Acknowledgements I am very grateful to have worked with so many different people throughout the course of this project. I would truly like to express my thanks to various people who made a contribution, in one way or another, to this endeavour during the last several years. This research was carried out in connection with a quest for an artificial accommodating lens. This quest was initiated by Pharmacia & Upjohn, marked by a memorable workshop on Capri in 1996. I am indebted to Sverker Norrby, the initiator of this project and also the person who urged me to write a thesis based on the research that we did. I would like to thank Fritz Soergel and Carsten Meyer. They were the ones who pioneered dynamic measurements on human lenses, even before our collaboration was established. They were also the critical co-authors that every author wishes to have. I am especially indebted to Gabi Eckert. I wish to extend my thanks to her for further developing the methods for mechanical measurements of lenses. Without her dedication and perseverance this project would not have succeeded. Also, thanks to Prof. Wolfgang Pechhold, for the inspiring leadership he provided at the Institute for Dynamic Materials Testing. The long and sometimes intense collaboration with Mecal Engineering b.v. has been of great help in this study. I would like to thank Annette Op de Weegh, Martin de Vries, Rowald Franck, Peter Ros and Johnnie Andringa for their input to this collaboration. Your contribution was of great importance when deciding which simulation to do and how to do it. This thesis covers only a small fraction of all the things we did together in this area. There has also been a long standing collaboration with the VU University. I would like to thank Rob van der Heijde for his guidance. He has a sharp eye for science and scientific proof, and also a special sense of humor that needs mentioning. I would also like to thank Michiel Dubbelman and Erik Hermans, for good collaboration and inspiring discussions. 171
Furthermore, I would like to thank Rob Heethaar, as well as the members of the promotion committee, for spending their time and energy making this promotion possible. I would like to thank those who helped me writing the manuscripts. In addition to my co-authors, these were Lanie Adamson, Carolyn Hunt, Faith Maddever and Patricia Piers. Also, thanks to the anonymous reviewers. Based on their suggestions, the quality of several paragraphs was significantly improved. Throughout the years I have received lots of support and encouragement from my colleagues Sverker Norrby, Patricia Piers, Thom Terwee, Henk Deuring, Jacqueline de Groot, Jan Barkhof, Henk Haitjema, Sonja Dijk-van Aarle, Kenn Hodd and Keith Dillingham. I would like to thank them all. Also, thanks to Steven Koopmans, who, as an ophthalmologist, participated in this project and had the answers for many questions. This study was not simply carried out between the walls of a commercial company. Preliminary results were often presented and discussed at scientific congresses. Many colleagues in the field contributed to those discussions and also provided mental support. I would like to thank all of them. My special thanks, in this regard, goes to Adrian Glasser, Harvey Burd, Ron Schachar, Rolf Guthoff, Heiner Martin, Hans Hettlich and Konstantin Kotliar. I would like to thank my family and friends, and especially my paranymfs Wieke de Boer and Patricia Piers, for their interest in this study, and their support in challenging moments. Last but certainly not least, I am greatly indebted to and would like to offer special thanks to my parents, Henk and Trudie, for so many things, but above all for continuously addressing the value of education and continuous learning, which has become such a natural thing for me.
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Curriculum Vitae Hendrik Albert Weeber werd geboren op 4 maart 1960 in Groningen. In 1978 behaalde hij zijn atheneum diploma aan het Sint Maartens college in Haren. In datzelfde jaar begon hij een studie werktuigbouwkunde aan de Universiteit Twente te Enschede. Daar studeerde hij in 1985 af aan de faculteit Ontwerp en Constructieleer, bij hoogleraar prof.dr.ir. H.H. van den Kroonenberg. Vervolgens trad hij in militaire dienst, alwaar hij verantwoordelijk was voor het testen en technisch beoordelen van rijdend militair materieel. Aansluitend op de militaire dienst, trad hij 1987 in dienst van Pharmacia (nu Advanced Medical Optics, AMO), waar hij diverse functies heeft bekleedt met betrekking tot de ontwikkeling van productie processen en het ontwerpen van intraoculaire lenzen. Sinds 1997 maakt hij deel uit van de research groep, welke toegepast onderzoek doet naar de mechanica en optica van het oog en van intraoculaire lenzen in het bijzonder.
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