Innovating is my way of life: being in the midst of new technology, with a drive to make these developments useful and meaningful for people in their direct life and living environment.

Rianne Valkenburg is a part-time Fellow in the Innovation, Technology Entrepreneurship & Marketing (ITEM) group in the Department of Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences (IE&IS) at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). She initiates and develops strategic and cooperative research projects in partnerships and is involved in different interdepartmental programs, for instance as strategic advisor of the TU/e Smart City Program.

Valkenburg is founder and value producer of LightHouse, the solution partner of the Intelligent Lighting Institute (ILI), Data Science Center Eindhoven (DSCe) and Smart City Program (SCP/e) at TU/e. LightHouse discloses research results about smart lighting & smart cities to partners and industry, as part of the valorization activities of TU/e Innovation Lab.

Valkenburg is an experienced innovator, creating meaning for society through new technological solutions. In urban space – the domain of smart lighting and smart city solutions – she supports municipalities, organizations and companies in thinking and acting future proof. She is especially interested in bringing people together and creating opportunities to implement technological solutions and services that add value for all. 

Valkenburg practices design-driven innovation, designed and tested in years of experience, both as scientist and as advisor. 

Rianne Valkenburg holds a master’s (1992) and PhD (2000) degree in design engineering from Delft University of Technology (TU Delft). From 1993 to 2003, she worked at TU Delft as Assistant Professor in Innovation. Overlapping, from 1996 to 2006, she was board member of KIVI, the Royal Institute for Engineers. In 2003, Valkenburg was appointed Professor in Human Technology at Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen. From 2009 to 2017, Valkenburg worked at The Hague University of Applied Sciences as Professor Designerly Innovation. 

Next to the positions at universities, Valkenburg has been a senior business consultant for different organisations, e.g. as Program Director for the 3TU.Foundation Design Initiatief. In 2012, Valkenburg co-founded LightHouse at the Innovation Lab at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). In 2019, she was appointed Fellow in the ITEM group.