To award three doctoral degrees in a single workday, some special arrangements had to be made for and by Huisman (associate professor at Electromechanics and Power Electronics). For instance, the first defense can’t start at the usual time of ten o’clock in the morning, but half an hour earlier. Otherwise, the entire day would turn into a sprint and Huisman wouldn’t be able to give external committee members the attention they deserve. Starting earlier required special approval from Dean of the Graduate School Paul Koenraad. TU/e’s Office of Doctoral and Academic Ceremonies arranged that as early as April. Logistics also needed to fall into place – from catering and pedels to audiovisual support and cleaning services.

One of the first things Huisman realized was that attending three separate dinners was out of the question. “Luckily, the PhD candidates – Marziyeh Hajiheidari, Yusuf Kösesoy, and Rui Wang – get along very well and decided to celebrate with a joint dinner.” Another adjustment is that Huisman won’t be giving lab tours himself. “Normally I do, but this time the co-supervisor will step in, and of course the candidate can take the lead as well.”

Hora est

A PhD defense follows a very traditional format, Huisman explains. “The committee and supervisors first meet for half an hour to prepare. They agree on the order of questions, check for overlap, and verify the diplomas. Then comes the defense itself, which lasts exactly sixty minutes. Even if the candidate is mid-answer: Hora est!”

After that, the committee withdraws for deliberation, which also takes half an hour. This is needed to decide whether the candidate has passed – though that’s usually a foregone conclusion. “But it’s also a good time to have a cup of coffee.” The deliberation is followed by the formal conferral of the doctorate and the actual diploma handover, performed by the supervisor. The committee chair reminds the candidate of the rights and responsibilities that come with the title. Finally, one of the supervisors delivers the laudatio – the speech in honor of the new doctor. “Together with the photo session, that adds up to another half hour.”

Huisman didn’t set out to break a record; the three-in-one-day situation is more a matter of circumstance. “One defense was already scheduled for September, while two others were supposed to take place in May. But the research took a little longer than expected. And since I was away in June and July, the entire promotion circus – as I like to call it – had to be pushed beyond the summer. On top of that, some colleagues in the committees are based in countries where universities only reopen in mid-September. Germany in particular starts late. Eventually, the only possible date left was September 29.”

Supervisory rights

These will be Huisman’s last three defenses, as he officially retired on September 3. Unlike full professors, associate professors do not retain supervisory rights for another five years. He was unexpectedly granted those rights in 2018, well before TU/e’s ‘Everyone a professor’ policy came into effect at the end of 2024. “It really came out of the blue. One day I received a letter at home saying I had those rights from then on. I don’t know exactly who initiated it.”

It turned out to be a blessing for the entire research group. “At the time, there was only one professor here, Elena Lomonova, and she was extremely busy. I was immediately assigned nine PhD candidates to supervise.”

That wasn’t new to Huisman. In fact, supervising a PhD candidate was the reason he first set foot on the TU/e campus in 2010. “I was trained and obtained my PhD in Delft, and I was working at Philips Research at the time. When the professor leading the group, Professor Vandenput, passed away, they asked for my help. The most pressing issue was the supervision of a PhD candidate working on a topic I was already familiar with.” That earned him an initial 0.1 appointment.

Since then, Huisman has been the primary supervisor nine times and co-supervisor several more. He never bought his own gown. “By the time I could have, the end of my career was already in sight. I’m perfectly fine wearing a borrowed gown.”

End of a career

Since 2017, Huisman has worked four days a week in Flux with the Electromechanics and Power Electronics group. “I wanted to keep one day off each week for making music. I play tenor tuba. As my retirement drew closer, I joined a second wind orchestra. I might also look for a choir that sings French chansons.”

He certainly won’t be bored, though he admits he’ll miss the people at Electrical Engineering and the challenge of coming up with new ideas in the field. “That’s why I’ll stick around a bit in an informal capacity,” he says. By that he means volunteering for practicals or stepping in to give a lecture when needed.

But no day will ever be as hectic as September 29 again.

This article was translated using AI-assisted tools and reviewed by an editor.