Robert Jan de Boer

Hogeschool van Amsterdam - Technische Universiteit Delft

Robert J. de Boer MSc PhD (1965) was trained as an aerospace engineer at Delft University of Technology. He majored in man-machine systems and graduated cum laude in 1988 on the thresholds of the vestibular organ. After gaining experience in line management and consulting he joined Fokker Technologies in 1999. Here he was asked to develop the Program Management methodology for Fokker in compliance with aerospace requirements, as a prerequisite for Fokker to participate on the A380 program. This led to the appointment as the Director of Engineering in 2002. In this role he supported and guided an increasing number of engineers (up to 300) occupied in a large number of new design projects across the globe.
These experiences inspired his current scientific interest in team collaboration, culminating in a PhD (achieved in May 2012) at the Delft University of Technology. From 2009 to 2018 Robert was appointed as Professor of Aviation Engineering at the Amsterdam University of Applied Science (Hogeschool van Amsterdam). In this role he executed research in the field of aviation, with a focus on Human Factors & safety, MRO process improvement and condition monitoring. Robert is currently the Director of the Amsterdam Campus for Northumbria University. In this newly-created role he will be responsible for the start-up of the Amsterdam campus and its growth to ~ 500 students of all levels (doctorates, masters, bachelors) in the coming few years. He will closely collaborate with many former colleagues of the HvA as the campus is co-located within the HvA facilities and the programs will be jointly delivered. He remains active in research as well.

Specialties: Human Performance in socio-technical systems (including safety, supply chain collaboration, outsourcing en procurement; production and engineering management; process improvement)