Faridaddin Vahdatikhaki is an Associate Professor at the University of Twente's Faculty of Engineering Technology, specializing in Civil Engineering and Geosciences. His research focuses on digital twin technologies, urban heat island mitigation, construction automation, and virtual reality applications in education and industry. He has contributed over 74 publications with a Scopus h-index of 1263 and 17 h-index, demonstrating significant academic impact. Research interests include: Integration of digital twins in infrastructure management Data-driven analysis of urban microclimates Operator training systems for construction equipment Technological mediation in construction processes Key contributions include: Development of VR-based training simulators for heavy equipment operators Pioneering semantic digital twin frameworks for road distress management Analysis of urban heat island effects using street typology models He received prestigious awards including the ECIU European award for Innovation in Teaching (2017) and multiple teaching excellence recognitions from the University of Twente. His work bridges academia and industry through collaborations with institutions like Chalmers University of Technology and the Digital Society Institute.
Gerlo Borghuis, MSc, is a Lecturer specializing in Water Resources Management at Wageningen Environmental Research, part of Wageningen University & Research. His work focuses on irrigation systems, arable land productivity, and sustainable water management in agricultural contexts. He has collaborated internationally on projects addressing water scarcity, resource competition, and policy frameworks in regions like Jordan and Egypt. Research interests include subirrigation technologies, evapotranspiration modeling, and the application of remote sensing tools like WaPOR for agricultural optimization. Key contributions involve analyzing biomass productivity data and exploring transformative water governance models to balance competing user needs. Borghuis has co-authored peer-reviewed articles in journals such as Agricultural Water Management and Food Security , with a focus on bridging environmental science and policy solutions. His recent work evaluates advanced subsurface irrigation systems using Hydrorock blocks for orchards, emphasizing hydraulic properties and conductivity improvements.
Ruud Bartholomeus is a Professor in Soil Physics and Land Management at Wageningen University & Research. His research focuses on subirrigation systems, water management in agriculture, and groundwater dynamics. He has contributed to over 60 publications, with recent work examining nutrient concentrations in agricultural fields and micropollutant behavior in subsurface irrigation. Education details are not explicitly listed, but his academic background is reflected through his professorship and supervisory roles. His key research interests include controlled drainage systems, rhizosphere interactions, and soil-water dynamics in the Netherlands. Recent articles highlight advancements in irrigation effectiveness modeling and non-target screening for micropollutants, reflecting his expertise in hydrological systems and environmental engineering. He has supervised multiple PhD candidates and actively participates in academic symposia, such as the 50th anniversary of the SWAP model. Bartholomeus contributes to public discourse on water scarcity and climate resilience through media engagements and expert commentary. His projects include investigating freshwater availability in Dutch sandy regions and climate-resilient water systems.
George Bier is a researcher specializing in hydrogeology and environmental science, focusing on groundwater resources and their management in semiarid regions. His work includes studies on aquifer recharge, groundwater availability, and the impact of interbasin water transfers. He has conducted research in Brazil, Benin, the Netherlands, and other regions, addressing challenges such as salinization, river leakage estimation, and groundwater modeling in complex geological settings. His research contributes to sustainable water resource management and understanding hydrological processes in diverse environments. His research interests are centered on hydrogeological processes in semiarid regions, groundwater recharge mechanisms, and the impact of human interventions on water resources. He explores the interplay between surface water and groundwater, particularly in contexts such as interbasin water transfers and salinization in coastal areas. His work also involves numerical modeling of groundwater flow, hydraulic properties analysis, and the development of sustainable management strategies for aquifers. Collaborations include studies in Brazil, Benin, and the Netherlands, reflecting a global focus on water resource challenges. While no specific grants or awards are listed, his contributions to peer-reviewed journals highlight active engagement in the academic community.
Jasper Candel is an Assistant Professor in the Soil Geography and Landscape department at Wageningen University. He holds a MSc in Earth and Environment (Wageningen University) and a PhD in Physical Geography (Utrecht University and Wageningen University). His research focuses on geomorphology, hydrology, and landscape evolution, with an emphasis on nature-based solutions for climate resilience, river restoration, and subsurface stratigraphy. He leads projects such as CASTOR, NAT, RESHAPE, and NL2120, and has received a VENI Grant from NWO (2024) to study peat-river regeneration. Candel teaches courses on Geology, Geomorphology, and Hydrogeology while actively engaging with stakeholders in landscape regeneration initiatives. Education: MSc Earth and Environment (Wageningen University, Hydrogeology specialization) PhD Physical Geography (Utrecht University/Wageningen University, 2019 cum laude) Research Interests: Nature-based climate adaptation strategies River morphology and restoration dynamics Shallow subsurface processes linking soil formation and groundwater flow Palaeohydrological reconstruction of river systems Publications Highlight: Recent work explores river self-constraining mechanisms, Holocene peat dynamics, and fluvial engineering impacts. His 2020 article on low-energy river mobility has been widely cited. Grants & Awards: NWO VENI Grant (2024) for peat-river regeneration research Labs/Teams: Coordinates the Soil Geography and Landscape group at Wageningen, collaborating with interdisciplinary teams on landscape regeneration and geohydrological modeling.
Ype van der Velde is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Science , Department of Earth and Climate at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. His research focuses on the role of shallow groundwater in landscape-climate feedbacks, particularly in peatlands, permafrost regions, and urban deltas. He leads projects on greenhouse gas emissions, peatland resilience, and subsurface hydrology across the Netherlands, Canada, Scandinavia, Ireland, and the Arctic. Grants & Research Themes: Permafrost thaw impacts on Arctic river flows (NWO 2016) Effects of rewetting measures on peatland subsidence and emissions (STOWA 2019) National peatland carbon inventory (LNV 2020) Irish Peatland Resilience under climate change (EPA 2021) Research Interests: Integrating hydrology with climate science, studying how groundwater dynamics influence carbon cycling, vegetation patterns, and landscape evolution. Specializes in observational and modeling approaches to understand peatland ecosystem responses to environmental change. Teaching: Teaches courses on Groundwater Processes and contributes to hydrology education. Labs/Teams: Leads a research group exploring peatland-climate interactions, combining field measurements, remote sensing, and numerical modeling to address global environmental challenges.
Seenivasan Hariharan is a Researcher at the Department of Algorithms and Complexity, Universiteit van Amsterdam. His work focuses on advancing computational methods for heterogeneous catalysis and quantum computing applications. He holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering and has over a decade of experience in simulating molecule-surface interactions using density functional theory (DFT) and quantum dynamics approaches. His research interests bridge traditional computational chemistry with emerging quantum technologies. Key areas include quantum algorithm development for catalytic interfaces, optimization of alloy catalysts, and modeling surface reactions under extreme conditions. Current projects involve applying variational quantum eigensolvers (VQE) and quantum phase estimation (QPE) algorithms to address limitations of classical DFT methods in capturing spin-related phenomena and strong correlation effects. Publications highlight interdisciplinary contributions, including a 2024 review on quantum computing's role in catalysis modeling and foundational work on surface reaction dynamics since 2013. His work explores material systems ranging from graphene to bimetallic alloys, addressing topics like CO oxidation mechanisms, water dissociation pathways, and coating material characterization through electrodeposition methods. Active in both academic and industrial collaborations, his research emphasizes embedding quantum computing strategies within traditional chemical modeling frameworks to enable large-scale simulations. Recent efforts focus on qubit routing optimization for quantum hardware and developing fault-tolerant algorithms for future quantum systems.
Dr. Joep Storms is an Associate Professor at Delft University of Technology, where he serves as Head of the Section of Applied Geology and Coordinator of the Geo-Energy Engineering MSc track. He is affiliated with the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, contributing significantly to research and education in sedimentary geology and climate change impacts. Dr. Storms received his MSc in Physical Geography from Utrecht University in 1998 and completed his PhD at Delft University of Technology in 2002 with cum laude distinction. His academic journey has established him as a leading expert in sedimentary systems and their response to environmental changes. As a sedimentary geologist, Dr. Storms specializes in understanding the interaction between hydrodynamics, surface dynamics, and subsurface preservation driven by past, present, and future climate change. His research focuses on deltaic, coastal, lacustrine, and fluvial systems, examining how they respond to changes in river discharge and sea level. He employs a combined approach of numerical simulations and field data analysis from diverse locations including Greenland, Norway, East Africa, and Southeast Asia. Dr. Storms' recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on climate change impacts on sedimentary systems, with particular attention to deltaic and coastal processes. His research increasingly addresses contemporary environmental challenges including CO2 storage, sea level rise, and sustainable management of delta regions. The interdisciplinary nature of his work bridges geology, hydrology, and climate science to address pressing global environmental issues. NWO-VIDI grant Dr. Storms actively mentors students and researchers, currently supervising PhD projects including Aulia Valencia's research on syn- and post-sedimentary impact of compaction in deltas. He collaborates extensively with national and international universities, research institutes, and companies through various funded projects such as the NWO-Merian Fund, CNRS, and La Fondation Dassault Systèmes. His research portfolio includes significant work on delta systems, climate change impacts, and sustainable resource management. Dr. Storms is actively involved in the TUDelft Delta Futures Lab and collaborates with multiple research groups including Deltares, TNO, and Wageningen University & Research. His work on the Development and Application of Delft3D-GT (in collaboration with Deltares and Equinor) and the Coastal Change 21st century (CC21) initiative demonstrates his commitment to addressing real-world challenges through interdisciplinary research.
Hadi Hajibeygi is a Professor of Geo-Energy Solid and Fluid Mechanics at Delft University of Technology, leading subsurface storage research and multiscale modeling initiatives. He serves as the Subsurface Storage Theme Lead (2016–present) and Energi Simulation Chair holder (2022–present), with a focus on underground hydrogen storage, CO2 sequestration, and geothermal energy systems. His research integrates multiphase flow in porous media , multiscale simulation , and geomechanical stability , supported by NWO-Vidi and Interpore awards. He leads the DARSim and ADMIRE projects, developing frameworks like Adaptive Dynamic Multiscale Integration and pEDFM-U for fractured reservoirs. Key awards include: Interpore Award for Porous Media Research (2021) NWO-Vidi Laureate (2019) Interpore Rosette (2017) ETH Zurich PhD Medal (2012) TU Delft Innovative Teaching Talent (2018) His teaching portfolio spans Dynamics of Solids and Fluids , Numerical Methods for Subsurface Simulation , and Multiscale Modeling , while advising a team of postdocs and PhD candidates on projects spanning induced seismicity, microbial interactions, and fractured reservoir mechanics.
Prof. Jan Dirk Jansen (Delft University of Technology) specializes in systems and control theory applied to subsurface flow and geomechanics. His research spans induced seismicity , geothermal energy , reservoir simulation , and data assimilation . Current projects include co-leading the NWO-funded NEPTUNUS initiative on transient induced seismicity and previously researching seismicity mitigation in Dutch gas fields through the Science4Steer program. Expertise in numerical reservoir simulation History matching & model-order reduction Optimization of fluid injection/production He authored the textbook Nodal Analysis of Oil and Gas Production Systems , with significant contributions to closed-form geomechanical solutions and scalable numerical schemes . Contact: J.D.Jansen@tudelft.nl
Denis Voskov is an Associate Professor at Delft University of Technology (Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Department of Geoscience & Engineering). He also holds an Adjunct Professor position at Stanford University (Department of Energy Resources Engineering, USA). His academic career spans roles as Senior Researcher (2007-2015) and Research Associate (2005-2007) at Stanford, CTO of Rock Flow Dynamic (2005-2008), and engineering positions in oil companies and research institutions in Russia (2000-2005). Current: Head of Reservoir Engineering Section (2024-present) Current: Associate Professor at TU Delft (2015-present) Current: Adjunct Professor at Stanford University (2016-present) Voskov specializes in modeling complex subsurface systems , focusing on reactive flow and transport in altering porous media, scale translation for physical processes, high-performance computing for forward/inverse problems, thermal/geothermal process simulation, CO2 sequestration, and nonlinear solver analysis. His work bridges computational methods (finite volume frameworks, augmented flash calculations, operator-based linearization) with energy transition applications like geological carbon storage and geothermal resource management. Key trends in his recent publications (2024-2025) include: advanced CO2 storage mechanisms (capillary pinning, halite precipitation), multiphysics simulation frameworks (thermal-hydro-mechanical-compositional models), data assimilation for geothermal reservoirs, physics-informed neural networks for subsurface problems, and open-source tools like DARTS-well. Topics frequently intersect with energy transition, reservoir heterogeneity, and numerical robustness. Voskov's lab and team activities center on subsurface energy systems at TU Delft, including the campus geothermal project for direct-use heating and digital twin development for geothermal reservoirs. He collaborates internationally, particularly with Stanford University, and leads initiatives in GPU-based Monte Carlo simulations for uncertainty quantification.
Dr. Ir. Bram Entrop serves as a Lecturer in 'Sustainable transitions in the built environment' at the Sustainable Areas and Soil Transitions (SAST) research group at Saxion University of Applied Sciences. He joined Saxion on September 1, 2018, and formally assumed his lecturer position on April 1, 2024. Prior to his academic career, Entrop worked as a Sustainable Building Inspector for the municipality of Hengelo and served as director of the Metal Window and Facade Industry Association from 2017-2018. Entrop holds a civil engineering degree from the University of Twente (2004) and earned his doctorate in 2013 on Energy Technologies and Measures in residential construction. His research focuses on sustainable construction, circular economy implementation, energy technologies, and building physics. He has supervised over one hundred bachelor's and master's students throughout his career. His recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on circular construction practices, particularly in road infrastructure, building renovation, and urban planning. The research spans from technical material applications to organizational change management needed for circular transitions. His work often involves multi-actor collaboration between government, business, education, and research sectors. Entrop actively collaborates with programs within the School of Business, Building and Technology and the School of Public Administration, Law and Spatial Planning, teaching courses in civil environmental engineering, sustainable construction, and building physics. He has authored numerous books, including the 5th edition of 'Duurzame energietechniek; technologie voor de energietransitie' (2020). Outside his academic role, Entrop serves as a Municipal Councillor for the Municipality of Borne and has contributed to several publications on sustainable energy technology and circular building practices. His work bridges theoretical research with practical implementation in the Dutch built environment.
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