Product and Process Design : Driving Sustainable Innovation

Jan Harmsen is a consultant on sustainable process and product innovation, for Harmsen Consultancy BV. He provides advice and courses to industry and academia. After his graduation in chemical technology at Twente University in 1977 he joined Shell. There he held professional positions in process research, notably on three-phase reactors, biotechnology, process development, reaction engineering, process concept design, process implementation, and finally on process intensification till 2010. He became part-time Hoogewerff-Professor of Sustainable Chemical Technology in 1997, first at Delft University of Technology and later at Groningen University till 2013. He authored books: Jan Harmsen and René Bos, Multiphase Reactors (De Gruyter, 2023); Jan Harmsen and Maarten Verkerk, Process Intensification (De Gruyter, 2020); Jan Harmsen, Industrial Process Scale-Up: A Practical Innovation Guide from Idea to Commercial Implementation, 2nd ed. (Elsevier, 2019); Gerald Jonker and Jan Harmsen, Engineering for Sustainability: A Practical Guide for Sustainable Design (Elsevier, 2012); Jan Harmsen and Joseph Powell (eds.), Sustainable Development in the Process Industries: Cases and Impact, John Wiley & Sons, 2010.

Prof. André de Haan currently combines a position as Principal Technologist at the Cosun Innovation Centre with a part-time professor position at Delft University of Technology (DSM). After finishing his PhD, he was employed in various positions at DSM (1991–1999), held the chair in separation technology at the University of Twente (1999–2006), and the chair in Process Systems Engineering at the Technical University of Eindhoven (2006–2010). He worked for Corbion-Purac as corporate scientist process technology (2010–2016), first in combination with a part-time position at the Technical University of Eindhoven (2010–2013), which he exchanged for Delft University of Technology in 2014. He authored the books Industrial Separation Processes, Process Technology and Product and Process Design, published with De Gruyter

Ir. Pieter Swinkels is Director of the post-MSc Engineering Doctorate (EngD) designer programs in chemical product and process design at Delft University of Technology (TU Delft). After obtaining his Ir. (MSc) degree at Technical University Eindhoven, with specialization in bioprocess engineering at TU Delft, he was employed by Unilever. He was a member of the R&D team that invented novel detergent powder formulations and manufacturing processes (1986–1991). Within Unilever’s specialty chemicals businesses (later part of National Starch and Chemical Company and ICI) he worked in various positions in manufacturing, product/process design and development, and as divisional process development manager (1992–2001). In 2001, he moved to TU Delft as Assistant Professor of Product and Process Design and Engineering and became PDEng (now EngD) program director. He develops (bio) chemical product/process design methodologies, teaches them, and applies these in MSc and EngD design projects in cooperation with companies from his extensive industrial network. For his exceptional contribution to the post-MSc Engineering Doctorate programs at the four Dutch technical universities (4TU) he was awarded the Stan Ackermans Medal in 2023.