For about twenty years I’ve worked where software has to do something in the real world. I run my own company, IMFUEL, and I’m Innovation Advisor for Stedin, a Dutch grid operator.
Work for organisations including Evides Industriewater, Evides Waterbedrijf, Damen, Water Control Systems and Stedin.
What ties my work together
Curiosity. I want to know why things work the way they do, and whether it could be simpler. Often the solution already exists, just in another field.
At IMFUEL that means software connected to installations and processes, such as an unmanned filling point for demineralised water. For Stedin it means working out how the electricity grid can be expanded faster.
I’m rarely the deepest specialist in the room. My role is usually to oversee the whole and bring together the people who can make something of it.
Three things that always come back
Innovation
Seeing opportunities in existing systems and finding out what’s possible, even when that falls outside the original question.
Technology
Connecting software, data, AI and automation to installations and to the work people do in the field. That’s where the most interesting problems are.
Realisation
Making an idea visible and testable quickly, with a prototype, simulation or demo. And then making sure it keeps working.
How I think and work
A few habits I bring to every challenge.
Asking why first
Why do things work the way they do? It often turns out it can be simpler, or done with technology that has proven itself elsewhere.
Looking across boundaries
Software, sensors, installations and work processes often sit in different departments. I look for the connections between them.
A prototype first
A prototype says more than a long discussion. What you can see and try out makes assumptions testable.
Entrepreneurial
As an entrepreneur I’m responsible for the result myself. So I also look at budget, implementation and maintenance.
Trying new tools
I experiment a lot with AI and new development tools. They shorten the path from an idea to a working solution.
Giving direction
I take initiative and look for the people with the knowledge I don’t have. I switch between conceiver, orchestrator and advisor.
The experience I bring
My experience comes mainly from two places.
My own company
IMFUEL
As founder of IMFUEL (Fuel IT) I conceive digital solutions and make sure they are delivered and keep working: web applications, customer portals, software for business processes and links between software and installations. For organisations in water, industry, mobility, business services and infrastructure.
Being an entrepreneur taught me to look beyond technology: at customers, budgets, implementation and whether a solution will still work five years from now.
As Innovation Advisor for Stedin I work on making the energy transition executable. The grid has to be expanded and renewed faster than ever, which calls for different ways of working and new technology. My focus includes:
capturing the physical world digitally with photos, 3D and detection technology;
mechanisation and robotics for infrastructure work;
new technology, data connections and AI to support the work;
making innovation tangible with prototypes, simulations and visualisations.
On this site I speak in a personal capacity, not on behalf of Stedin.
A selection of what I’ve brought to life
Three examples where I came up with the concept and made sure it happened.
Evides Industriewater
Water and industry
The first unmanned demineralised-water filling point in the Netherlands for industrial customers, in Dordrecht. With a web portal, an iOS and Android app and a link to the plant’s process automation, so drivers can collect demineralised water around the clock.
A portal and API that automate the delivery of wastewater at the Botlek central wastewater treatment plant. Driver codes are validated in real time and dashboards show discharges, customer data and lab results.
A web application for the ferry operated by Damen, delivered in two months. Timetable, season and discount passes are online with payment, and a connected card printer prints the pass with photo straight away.
I get energy from problems that haven’t been solved yet and from people who want to change something. I don’t need to have every answer. Figuring things out and learning from people with other knowledge is what makes it fun.
I like direct communication and solutions that genuinely improve things. And the moment an idea works for the first time.
What could we achieve if we combined this in a different way?
Get acquainted
Send me a message, even if your idea is only half-formed. I’m happy to send you my CV on request.
