Prof. Philippe De Wilde has been appointed as the new PVC Research & Enterprise from 1 August 2014.
Prof De Wilde is currently a Professor in the Intelligent Systems Lab and Head of the School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences at Heriot-Watt University.
‘I am extremely pleased to be joining the University in this, its fiftieth year,’ said De Wilde. ‘Kent has a strong history of research, and I am looking forward to helping the University to develop this further. Whilst it is a tough environment for research at the moment, Kent has huge potential to intensify its research culture, increasing its research income, its impact and its profile on the national and international stage.’
Prof De Wilde has research interests in computational intelligence and cybernetics, using neural networks, fuzzy logic, evolution, and game theory. Before moving to Heriot-Watt, Prof De Wilde worked at Imperial College London for sixteen years.
De Wilde is a Fellow of the British Computer Society, and of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications, and a Senior Member of IEEE. He is a Laureate of the Royal Academy of Sciences, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium, and has held the Vloeberghs Chair at the Free University Brussels, 2010.
He has published 49 journal articles, 52 conference papers and book chapters, and four books.
The Vice Chancellor, Prof Dame Julia Goodfellow, welcomed Prof De Wilde. ‘This is an exciting appointment at a crucial time for Kent. The outcome of the REF will be known in late 2014, and I believe Philippe has the track record, the skills and the strategic vision to build on this and effect a step change in the research culture at Kent.
‘I would like to thank the current PVC, Prof John Baldock, for his excellent, insightful and decisive leadership of research for the past seven years. I am indebted to him for championing research, and for steering the University through both RAE2008 and REF2014. Research at Kent has benefited immeasurably from his tenure. John has set the University on the right track; I look forward to working with Philippe to accelerate our progress along this road.’