Herman Stegehuis

Collaborative environment

Herman has seen tremendous strides over the past 35 years, none greater than the arrival of the digital age. “Just think back to when I started. For image sequences you had resolutions of 256 x 256 pixels at 8 bits per pixel. Now we are working with 2k x 3k and 16 bits per pixel. Storage capacity and processing speeds have increased incredibly. The changes have not only come in terms of the technology but also the actual environment in which a physician or surgeon works is much more complex than it used to be – with all kinds of procedures, workflows, data and technology. It’s become a collaborative environment of people, workflows and systems. People are living longer because more and better treatment is possible, but with the costs of healthcare rising, also the need for efficiency is growing. This is where advanced technologies have made a real difference. More people can receive better treatment than ever before.”

A dynamic Babel

For the past ten years, ITEA has played an important role in Herman’s work, ever since he took on the MEDIATE project in 2010. “I had been used to managing projects within Philips but now I was confronted with a bit of a tower of Babel, if you like – different companies and institutes, different cultures, external partners, languages, areas of expertise, specific objectives … it was an interesting period, and I learned a lot. The mix often leads to unexpected ideas and innovations that you could not have conceived on your own. You get to know each other as time goes by and realise the benefits of this open collaborative dynamic. You may find yourself collaborating with a different partner than you had planned in the beginning. And then with surprising results.”

In this highly dynamic process within projects, Herman emphasises that the scope of the ITEA framework gives flexibility to realise changes. “As long as you stay within the general strategic objective of the project and show that there is good exploitation potential in the innovation. Communication with the ITEA team is good, especially with the reviewers who are very encouraging and positive towards well-founded proposals for change or come up with suggestions themselves. I have found this to be the case in the three projects that I have led (MEDIATE, BENEFIT and IMPACT).”

Fun at work and at play

And with retirement imminent, Herman is looking forward to enjoying the time that will become available to him. He looks back fondly on the past decade within the ITEA Community, one in which his projects have received various awards. “That’s something that came as an unexpected surprise. Of course, it is good to get recognition as a consortium and to see some consortium partners really be able to exploit the results in a commercial or scientific way. But in working together with all these different people from different backgrounds, I have been able to see how they innovate and have got to know them better. Especially during the time given to social events in the evenings. It’s been a lot of fun, both at work and at play. What more could you wish for?” What more indeed. And a nice sentiment to take on the next step … into retirement.