The Information and Communication Theory Lab (ICT Lab) at the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) organized the 9th Van der Meulen Seminar in honor of Prof. Frans Willems on November 5, 2021. The focus of the seminar was the history of Willems' research and its connections to other researchers from the IT Society. There were above 100 registered participants from different European countries (the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Germany, Estonia, Norway, Israel, the UK, etc.) and from overseas (the USA, India, Canada, Indonesia, S. Arabia, etc.).

The program consisted of 6 invited talks. The speakers were Prof. Han Vinck (Uni. Duisburg-Essen), Pim Tuyls (Intrinsic-ID), Prof. Gerhard Kramer (TU Munich), Prof. Jean-Paul Linnartz (TU/e, Signify), Prof. Liesbet Van der Perre (KU Leuven), Prof. Ioannis Kontoyiannis (Cambridge Uni.), and Prof. Frans Willems (TU/e) himself. The social program included a networking lunch and post-seminar dinner at the TU/e accompanied with a musical performance by Frans’s friends.

The workshop was organized jointly by the IEEE Benelux Chapter on Information Theory, the Werkgemeenschap voor Informatie- en Communicatietheorie, and the ICT Lab. The program, presentations, and some photos can be found at: www.sps.tue.nl/ictlab/event/vandermeulen2021/ . The recording of some of the presentations can be found at the YouTube channel of the ICT Lab.

The organizing team was Prof. Jan Bergmans, Assoc. Prof. Alex Alvarado, Assist. Prof. Hamdi Joudeh, and Emerald Clump-Busser.