Rik van Gorp is a PhD candidate at TU Eindhoven and co-founder of the spin-off company Pora Technologies. His research advances the understanding of the engineering principles of membrane-free alkaline electrolysis for green hydrogen production.
Rik holds BSc and MSc degrees in chemical engineering from the University of Groningen and TU Eindhoven respectively, and has gained extensive entrepreneurial experience. In 2025, he worked with master's students in the GroenvermogenNL Ideation Lab project, which ran for just over six months, to find out what industry needs from his technology.
Entrepreneurial spirit
While studying for his MSc degree, Rik discovered his keen interest in engineering energy systems. His current aim is to contribute to the greening of the chemical industry by using hydrogen as a sustainable energy source to replace fossil fuels in production chains. Specifically, Rik is developing membrane-free alkaline electrolysis to produce hydrogen, focusing on the components and design of the electrolyser, with the goal of making this new technology market-ready. Removing the membrane takes one of the most costly and vulnerable components out of the electrolyser, opening a route to green hydrogen that is cheaper than that produced from natural gas.
Rik working in the lab at TU Eindhoven
Lessons from ITER and a first spin-off
Rik says, “After finishing my master's thesis at TU Eindhoven, I moved to the south of France to undertake an internship at the ITER nuclear fusion project.” While there, he worked on modelling how the reactor's inner wall would retain tritium under the extreme heat and neutron loads of the fusion plasma. “It was an amazing experience to see up close what it takes to deploy an energy system at a very large scale. I still use that perspective when I think about scaling up electrolysers.”
During his internship, Rik was contacted by prof. Antoni Forner-Cuenca, who suggested they start a spin-off together based on fuel cell electrode technology in the early stages of development. Rik decided to accept the offer. With the help of Faculty of Impact*, Rik began investigating the technology’s readiness and exploring its potential for commercialisation. After market validation and two pilot projects, the answer was clear: the market was too small, and the pilot partners had more urgent problems to solve, such as access to cheap hydrogen. Rik stopped the venture and started a PhD to work on one of those problems.
Building Pora Technologies
This time, Rik started from what industry needs and then developed the technology to match it. He took on the challenge of developing membrane-free alkaline electrolysis for producing affordable green hydrogen.
Before this new technology hits the market, Rik is using his PhD project to provide it with a stronger scientific basis, gaining more insight into its capabilities by testing different manufacturing processes. The technology is protected by a Dutch patent that has been granted and an international patent application. Together with his co-founders Rens Horst and Luca Gerber, Rik is now taking the technology out of the lab and scaling it up. The team plans to register the company as a legal entity in early 2027. After defending his PhD thesis that year, Rik will be working full-time at Pora Technologies.
Talent development at GroenvermogenNL Ideation Lab
Having gained his first entrepreneurial experience, Rik found it logical to join the GroenvermogenNL Ideation Lab, which ran a Green Energy edition organised by 4TU.Energy.
Rik explains, “I was matched with three talented students and a coach. The master's students conducted market research on the membrane-free electrolyser technology and spoke with more than 100 people in industry to identify demand and different market needs. They also assessed how well the technology matched these needs. The project lasted over six months, and the students did such an excellent job that two of them continued to be involved after it ended. Luca Gerber joined Pora Technologies as a co-founder, and Nipun Kaushik, who works as an engineering consultant at Capgemini, became our industry advisor.”
Pora Technologies’ product aims to support the steel manufacturing and ammonia industries, and the production of methanol for the power-to-X industry. During the GroenvermogenNL project, students compiled a list of requirements for new electrolyser systems and identified the factors that these industries consider when working with an electrolyser. Rik adds, “These requirements now determine our development targets, from the operating pressure needed by plants to the durability we must demonstrate before customers will deploy our electrolysers on a large scale.”
Overall, Rik recommends exploring the opportunities that come with joining the GroenvermogenNL Ideation Lab: “You have the chance to make a real impact by listening to what the industry needs and designing early-stage technology accordingly. This programme provides valuable experience and inspiration for developing new research ideas that address challenges in the energy transition.”
The greening of chemical industry at EU level
“The current challenge in the energy transition for the chemical industry is to shift towards inexpensive renewable energy for its basic molecular raw material production. Once producing these raw materials with renewable energy is actually cheaper than with fossil fuels, switching becomes a logical financial choice and the transition can proceed rapidly. That is what we are working towards with Pora Technologies. We aim to produce green hydrogen that costs less than hydrogen made from natural gas. To enable this transition, we also need policies and a favourable public opinion,” says Rik.
Some of the barriers to a swifter energy transition are regulations, but also a limited supply of skilled workers. Here, Rik sees an opportunity to address these issues at EU level.
“The energy transition requires collaboration with stakeholders. We simply need a broader variety of perspectives in the room. 4TU.Energy can play an important role in creating space for discussions, offering support with small funds, keeping track of conclusions and bringing those to policymakers.”
Contact Rik van Gorp
Rik van Gorp’s web profile at TU Eindhoven.
The spin-off company Rik co-founded: Pora Technologies, visit their LinkedIn page.
Pora Technologies is looking for industrial partners to join its upcoming pilot projects. Companies that are interested can get in touch with Rik through the company website.
Notes
*Faculty of Impact is a national programme for scientists who want to turn their research into a business with impact. It was created by the Dutch universities (Universities of the Netherlands), together with the Dutch Research Council (NWO) and Techleap. Read more.
Picture credits: Eindhoven University of Technology (2026).
Interview and article by Nienke D. Nijenhuis