book, I connect the art of brewing with science and history, showing why beer may well be one of humanity’s most underestimated innovations.

Within Nerdland Talks, I deliver two keynote lectures that bring science to life through history, storytelling, and curiosity. 

In Beer!?, I explore how chance, culture, and science shaped one of humanity’s oldest and most underestimated innovations. 

In Technoscience, I examine how science and technology have become inseparable — and what this means for knowledge, policy, and society.

I have founded / co-founded multiple companies, levering my knowledge in a relevant industrial field. The last ones are `WeSDeC, Aloxy   CrowdScan and IoSA. Transforming an idea or technique in a relevant business model and being challenged by the requirements of customers and applications to make the business a succes triggers an ever growing will to improve.

I brew my own beer under the name Weyn, combining craftsmanship with a curiosity-driven approach rooted in science and history. What started as homebrewing grew into an exploration of fermentation, ingredients, and technique — guided by experimentation, patience, and a deep respect for tradition.

On my youtube channel I posted small maker projects with links to the code and some explanation how I made it and foremost the reasoning why.

Together with Kurt Beheydt, I visited makers in a search for what keeps them busy and what the definition of 'maker' actually is - if there is one.... The podcast is availble on most podcast apps, Spotify, Apple and Google podcast

At Team Scheire, the television program on Canvas where Lieven Scheire engaged eight makers (engineers, designers, scientists and programmers) to jointly develop creative and concrete solutions for everyday problems that people experience because of a disability or other problems, I focused on wireless, battery operated solutions.

At public events such as TedX Antwerp, I try to inspire others. By discussing certain research topics for a general audiance or visions on life. I think it is the task of every academic to inspire people.