I am a postdoctoral researcher in Coastal Engineering specializing in three-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modeling, with applications in coastal hydrodynamics, nature-based flood defence systems, airflow around beach buildings, and aeolian sediment transport. I am currently working on the VIDI-funded Living Dikes project, where I develop advanced 3D CFD models in OpenFOAM to investigate wave-vegetation-dike interactions and quantify how salt marsh vegetation characteristics, including stem density, height, thickness, branching structure, stiffness, spatial configuration, and submergence ratio, influence wave attenuation and wave loading on coastal dikes.
Prior to this, I completed my first postdoctoral project within the NWO-funded SALTISolutions project, where I developed an Integrated Assessment Model (IAM) to support stakeholder engagement and decision-making for mitigating salt intrusion in the Rhine-Meuse Delta. The IAM integrates hydrodynamic, salinity, drinking water, nature, and cost perspectives within the Delta Management Game, a serious gaming environment that enables stakeholders to evaluate mitigation strategies, explore trade-offs between competing interests, and support collaborative decision-making. Working jointly at the University of Twente and Deltares has allowed me to combine fundamental research with real-world applications and collaborate closely with experts from both academia and practice.
During my PhD at the University of Twente, as part of the NWO-funded ShoreScape project, I developed a 3D CFD model to investigate airflow and aeolian sediment transport around coastal buildings, examining how building geometry, orientation, spacing, and elevation on poles influence local wind flow patterns and duneward sediment transport.
Throughout these projects, I have published several peer-reviewed journal papers, presented my research at national and international conferences, contributed to project consortium meetings and stakeholder events, and taught and mentored Bachelor's and Master's students.
Organisations
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Research profiles
- Teaching practical sessions and laboratory experiments in Fluid Mechanics (BSc course).
- Supervising Hydraulic Engineering projects (MSc course).
- Mentoring MSc theses.
Current projects
Living Dikes project
May 2025 - Present
In this two-year postdoctoral project, which is part of the larger VIDI-funded Living Dikes project, a three-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model was developed in OpenFOAM to investigate wave propagation through vegetated foreshores in front of coastal dikes and to quantify the effects of salt marsh vegetation on wave attenuation and wave loading on dikes. The model provides a coupled representation of wave-vegetation-dike interactions by explicitly resolving individual vegetation stems, enabling a more realistic representation of vegetation than the simplified approaches commonly adopted in previous studies. The research aims to improve our understanding of the physical processes governing nature-based flood defences and to support the optimization of Living Dike designs. It is used to investigate how vegetation characteristics, including stem density, height, thickness, branching structure, stiffness, spatial configuration, and submergence ratio, influence hydrodynamic flow patterns, wave attenuation, and wave-induced forces acting on dikes. The long-term objective of this research is to derive generalized relationships between vegetation characteristics and wave attenuation under various hydrodynamic conditions, enabling improved vegetation parameterizations in larger-scale coastal models (e.g., Delft3D) and contributing to the design of more resilient and sustainable nature-based coastal protection systems. Preliminary results have been presented at national meetings and international conferences (IAHR and ICCE), while journal manuscripts are currently in preparation.
Finished projects
SALTISolutions project
May 2023 - April 2025
In this two-year postdoctoral project, which was part of the larger NWO-funded SALTISolutions project, an Integrated Assessment Model (IAM) was developed to support decision-making for mitigating salt intrusion in the Rhine-Meuse Delta. The IAM integrates hydrodynamic, salinity, drinking water, nature, and cost modules into a user-friendly decision-support framework, enabling users to assess the impacts of different mitigation measures from multiple perspectives. The model was designed to facilitate stakeholder engagement by improving understanding of the interactions and trade-offs between environmental, technical, and socio-economic aspects of salt intrusion management. The research involved identifying stakeholder requirements, designing the conceptual framework of the IAM, developing and integrating the different modules into a graphical user interface, and implementing the model within the serious gaming environment Delta Management Game, which brings stakeholders together to support collaborative and interactive decision-making in a game-based setting. The outcomes of this research were presented at project consortium meetings, stakeholder prototype days, national events, and international conferences, and published in a peer-reviewed journal paper.
ShoreScape
November 2018 - April 2023
My PhD thesis, "Modelling the Influence of Characteristics, Orientation and Positioning of Beach Buildings on Airflow and Aeolian Sediment Transport Patterns in the Surrounding Area", focused on developing a three-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model in OpenFOAM to simulate airflow and wind-induced erosion and deposition patterns around coastal buildings (specifically holiday cottages) at the beach-dune interface. The model was used to investigate the effects of building geometry, orientation with respect to the wind direction, spacing between neighbouring buildings, and the placement of buildings on poles on airflow patterns and sediment transport toward the dunes. This research was part of the ShoreScape project, funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) and co-funded by Rijkswaterstaat (RWS) and Hoogheemraadschap Hollands Noorderkwartier (HHNK). The results were presented at national and international conferences (NCK, IAHR, ICCE, and ETMM) and published in four peer-reviewed journal papers.
Address
University of Twente
Horst - Ring (building no. 21)
De Horst 2
7522 LW Enschede
Netherlands
University of Twente
Horst - Ring
P.O. Box 217
7500 AE Enschede
Netherlands
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