In Memoriam: Zegerardus Joannes Voorendt

On January 22, 2024, FHI received the sad news that Gerard Voorendt passed away in Wassenaar on January 7 of this year. He was and is honorary chairman of the federation 'Het Instrument' and Gerard Voorendt was also the longest-serving chairman of FHI.

In the 1970s you could not simply participate in the Het Instrument trade fair. You were not allowed to have exhibited certain products at another fair before and you had to be a member of the association. If you weren't really well known, a company couldn't just become a member. For Europe with borders, it was normal that a foreign company could not become a member of 'Het Instrument'.

Gerard Voorendt was director of Mettler in the Netherlands and made it clear at that time that Europe was thinking further. The articles of association of FHI (from that time) show that the board was put under considerable pressure to modernize. His impact then can still be felt today.

As a critical member, he became a board member and in 1980 Gerard Voorendt became chairman of the association. Together with the boards and people of the office, he led the fair and the association into a new era. To describe it very briefly, the policy went from market protection to market development and that also ensured that the association grew into a trade organization.

This goes hand in hand with friction, decisiveness and a change process. Chairman Gerard Voorendt has taken this up with gusto. In my personal contact I came into contact with the association's board at the end of 1991. I would present the graphs from the 1990/1991 industry survey. I thought I would be allowed in around lunch, but that ended up being early in the evening.

At that time I did not understand why I had to wait so long, but in the year 1992 the federation of technology industries FHI was founded with the four industry organizations as members. The passion of the board members and the vision of the chairman were needed between 1980 and 1992 to bring 'The Instrument' into the new century and Europe without borders. These professionals have given a lot to the association.

For example, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, the efforts of the financial committee were again of great importance. Without going into details, this was crucial for the survival of the federation. I remember very well that in a large hall, filled with members, Gerard Voorendt stood up. He strode to the microphone and thanked the committee and honored all individuals for their decisiveness. The strength of an association is expressed by the board members involved.

I now step up to the microphone online to thank and honor our honorary chairman for the major role he has played for everything at FHI.

Kudos to Gerard.

Paul Petersen

director of FHI, federation of technology industries