Arnold van Ardenne holds a degree in Electrical Engineering and Technical Physics from the Twente University in the Netherlands. As Director R&D at ASTRON he developed the institute to a scientific knowledge institute with international reputation in Radio and Optical/IR instrumentation programs and implemented the organizational and managerial framework for advanced instrumentation and technology projects. He was Coordinator of the EU-FP6 SKADS project-office and turned the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope into a high precision teststation for GNSS/Galileo together with ESTEC and national SME’s. 
From 2006 he has been Adjunct-Professor in Radio Astronomy at Chalmers Technical University in the Space and Earth Science Department.
Arnold van Ardenne has been chairing and member of many (inter)national committees, advisory and refereeing panels related to technology, science, instrumentation and management and the diffusion of technologies in the public and market sector.