“Safety is just a phenomenon of prosperity: a high level of prosperity corresponds to a high safety standard.”

Ruud van Herpen holds a master’s degree in Civil Engineering from Delft University of Technology (1987). He followed several post-graduate courses and made a switch from civil engineering and building physics to fire safety engineering around 1995. From 1991 to 2002, Van Herpen worked as consultant at Cauberg-Huygen Consulting Engineers. In 2002, he became Technical Director at Nieman Consulting Engineers and is now senior consultant at Peutz. Since 2004, Van Herpen has been the initiator and coordinator of the post-graduate course Fire Safety Engineering & Management (SKB and IFV/Fire Service Academy). In 2011, he became a Fellow at the Institution of Fire Engineers and a Professor at Saxion University of Applied Sciences. Van Herpen joined TU/e as Fellow in Fire Safety Engineering in 2012.