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Top Team

The Top Team consists of the chairs of ChemistryNL. They represent the large business community, knowledge institutions, SMEs and the government. The four members of the Top Team are: Jacqueline Vaessen, Tom van Aken, Moniek Tromp and Karlo van Dam. The Board of Directors of ChemistryNL consists of the members of the Top Team, without Karlo van Dam. In addition, the Top Team has a secretariat.

Jacqueline Vaessen
Jacqueline Vaessen studied chemical technology and started her working life as a technologist at Shell in Moerdijk. In 1996 she switched to Syntens, the then innovation instrument of Economic Affairs. She started her own company in 2004 and was active for many years in the promotion of technology and improvements in vocational education. She was also associated with an engineering firm for a number of years that focused on making industry more sustainable. In 2015 she became a member of the Provincial Council in Utrecht as spokesperson for energy and economy. In 2018 she started in her current position as general manager of Nexstep. Within Nexstep, she and TNO took the initiative for the first offshore hydrogen production on an existing platform. She and her team also prepared a first tender in which six operators will jointly dismantle wells, a worldwide first.
Check out the introduction interview with Jacqueline Vaessen in Change Inc. magazine (12.2021).

 

Tom van Aken
Tom van Aken is CEO at Avantium and member of the Management Board. Avantium is a pioneer in the emerging industry of renewable and sustainable chemistry. Based on his experiences and network, he represents SMEs within the top team.

Tom van Aken started his career at DSM within the fine chemicals division, both in the Netherlands and in the United States. In 2002 he made the switch to Amsterdam-based start-up Avantium, a sustainable chemical company that makes green, recyclable plastics with the help of plant-based substances, such as industrial sugars, using self-developed technology. Van Aken was initially responsible for business development and was appointed CEO of Avantium in 2005. Under his leadership, the company was transformed into a technology company that focuses on renewable chemical products and materials. Avantium has laboratories in Amsterdam, a first factory in Delfzijl and a pilot plant in Geleen with the ambition to produce new, biobased products and processes on a commercial scale.

Moniek Tromp

Moniek Tromp is professor of Materials Chemistry at the University of Groningen. In addition to the professorship, Moniek Tromp is the figurehead of the Battery Competence Cluster NL, chairman and scientific director of the Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials (ZIAM) and chairman of the Dutch Association for Catalysis (part of the Royal Dutch Chemistry Association (KNCV)). Moniek Tromp was previously a board member of the NWO of the Physical Sciences domain. Moniek Tromp is largely involved as a scientific figurehead in the objectives of ChemistryNL and the TKI Green Chemistry and Circularity. She has been working closely with the business community throughout her international scientific career.

Karlo van Dam
Karlo van Dam has been quartermaster since January 1, 2023 and director of Sustainable Industry at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate since July 1, 2023. Karlo van Dam is leading the government’s desired acceleration of the policy task of making industry more sustainable, for which an overarching National Program for Sustainable Industry has been established. Karlo van Dam is appointed as a top team member for an initial period of 3 years, with a maximum of 8 years.

 

Secretariat Top Team 

The secretariat of the Top Team consists of the following persons: