Jan Dirk Jansen appointed as dean CEG

TU Delft’s Executive Board has appointed Professor Jan Dirk Jansen as Dean of the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences (CEG) with effect from 1 May 2018. Jan Dirk Jansen succeeds professor Bert Geerken, who will retire in May 2018.

Jan Dirk Jansen studied Civil Engineering at TU Delft. After graduating on the failure of structures, he started work at Shell where he held various positions in the field of research and engineering in the Netherlands, Norway and Nigeria. During this time, in 1993, he obtained his doctorate at the then Faculty of Mechanical Engineering on a subject in non-linear dynamics. Between 1999 and 2010 he combined his job at Shell with an appointment at TU Delft, where he was appointed Professor of Reservoir Systems and Control in 2005. In 2010/2011 he spent a year as a visiting professor at Stanford University. On his return to TU Delft in 2011, he became chairman of the Geoscience & Engineering department in a full-time position.

Jansen is an expert in the field of reservoir management and production optimization. In his research he develops techniques for the control of underground fluid flow with applications in oil and gas extraction, geothermics, and induced earthquakes. Jansen is currently chairman of the Board of Professors of TU Delft, a position that he will resign when he is appointed dean. He will remain a member of the Mining Council, the government advisory body that advises the Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate on extraction plans for minerals and geothermal energy and on topics such as the use of the deep subsurface for the storage of CO₂.

The Executive Board is pleased with this appointment. Tim van der Hagen: "We are delighted that in Jan Dirk Jansen we have found a candidate from within the organisation who can lead the faculty in the further expansion of its successes in the field of education and research." Jan Dirk Jansen is also looking forward to his new role: “CEG has a big influence on our society thanks to enthusiastic and talented employees and students. I sincerely hope to cooperate with them in the further development of this beautiful faculty.”