Gert-Jan (1963) has a background in Polyolefin catalysis (DSM; now Sabic). At Avantium (since 2000), he is CTO and responsible for developing Avantium’s technology portfolio: FDCA, bio-MEG, biorefining and polyesterds from CO2.

Gert-Jan is inventor on more than 100 PCT patent families; he was elected “2014 European CTO of the year” and runner-up European inventor of the year in 2017. Gert-Jan is part-time professor Industrial Sustainable Chemistry at the University of Amsterdam (UvA), working on the plastic transition.