Maike Baltussen is an Assistant Professor at the research group Multiscale Modelling of Multiphase Flows where the main topic is the development of advanced reactor models for multiphase reactors with industrial relevance. At present the focus is on the hydrodynamics and transfer of heat and mass in these reactors, since a lack of understanding of the flow phenomena is one of the central difficulties in the design and scale-up of multiphase reactors. Another research topic is understanding the interplay of transport phenomena with chemical reactions. The expertise of Maike is in the field of gas-liquid, gas-solid and gas-liquid-solid hydrodynamics and in multi-scale modelling, from DNS to phenomenological models.

Maike Baltussen studied both Chemical Engineering and Nanotechnology at the University of Twente (UT, Enschede, The Netherlands). In 2010, she obtained her MSc in Chemical Engineering cum laude for her numerical study of monodisperse and bi-disperse bubble swarms at the UT research group Fundamentals of Chemical Reaction Engineering. As part of her study she also completed an internship at Kyoto University (Japan). In 2011, she completed her study in Nanotechnology with a numerical research project regarding the colloidal stability of oxidative nanofilms, performed at the UT research group Inorganic Material Science. She then became a PhD student at the research group Multi-Scale Modelling of Multiphase Flows at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) under supervision of professors Hans Kuipers and Niels Deen. In 2015 she graduated on her thesis 'Bubbles on the cutting edge: direct numerical simulations of gas-liquid-solid three-phase flows'. In 2016, after being a postdoctoral researcher at UT for almost a year, she was appointed Assistant Professor with the TU/e group Multi-Scale Modelling of Multiphase Flows of Prof. Hans Kuipers.