Els Verdonck obtained a degree in chemical engineering and a PhD at the Free University of Brussels (VUB) in 1993. For almost 10 years she performed research at the VUB in the field of polymer characterization, with emphasis on the curing of thermosets, interphase in composite materials, structure-property relationships in engineering thermoplastics. DSC and MDSC were used as major characterization tools for that purpose.

Subsequently she was active in synthetic textile fiber research at Centexbel.

Els joined TA Instruments in 1998. She is responsible for thermal analysis application support in Benelux and Europe North. Main occupations are sample analysis with different thermal analysis techniques, application support to TA customers, organization of training courses and application seminars.