About us
AMES was founded in October 2021 by Rob Hagmeijer, Dennis van Putten, and the University of Twente, aiming to develop smart and technology-driven solutions for health care and to bring these to the marke to improve medical treatment of patients by developing smart solu‐ tions.
We have the vision that clinicians can benefit from collaboration with engineers and vice verse. By converting medical issues to engineering problems a toolbox with a a wide range of possible solutions is available, as long as both fields of expertise are willing to put effort in understanding each other.
One can think of home‐based monitoring systems or improvements of equipment in a medical environment.
AMES will be the development and innovation centre and will focus on the generation of IP and the exploitation of this IP. The core value of AMES is that we care about the patient and will provide the best possible solution for the patient and/or clinician. Providing good quality and robust solutions is equally important as profitability. AMES will be a responsible, reliable and trusted partner, basing its solutions on solid scientific foundations.
The Team
Rob Hagmeijer was born in Zaandam in 1957. The name Hagmeijer is connected to one of the wind mills now present at the Zaansche Schans which was owned and operated by his great‐grandfather and co‐operated by his grandfather.
Rob initially headed for a career as a professional bass player, but in 1981 he decided that his real talent was in physics and engineering. He started to study aeronautical engineering in Delft and ended up graduating cum laude on the aerodynamics of an axial wind turbine. He then started as a research engineer at the National Aerospace Laboratory NLR in Amsterdam, where he worked for 12 years on the theory and numerical simulation of the extreme high‐temperature flows around space‐shuttles that return to the earth.
In 2000 he started his current position as an associate professor in fluid mechanics at the University of Twente where he tremendously enjoyed working with great colleagues and talented students. One of these students stood really out: Dennis van Putten did both his MSc thesis and his PhD thesis with Rob, both leading to graduations with distinction. Rob and Dennis appear to have near‐identical views on how to do research in general and on how to discuss and communicate mutual visions and ideas in particular.
Rob gradually became interested in applying fluid mechanics within the field of medical health care. He worked on cardiovascular problems (partly together with Dennis as a post‐doc) such as heart valves and coronary arteries, and witnessed several open‐heart surgery procedures, surprising himself for not having fainted. He also worked on pulmonary flows such as the transport of particles and viruses, and in particular on high‐flow therapy as an emerging technique to support critically ill patients suffering from bronchiolitis, asthma, or COPD.
During one of the laboratory experiments with 3D‐printed human airways he discovered that by simply measuring the pressure in the nose of the patient, one can monitor the respiration pattern of a patient. Many years and several BSc, MSc, PhD, and post‐doc students later, two patent applications were filed which now embody the core of the spin‐off AMES B.V.
Rob is thrilled to be part of the current developments that will employ the monitoring method to safe‐guard COPD patients from unnecessary hospitalisations.
Dennis van Putten studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Twente, where in the second year he was introduced to fluid mechanics by Rob. The way the course was given by Rob inspired Dennis to choose for the Engineering Fluid Dynamics Master. The collaboration with Rob was further strengthened by performing his MSc project under his supervision, which led to cum laude graduation.
After starting to work for a spin‐off company of Shell, he decided to start a PhD project next to his full‐time job with Rob as a supervisor. The strong working relationship with Rob enabled him to finish the project within 4 years with cum laude distinction.
After his PhD graduation, Dennis decided to work for DNV where he currently works. He is the technical lead in several large Joint Industry Projects in which connects clients around the world to resolve common challenges. This was also the reason why he was selected by DNV to follow a micro‐MBA at the Haas School of Business (UC Berkeley). After working successfully in the energy industry for more than 15 years, he discovered that his intrinsic motivation comes from helping the people in need, so he started a biomedical Post‐Doc in collaboration with Rob and the Thorax centre at the MST. In this project, they resolved a long‐standing issue with ultrasonic clamp‐on flow measurement on bypass grafts performed during heart surgery. At his time at the University he also had a lot of discussions with Rob on the monitoring of patients with pulmonary diseases and got involved in the concept we now call BreatheView.
Rob and Dennis have been working together for more than 15 years on multiple subjects concerning fluid dynamics (supersonic flows, condensation physics and algorithm development). Their scientific success was demonstrated during the MSc‐ and PhD‐projects of Dennis, where they collaborated intensively. In the recent years, both Rob and Dennis have increased interest is resolving technical medical issues by deploying their fundamental fluid dynamical knowledge. One of their ideas (BreatheView) has been the trigger for starting up a business together (AMES). From the start of AMES, they have successfully applied for multiple grants which allowed them to further develop the BreatheView product from a technical and commercial perspective. They share the same values in science, business and in life. Technical and scientific discussions are part of their daily routine, which has been a key item in their scientific success. Their long working history has lead to an open and honest collaboration over the past years and a good connection on a personal level.