About Me
My scientific interests revolve around pioneering research to develop sustainable solutions for river and coastal systems to mitigate impacts of increasingly extreme floods and droughts. Together with colleagues, I work on generating fundamental understanding and Nature Based Solutions for Flood Risk Management and Fresh Water Availability. I’m convinced that developing practical design tools is essential to ensure this knowledge is utilized. Therefore, I work closely with national and international partners, such as water-authorities, knowledge institutes and private companies.
In addition to research, educating the new generation of engineers, researchers and policy makers is equally if not more important. I’m an engaged teacher of the third year Bachelor course Multifunctional Flood Defences in which the students learn to integrate a multifunctional flood defence with the many other functions of an urban landscape in an interdisciplinary setting. I also teach the MSc course Hydraulic Engineering, in which students learn to assess and design flood embankments and hydraulic structures and develop integrated and climate-resilient solutions for flood protection within an increasingly complex world.
Expertise
Organisations
Research
Together with PhD and MSc students my research has benefitted practical implementation in models and guidelines. I have co-authored over 35 papers in peer-reviewed journals and my work is presented in more than 120 conferences, workshops and professional articles and reports. My current research advances numerical modelling for dike cover erosion, laboratory experiments for improving sea wall design, stochastic modelling frameworks for flood risk management and sustainable solutions for river bed dynamics under extreme droughts. This knowledge feeds into more accurate process-based models and tools for flood risk reduction and resilience against droughts.
Publications
UT Research Information System
Google Scholar Link
Affiliated Study Programmes
Bachelor
Master
Courses Academic Year 2023/2024
Courses Academic Year 2022/2023
Projects
2022-now Living Dikes (funded by NWO-ORC). https://www.nwo.nl/en/news/research-living-dikes-grow-rising-sea-level
2022-now FutureDikes research project (funded by HWBP, lead by Waterboard Rivierenland). https://www.waterschaprivierenland.nl/future-dikes-sterke-en-natuurlijke-dijk
2021-now Hydraulic river modelling approaches to simulate high flow and low flow conditions (funded by UTwente). https://www.utwente.nl/en/et/cem/research/wem/research/projects/khorsandi/
2021-now Member Expert Network Fresh Water and Drought, advisory committee for Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management.
2021-now Member editorial advisory board of international journal Natural Hazards. https://www.springer.com/journal/11069
2021 Chair organiser NCR-days 2021 conference, February 11-12 2021, Enschede (online). https://ncr-web.org/events/ncr-days-2021/
2020-now Rivers2Morrow research project (funded by Rijkswaterstaat). https://ncr-web.org/projects/rivers2morrow/
2020 Associate editor special issue Resilient Flood Defences in Journal Marine Science and Engineering. https://www.mdpi.com/journal/jmse/special_issues/Resilient_Flood_Defences
2016-2022 All-Risk research project (funded by NWO-Perspectief). https://kbase.ncr-web.org/all-risk/.
PhD thesis Van Bergeijk: https://doi.org/10.3990/1.9789036553414.
PhD thesis Gensen: https://doi.org/10.3990/1.9789036553056.
PhD thesis Chen: https://doi.org/10.3990/1.9789036553001.
2015-2020 RiverCare research project (funded by NWO-Perspectief). https://kbase.ncr-web.org/rivercare/
PhD thesis Berends: https://doi.org/10.3990/1.9789036548823.
2014 Organizer of the NCR-days 2014 conference, October 2-3 2014, Enschede.
2012-2016: Integral and sustainable design of Multifunctional Flood Defences research project (funded by NWO-Perspectief).
PhD thesis Aguilar-Lopez: https://doi.org/10.3990/1.9789036542586.
Contact Details
Visiting Address
University of Twente
Faculty of Engineering Technology
Horst Complex
(building no. 20), room W212
De Horst 2
7522LW Enschede
The Netherlands
Mailing Address
University of Twente
Faculty of Engineering Technology
Horst Complex
W212
P.O. Box 217
7500 AE Enschede
The Netherlands