dr. MJM (Maurits) Burgering

Program Director Thematic Technology Transfer Circular Technology (TTT-CT)

Manager Knowledge Transfer Office and Intelectual Property Desk

Value creation, making knowledge work for the benefit of the society is a common denominator throughout my professional carrier. Through the unpredictable cause of things, I happen to be working on various key-institutes in the “Food Valley” of the Netherlands. Empowering experts and scientists of various kinds and through new business development I was fortunate to demonstrate several high impact innovations in real practice.

Currently, my role is as acting Program Director for the Thematic Technology Transfer program revolving around Circular Technology in short TTT-CT. This program, hosted by WUR, is connecting the strength of the 4 technical universities (Delft, Eindhoven, Twente, Wageningen) and TNO on value creation in Circular Technology. A similar daughter programme, lead by Eindhoven technical university, is revolving around Smart Industries (TTT-SI). The aim of these programs is to screen and scout (very) early phase innovations and support this with business or proof-of-concept vouchers and make them ready for substantial (pre-seed) funding to create new Spin-off’s. Genuinely crossing the “Value of Death”. Circular Technology certainly means our “Green” domain, that is the Wageningen University and Research domain. By this we hope to achieve more, better and scalable spin-off’s that make the difference.

After many years in various area’s of life science both applied and fundament as well as business development first at NIZO food research in Ede, than TNO Food & Nutrition in Zeist and the last two years at WFBR in Wageningen, I have officially started as of first of March at Corporate Value Creation (CVC), at WUR.

After my education in chemistry I received a PhD on biophysical and structural NMR studies of regulatory proteins at the University of Utrecht. Here, I learned the hard work of competitive and high impact science at the cutting edge of the frontiers of technology. Subsequently, I worked at the pharmaceutical/nutritional companies Organon and later Gist Brocades (DSM) where I learned the values of corporate R&D.

Running the NIZO contribution of the FP6 EU project DiOGenes, being active in the ‘Top Sector Agri-Food’ “Biobased” as a TNO representative, MT member of the PCC; the Protein Competence Centre and playing a active role in the merger of TNO’s Functional Ingredients Zeist with WFBR I’m fully fuelled and motivated to bring the TTT-CT, CVC and value creating at WUR to the next era.