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Leon Abelmann

EEMCS Faculty | IDEE Community 

In an important sense, IDEE is already a big success. It is a sign to the larger TU Delft community that education is important. It mobilizes passionate and highly-motivated teachers to work on important themes in education, and in so doing, IDEE, simply by being in place, has a positive impact on the culture at TU Delft. Slowly but surely, efforts in education and teamwork are getting the attention and recognition that they deserve.

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Background 

Leon Abelmann is associate professor in the department of Microelectronics at the faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science, with a strong profile in both research and education. Here at TU Delft, Leon focusses on  magnetism for biomedical applications, self-assembly and ... educational innovation. During the course of his career, Leon has acquired a wealth of knowledge and expertise in the field of magnetostatics on the micro- and nanoscale, and he enjoys teaching students about the fundamentals of physics in courses such as “Classical and Quantum Mechanics”. Being an expert in this field, for Leon, has always gone hand in hand with a strong interest in the question of good education, and the role of a teacher herein.  

Towards IDEE 

When Leon first heard about IDEE, he felt a strong enthusiasm for this new educational initiative. Speaking from years of experience as an electrical engineer, Leon has seen that an interest in the question of “How do I become a good teacher?” is not always widely shared amongst scientists and engineers. Students and teachers alike tend to focus primarily on the hard skills and content of their field – such as determining the correct solution to a differential equation or performing vector calculus in spherical coordinates. In so doing, they refuse to see or acknowledge the value of other types of knowledge and skills – such as teamwork and communication skills, or the ability to critically reflect on ethical questions raised by recent developments in e.g. the bio-medical sciences. Leon sees IDEE as a wonderful opportunity to improve the quality of education by coming up with easily applicable tools in engineering education as substantiated by high-quality educational research.  

As part of IDEE 

“In an important sense, IDEE is already a big success. It is a sign to the larger TU Delft community that education is important. It mobilizes passionate and highly-motivated teachers to work on important themes in education, and in so doing, IDEE, simply by being in place, has a positive impact on the culture at TU Delft. Slowly but surely, efforts in education and teamwork are getting the attention and recognition that they deserve.”

Did you know that ...?

  • At the University of Twente, Leon  was nominated Teacher of the Year for Electrical Engineering from 2002 to 2011, only interrupted in 2010, and was a recipient of the prize in 2005.  
  • At the University of Twente, Leon received the best teacher award for the Advanced Technology bachelor program in 2010, and the award for excellent education by the TNW department in 2012.  
  • One of Leon’s favourite quotes is "An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field" -- Niels Bohr.