Prof.dr.ir Mieke Boon started her appointment as a new Dean of the University College Twente for a period of 4 years. Below follows her personal message after her appointment:
"Since 1 July I have been appointed as the new dean of ATLAS-UCT. I am full professor in Philosophy of Science in Practice at the philosophy department in the BMS faculty. My academic background is in chemical engineering. My PhD in bioprocess engineering was at the Technical University of Delft. In this research I discovered the mechanism by which bacteria dissolve metals from ore. During my bachelor traineeship at Shell Oil Company in California, I also became interested in philosophical issues of engineering. Ethical questions such as how engineers can take responsibility, which at that time (1980th) seemed to be a non-issue. And also philosophical questions about the quality of scientific research in the engineering sciences. This is why I took a second degree in philosophy at the University of Leiden. In 2001, I moved from the biotechnology laboratory in Delft to the philosophy department in Twente. As a young widow, I met my current husband Henk Procee, with whom I now happily live in the beautiful Twente countryside. By means of a Vidi and Aspasia-Vici grant, I managed to develop a new trend in the traditional philosophy of science, which I dubbed philosophy of science in practice. This new approach has received world-wide support and is currently considered main stream. In my philosophical research, I have gained insight in the crucial role of human cognitive capacities in generating scientific knowledge. Therefore, my current research interest now includes the educational sciences, exploring the hypothesis that the development of academic skills required for scientifically dealing with complex socio-technological problems can be more effectively promoted and learned in academic engineering education. I have been part of the ATLAS core-team since its inception in 2012. In my position as a dean, I aim to contribute to the flourishing of ATLAS-UCT, for which ICT, with its clear interest in education, is a stimulating environment."
