About Ivo Pothof
Mr. Ivo Pothof (PhD, MSc, 1972) is senior scientist at Deltares and leading the R&D portfolio on Energy Transition and Climate Neutrality. He identifies innovations and has initiated multiple strategic R&D projects in the cross-over between water, renewable energy and smart control of water and energy infrastructure. Two recent examples: Mr. Pothof represented Deltares and TU Delft in the set-up of the national mission-driven R&D programme on future-proof district heating, WarmingUP (2020-2023), including 5 PhD-positions and strong collaboration with all stakeholders in the district heating value chain; total programme value 19 M€. Mr. Pothof has co-developed the successful MOOI application MaxFlex-ZLT, which is a strongly integrated R&D project to develop energy services with thermal buffers in utility buildings connected to 5th generation district heating cooling (5GHDC) and subsurface storage (ATES), including 2 PhD positions with a project value of 4,8 M€. Mr. Pothof is a member of the advisory board of the District Heating facility at The Green Village in Delft and chair of the Program council of TKI Urban Energy for sustainable heating and cooling (MMIP4).
Mr. Pothof has a background as an industrial hydrodynamics specialist at Deltares. Joining Delft Hydraulics (currently Deltares) in 1997, he became specialist in fluid transients, optimal control of pipeline systems and air-water pipe flows. His PhD thesis on air-water flows in downward sloping pipes is directly applicable to (waste)water, cooling water and hydropower outlet works.
He has worked on innovative solutions for the water and energy sectors in the Netherlands and abroad. He has experience with development of guidelines and numerical algorithms for fluid transients (WANDA software), design and commissioning (SAT) of water transmission, district heating and fire fighting systems, field measurements and troubleshooting. His book chapter on transients in water supply systems has been downloaded over 8,000 times worldwide. Mr. Pothof is affiliated with Delft University of Technology, department of Water Management, developing a research team on sustainable heating and cooling.
He has training experience as a lecturer at Deltares Academy (Hydrodynamics in Pipeline Systems, Design District Heating Cooling) and as a guest lecturer at Delft University of Technology. He has published in various peer-reviewed journals and numerous conference proceedings. He graduated in 1995 in Systems and Control Theory at the University of Twente, faculty Applied Mathematics.