Dr Steven Nagels

Dr Steven Nagels

Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Hasselt

Dr. Steven Nagels is the project lead for spin-off company Innervate and a postdoc researcher of the Institute for Materials Research (IMO-IMOMEC) at the University of Hasselt. He obtained both his Master’s in Electronics Engineering as well his PhD in Compliant Electronics at Hasselt University. Over that same period he delivered University of Hasselt’s first space experiment as part of the OSCAR team, obtained a postgraduate in Business Administration, performed a research stay at the University of Chicago’s prof. Pedro Lopes’ Human Computer Integration lab, and bought and renovated a home in Hasselt. Today Steven resides at IMO-IMOMEC with a VLAIO Innovation Mandate and devotes his time to tech de-risking, IP strategies and business roadmaps in his efforts to grow the Innervate team.

For the past 6 years Steven’s work has revolved around a vision of electronic circuits that are mechanically soft (compliant) and can be stretched and bent extensively. He defended “Electronic devices which stretch like rubber bands: a holistic approach to materials and fabrication methods for stretchable electronics” successfully to obtain his Engineering PhD in 2019. As the lead on a platform technology, Steven has extensive experience in collaborating across domains. Setting up projects is his strength, as was accomplished for fields as diverse as Human Computer Interaction, Soft Robotics, Biomedicine and Fashion Technology. Steven thrives at the crossroads of engineering and creativity.