Who we are …

… Marie-José den Brok and Ronald Dekker. We live in the village Valkenswaard just below the city of Eindhoven in the South of Holland. We have been married for about 25 years and we have two sons of 24 and 22.

I (Ronald), studied electrical engineering at the Technical University of Eindhoven, and have been working since my graduation at Philips Research in the same city. In 2004 I received my PhD from the Technical University of Delft, where I am working since 2006 as a part-time professor on the chair flexible and stretchable electronics. Most of the work I do both at Philips as well as at the university is related to the integration of electronics at the tip of minimal invasive medical instruments such as catheters and guide-wires. If you want to know more about what I am doing in real life have a look at this recording of an overview presentation I gave at the 2015 ISCAS conference in Lisbon.

Marie-José studied to become a social worker in den Haag (the Hague). After her study she had a variety of jobs varying from counseling refugees to working at the ticket office of our local theatre. Apart from raising the boys and keeping the household running she is at the moment actively engaged in community work in our local church and as a volunteer in the local children’s farm. Next to that she is the corner stone of the “Dos4ever” tube tester business where she takes care of all administration, logistics and complex matters like taxes etc.

Selling tubes tester kits was never a premeditated plan. It just came on our path. I have been an electronic enthusiast for as long as I can remember, an affection I inherited from my father! For well over a decade I have been posting projects and articles on my website dos4ever.com. A few years ago the idea for a tube curve tracer was born. Readers of my project blog requested for a kit, and that is how the uTracer was born. We don’t do this for a living, it is just a service for other enthusiasts, and it is fun because it brings us into contact with very nice, enthusiastic and sometimes a bit crazy people all around the world, who share the same passion for vacuum technology.


Having a good time in what surely must be one of the most beautiful spots on earth, the “Jardim de São Pedro de Alcântara - Jardim António Nobre” in Lisbon, Portugal May 2015.