Sustainable Process Design

Dr. Harry Bitter serves as Professor and Chair of Biobased Chemistry and Technology at Wageningen University & Research since 2013, where he leads research on sustainable production of chemicals from biomass and biomass-derived feedstocks. After completing his PhD in heterogeneous catalysis at Twente University in 1997, he spent 15 years at Utrecht University developing fundamental understanding of catalyst characteristics and activity. His research combines multiple disciplines including chemistry, catalysis, microbiology, separations and modeling to address biomass conversion challenges. As co-author of over 200 peer-reviewed publications with an h-index of 44 and nearly 7,000 citations, he has established himself as a prominent figure in sustainable chemical production. He currently chairs the Netherlands Institute for Research in Catalysis (NIOK) and serves on the board of the Royal Dutch Chemical Society. His group focuses on TIPTOP chemistry - Turning variable InPut into Tailored OutPut - addressing the challenges of converting variable biomass feedstocks into consistent chemical products. Beyond academia, he contributes to advancing the field through his roles in various research initiatives and his work integrating chemical approaches with computational methods to develop a circular biobased economy.