I am Associate Professor in Information Systems at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). My key area of research is Business Process Engineering. In particular, I study techniques for modeling business processes, including their formal (mathematical) underpinning, and the analysis techniques that can be developed on top of these formal models. My focus topics are the detection of optimal execution scenarios, quantitative analysis of operational processes, and optimal resource assignment in operational processes.
My involvement in the 4TU Centre for Resilience Engineering stems from the fact that operational processes are also subject to disruptions due to external factors and must be made resilient to such disruptions. Examples of such disruptions include the coronavirus pandemic, which affected global trade and the ability for people to do their work. In general it also includes natural disasters, trade wars, and other events that affect the availability of production resources, the extent to which people are allowed to work on processes, and the extent to which an organization can trade with other organizations or customers.
Against this background the 4TU Centre for Resilience Engineering is highly relevant to business process engineering, as it also studies quantitative methods and techniques for analyzing and optimizing the resilience of business processes. As business processes are increasingly intertwined in a global network, with the corresponding risks of disruption, this importance will only increase in the future.