Anton Luiken studied chemistry at the Radboud University Nijmegen. Besides a major in organic chemistry, he received minors in microbiology and environmental sciences.

In 1986 he started his career as a researcher at the Textile Institute of TNO in Delft. In this job, he carried out research after the various aspects of chemical processing of textile materials.

In 1996 he became head of the Textile Textile Department at TNO Industry. This department moved to Enschede in 1998 to join Expertex, a cooperation between the textile departments of TNO, Saxion University and the Twente University. In Enschede, the development of environmentally friendly processes for the textile and carpet industry, dynamic properties of textiles and smart textiles were the main R&D items.

In 2006, he became account manager materials technology in the department Innovative Materials of TNO Industry & Technology in Eindhoven. In this role he gained expertise about nanotechnological applications in textiles.

In 2008 he joined TNO Defense & Safety, where he became (part-time) product manager Clothing & Induvidual Equipment (C&IE). Besides he was leader of the research program Innovative Personal Equipment (iPGU), a program in which a methodology is developed and tested for the optimal design of clothing systems for military personnel, starting from the operational demands and taking into account innovations in textile materials.

As his interest and expertise of (textile) materials and processes in the function of account manager were not fully deployed, he decided, apart from his TNO activities, to start Alcon Advies and to become an independent consultant to offer his expertise in textiles to customers. These activities took such a big way that he decided early 2009 to leave TNO and work fulltime as an independant consultant.

Anton Luiken is since 1998 involved in Textranet, the European network of textile research institutes. He was vice-president of this organization until he left TNO.

In addition, he played an active role in the European Technology Platform for the Future of Textiles and Clothing (ETP-FTC). He was convenor of the expertgroup New Textile Products for Improved Human Performance. His knowledge of the European Research Programs and his contacts in industry, governmental organisations and research institutes, has made him a succesfull co-author of many EU-research projects like Prospie (development of smart protective work wear), EnProTex (Public Procurement of Protective Textiles) and Textiles for Textiles (advanced textile recycling)