Kuipers was awarded the royal decoration particularly for his groundbreaking research and the new methods he developed in the field of chemical process technology. “These allow large-scale industrial processes to be simulated with great accuracy, ensuring more efficient and sustainable production processes. Kuipers’ models are used as the standard worldwide,” reads the Meierijstad press release.

In 2010, Kuipers moved from Twente University to TU/e as professor of multi-scale modeling of multiphase flows and settled in Veghel. He leads the group at Chemical Engineering and Chemistry and is also affiliated with research institute EIRES.

Kuipers’ wife Liesbeth brought him to De Zwarte Doos to celebrate his 25th anniversary as a professor. To his surprise, Mayor Kees van Rooij of Meierijstad pinned a ribbon on him there.

Van Rooij gave a speech with amusing anecdotes about Kuipers’ student days in Twente (he once rode his bike into a pond) and missing a train because of an intense conversation with a colleague on the platform.

However, he also presented solid reasons for the decoration: “One of your most influential contributions is the development and application of discrete particle models; you conducted extensive research into gas-solid fluidized beds, a technology widely used in the chemical industry for catalytic cracking and the synthesis of chemical products. Through this, you contributed to a better understanding of hydrodynamics and reaction mechanisms.”

The mayor also pointed out that Kuipers has supervised 91 PhD candidates to date, that he has won the prestigious ERC Advanced Grants twice and the NWO CW Top grant three times, among many other honors. “However, there is one recognition still missing, and therefore it has pleased His Majesty the King to appoint you as Knight of the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands.”