Dr. ir. Leon van den Oetelaar is Senior Specialist in Albemarle Catalysts R&D in Amsterdam.
He has been working in Albemarle Catalysts for more than 15 years as scientist, project leader and R&D group head to develop catalysts for alternative fuel applications and for hydroprocessing. Albemarle Catalysts is operating globally and provides flexible, performance-based catalysts, technologies and related services to the refining and petrochemical industries. Production locations including joint ventures are in The Netherlands (Amsterdam), USA (Texas), Brasil and Japan.
He has studied Chemical Engineering at the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) and did his Ph.D. in the TU/e Applied Physics department, titled “Surface and interface phenomena in heterogeneous metal catalysis”. Before working in Albemarle, he has worked for several years in Akzo Nobel Corporate Research Centre in Arnhem in the field of Microstructure Analysis. His main specialty was Transmission Electron Microscopy.
Leon van den Oetelaar represents Albemarle as a VIRAN member since 2021 and his aspiration is to stimulate fruitful interactions between academia and industry and to stimulate sustainable solutions in catalysis research.