Geert-Jan van Houtum

Geert-Jan van Houtum is Dean of the Department of Industrial Engineering and Innovation Sciences at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), a position he has held since October 2023. He is also a Full Professor and chairs the Maintenance and Reliability group within the Operations Planning, Accounting & Control department. He is affiliated with EAISI (Eindhoven Artificial Intelligence Systems Institute), particularly in the High Tech Systems and Mobility domains.

• Dean, Department of Industrial Engineering and Innovation Sciences, TU/e (2023–present)
• Full Professor, Maintenance and Reliability, TU/e (2008–present)
• Vice-Dean, Industrial Engineering, TU/e (2017–2023)
• Group: Operations Planning, Accounting & Control
• Research Institute: EAISI High Tech Systems

Geert-Jan van Houtum obtained his MSc and PhD in Applied Mathematics from Eindhoven University of Technology in 1990 and 1995, respectively. He served as assistant/associate professor at the University of Twente and TU/e before being appointed Full Professor in 2008. He was also a visiting professor at Carnegie Mellon University in 2001.

His research focuses on improving system availability and reducing total cost of ownership (TCO) for capital goods through innovations in maintenance and reliability. Key areas include design and control of spare parts networks, predictive and condition-based maintenance, and product design decisions that influence service performance. He investigates the value of remote monitoring and degradation data in maintenance logistics. His work is strongly industry-oriented, involving collaborations with ASML, Dutch Railways, Philips, Canon-Océ, Marel, Royal Netherlands Navy, and Vanderlande.

The recent publications highlight a consistent focus on optimizing maintenance policies using advanced operations research techniques. Topics include restless bandit models for scheduling, two-threshold condition-based maintenance for multi-component systems, spare parts recommendation under demand dependency, and real-time data-driven logistics. These works reflect a strong integration of theoretical modeling with practical industrial applications, particularly in high-tech and capital-intensive sectors.

Geert-Jan van Houtum has over 100 publications in leading journals such as Operations Research, Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, IISE Transactions, European Journal of Operational Research, and Reliability Engineering and System Safety. He co-authored the book Spare Parts Inventory Control under System Availability Constraints with Bram Kranenburg.

He is actively involved in research funding and collaboration. Recent work has been supported by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) and the EU-funded 'DayTiMe – Digital Lifecycle Twins for Predictive Maintenance' project. He leads a research group that bridges academic rigor with industrial relevance, mentoring researchers and contributing to public-private innovation initiatives.

He is a key figure in the EAISI High Tech Systems group and contributes to interdisciplinary efforts in data-driven maintenance, digital twins, and intelligent systems. His leadership extends to shaping academic strategy as Dean while maintaining an active research agenda in operations and maintenance optimization.