This is a summary of the curriculum vitae (CV) of Dr. Kjeld J.C. van Bommel, Senior Consultant 3D Food & Pharma Printing, TNO – Department Equipment for Additive Manufacturing, Eindhoven, the Netherlands. He will give a presentation at Fujita Health University.
Dr. van Bommel works for TNO (Nederlandse organisatie voor Toegepast Natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoek; English: Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research), which is a large non-profit organization dedicated to applied scientific research for supporting government and industry. Typically, when needing advice on technical issues, the government of the Netherlands (e.g., the ministry of defense) does not turn to universities but to TNO. In technical practical matters, it is the highest authority in the Netherlands, and it has some similarities with the Japanese RIKEN but in comparison is more dedicated to practical research. I met Dr. van Bommel in Tokyo, where he and others were invited by the embassy of the Netherlands to introduce technical innovations made in the Netherlands to Japan. Dr. van Bommel’s specialty is 3D printing of foods and medicines, which should be very interesting for members of Fujita Health University, because this technique which allows the precise control of added elements is valuable for personalizing health treatments. Equally important was that I found him a naturally gifted speaker, who can easily captivate an audience as broad as ours (as an example, see his TEDx presentation in 2012). The way he describes how foods and medicines can be printed is not only interesting but also thoroughly entertaining.
Dr. van Bommel studied chemical technology and subsequently got a PhD in organic chemistry. Then he worked a year on the development of supramolecular gels and self-assembling polymeric systems as a postdoc at the University of Fukuoka, Kurume, Japan, under supervision of Prof. Seiji Shinkai. This resulted in a first-author paper in the high-impact journal Angewandte Chemie (van Bommel et al. 2003). After this, he returned to the Netherlands to work for a biochemistry company, Biomade Technology Foundation, Groningen, the Netherlands, where again he worked on gels. In 2006, he switched to TNO where he initially worked in the Materials department on encapsulation and formulation technologies. Then, from 2010 to 2015, while remaining at TNO, he started working at the department Equipment for Additive Manufacturing where he became lead scientist for 3D food printing. He was chosen for this function because of his knowledge of material chemistry, which added to the rest of the team who were more specialized in the technical/physics aspect of 3D printing. Since 2015, he is senior consultant of the same TNO department, where he remains focused on 3D food and pharma printing.
Asked if he would be willing to write something personal about his science for this blog, Dr. van Bommel kindly wrote the below beautiful sentences.
MY SCIENCE
(Written by Dr. van Bommel)
For me science has always been about creativity. As Einstein already said: “Play is the highest form of research”, and I fully agree with that.
I consider myself creative but I am not an inventor of new things. Rather I like to use existing things and combine them in new ways to do new things not possible before. I can’t invent a new Lego block, but if you give me 10 existing Lego blocks I can make lots of new things from them.
Hence when many years ago I started in the 3D printing group and someone suggested the 3D printing of food I really liked it and immediately saw all sorts of possibilities. At that time 3D printing was much less known, and wanting to 3D print food was seen as a crazy idea. Now, many years later 3D food printing and later 3D pharma printing have developed into fields with actual applications, which I find very exciting to see. Still there is a lot of work to do to enable more applications and make even better use of the unique possibilities that 3D printing offers to these fields. However, with growing numbers of parties becoming active in these fields, new developments take place every day. Even after 12 years it remains an interesting area to work in and “playing” is still an important part of what we and others in these fields do.
CURRICULUM VITAE
PERSONAL Born in 1971, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
EDUCATION
1995 Master’s degree (ir. (engineer)) in Chemical Technology, University of Twente (the Netherlands)
2000 Ph.D. Organic Chemistry, “A supramolecular approach to radiopharmaceuticals” – Supervision: Prof. Dr. Ir. D. N. Reinhoudt, Department of Supramolecular Chemistry, University of Twente, the Netherlands.
EXPERIENCE
May 1996 – Oct 1996 Erasmus research project, University of Birmingham (UK). Research into the development of new catenane and rotaxane structures. – Supervision: Prof. Dr. J. F. Stoddart, Department of Chemistry, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom.
Mar 2000 – Nov 2000 Post-doctorate, ATOMS (Assembler Tool for Molecular Structures) project, research institute MESA+, University of Twente, the Netherlands. Monolayer growth on shadow mask surfaces for aperture size control. – Supervision: Prof. Dr. Ir. D. N. Reinhoudt, Department of Supramolecular Chemistry, University of Twente, the Netherlands.
Nov 2000 – Nov 2001 Post-doctorate, STA Fellow, Chemotransfiguration Project, Kurume, Japan. Development of supramolecular gels and self-assembling polymeric systems. Formation and study of inorganic, structured materials, using organic self-assembling systems as templates. – Supervision: Prof. Dr. S. Shinkai, University of Fukuoka, Japan.
Feb 2002 – Oct 2006 Researcher, Biomade Technology Foundation, Groningen, the Netherlands. Planning and carrying out research concerning new gelators and gels and their application in (drug) delivery applications. Commercialization of proprietary gel technology. – Supervision: Prof. Dr. G. T. Robillard and Prof. Dr. B. L. Feringa, Department of Chemistry, University of Groningen, the Netherlands.
Nov 2006 – 2010 Innovator, TNO – Dept. Innovative Materials, Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Involved in the development and commercialization of encapsulation and formulation technologies, as well as antifouling coatings.
2010 – 2015 Research scientist, TNO – Dept. Equipment for Additive Manufacturing, Eindhoven (the Netherlands). Lead scientist for 3D food printing. Involved in the development and commercialization of 3D food printing.
2015 – present Senior Consultant, TNO – Dept. Equipment for Additive Manufacturing. Focus on 3D food and pharma printing.
AWARDS, HONORS, and PRESTIGIOUS INVITED LECTURES
• Awarded Biopartner/STIGON First Stage Grant
• Awarded NanoNed Grant
• Awarded STA Fellowship Award
• Finalist Degussa (now Evonik) Business plan competition
Invited lectures (selection)
Dr. van Bommel has given >50 conference contributions and invited lectures, nationally and internationally. Examples are:
• URBAN project conference “3D printing our way to the moon” hosted by the European Space Agency (ESA), June 2018, Noordwijk, the Netherlands.
• IFT 2019 “Developments in 3D Food Printing” June 2019, New Orleans, USA.
• Effost 2019 “Advancements in 3D Food Printing”, November 2019, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
• 3D Food Printing Conference (2016 and onwards), the Netherlands – regular invited speaker
• “Delivery of Personalized Nutrition – Food tech solutions”, Personalized Nutrition meeting, organized by The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences National Committee in Nutrition and Food Sciences, October 2021, Stockholm, Sweden.
PUBLICATIONS AND PATENS
Dr. van Bommel has >50 peer reviewed publications, including 7 patents.
Key publications and patents
• 3D-printed cereal foods, MWJ Noort, K Van Bommel, S Renzetti, Cereal Foods World 62, 2017, 272-277
• 3D food printing way beyond fancy shapes, MWJ Noort, K van Bommel, Baking Europe, 2019, 18-22
• WO2020136383 – Method and apparatus for 3D printing and products obtained therefrom.
• US2017266881 – Method for the production of an edible object using SLS.
• WO2015115897 – Method for the production of an edible object by powder bed (3D) printing and food products obtainable therewith.
Additional significant publications
• WO2014193226 – Method for the production of edible objects using SLS and food products.
• WO2020185070 – Improved printing of energetic materials.
• USD821689 – Pasta.
• Characterization and model-based design validation of 3D printed cookies – article published in 7th Conference on Industrial Computed Tomography (iCT 2017, pp 1-9), Valérie Vancauwenberghe, Mulugeta Adasu Delele, Wondwosen Aregawi, Pieter Verboven, Evi Bongaers, Martijn Noort, Mathijs de Schipper, Edwin Van den Eijnden, Kjeld Van Bommel, Bart Nicolai.
3D Food Printing projects
PERFORMANCE (EU-FP7)
EU-funded project aimed at the development of a 3D food printer, capable of producing personalized medical nutrition meals for elderly people suffering from dysphagia (chewing and/or swallowing problems).
CIBUS-FOOD (EU-SUSFOOD)
EU-funded project in which the creation of designed food textures by means of 3D printing is investigated.
VARIOUS
Multiple bilateral and other projects for partnering companies and organizations including Barilla, Mondelēz, Katjes, Südzucker, GEA, Cargill, Nissin, Tate & Lyle, General Mills, DFE, Merck, Phoenix, Dutch Ministry of Defense, US Army. Collaborations with Dutch culinary institute and Michelin star chef on food printing in gastronomy.
