Jan Swevers was born in Leuven, Belgium, in 1963. He M.Sc. degree in electrical engineering and the Ph.D. degree in mechanical engineering from the KU Leuven, Belgium, in 1986 and 1992, respectively. He is full professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering of KU Leuven, and coordinates the MECO research team (Motion Estimation, Control and Optimization). His research focuses on motion control and optimization of mechatronic systems: optimal control of multivariate systems, iterative learning control, system identification,  optimal motion planning and embedded optimization for motion systems. He is a member of the DMMS core-lab of Flanders Make, which is the strategic research center for the manufacturing industry in Flanders, Belgium.