Ruud Balkenende

Professor Ruud Balkenende has established himself as a leading authority in Circular Product Design at TU Delft's Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, where he investigates product design strategies for circular economy recovery pathways. His academic journey began with a PhD focusing on copper in automotive exhaust catalyst materials, followed by a significant tenure at Philips Research from 1990, where he worked at the intersection of technological innovation and business applications. His research focus shifted in 2009 to address critical issues of materials scarcity and product recyclability, emphasizing the connection between product architecture and resource efficiency. Since 2013, he has expanded his scope from recyclability to broader circular economy principles, concentrating on functional reuse of products and components rather than just material recovery. As editor of recent publications on repair in the circular economy and leader in sustainable design education, he continues to advance the field through developing design methods that enable multiple product lifecycles, exploring circular design strategies, and investigating business models that support product life-extension, reuse, remanufacturing, and recycling.