Personal

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My children, Timon and Mayu:

   

Bergen aan Zee, summer 2007 | Scario - Italy, spring 2007 | Bali, Indonesia, summer 2009

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My wife Maddy:

Petra - Jordan, spring 1999 | Bay of Naples - Italy, spring 2007

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Some more pictures:

Valley of Kings - Egypt, spring 2003 | Pompeii - Italy, spring 2007 | Rome - Italy, fall 2007 | Tanah Lot - Indonesia, summer 2009

bulletMy favorite sport nowadays is squash, while I used to play badminton intensively. My badminton home club used to be BCH, but during my time in Cambridge (MA) I joined the playing sessions of the MIT Badminton Club. I am checking www.badminton.nl and badmintoninfo.visualclubweb.nl regularly to see how Dutch top players are doing in the international arena. For some time, I also played on and off with the Ontregeld indoor football team in the TU/e competition, but to be honest: I watch footbal more than I practice it the past years. If you are a student following one my courses and feeling lucky, why not challenge me for a game of squash or badminton? Go ahead, make my day, reserve a court.
bulletI have a passionate interest in the history and archeology of ancient Rome. On my holidays, I visited Roman archeological sites in Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Greece, Turkey, Syria, and Jordan. An enjoyable introduction into the era following the fall of the Roman republic is the book I, Caesar: Ruling the Roman Empire by Phil Grabsky. I can also recommend Rubicon by Tom Holland about how the Roman republic came to an end. Dutch people may want to look at the popular writings on ancient Roman history by prof. Fik Meijer, in particular Macht Zonder Grenzen.
bulletSome of the movies I am very fond of:
Brothers (2009)
The Reader (2008)
El Laberinto del Fauno (2006)
Los Amantes del Círculo Polar (1998)
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)
Trust (1990)
 Do the Right Thing (1989)
The Unbelievable Truth (1989)
Platoon (1986)
Blade Runner (1982)
Graduate, The (1967)
Shichinin no samurai (1954)
bulletWould you be looking for a present for me (for an invited talk, as a bribe or otherwise), I really favor white over red wine. If you want to spend big money, then pick an Islay Single Malt Whisky - the smokier, the better.
bulletMy Ph.D. defense on August 23 2002 was photographed by prof. Paul de Bra, my former Computer Science graduate supervisor and also a member of my Ph.D.defense committee. My thesis was nominated for the 2003 ASML award, the price for the best TU/e thesis (which I did not get though!). 
bulletSometimes I'd wished my children had English as their native tongue. Simply because of all the great material in English on the web. If you have children, take a look at Winged Sandals and see what I mean.
bulletIn 2003, the TU/e hosted the Petri nets conference. As our honorary guest, we welcomed Carl Adam Petri himself. You can see me talking here with the prof. Petri, just after he was promoted to Commander in the Order of the Dutch Lion, one of the highest royal awards in The Netherlands. Prof. Petri passed away on July 2, 2010. 
bulletThe current rector of the TU/e, prof.dr.ir. Hans van Duijn, can be seen congratulating me with my appointment to associate professor in 2009 here. As you can guess, I am the one with the broad smile.