Stephan van Dijk

Stephan is Director of Innovation at the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions. The AMS Institute is a young international institute at the forefront of urban research and innovation and was established in 2015. We aim to make cities better, and bring together the strengths and brightest minds from our founding partners Delft University of Technology, Wageningen University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). We collaborate closely with the city of Amsterdam (and other cities) and our partners to create solutions for pressing urban challenges. Stephan is responsible for the innovation strategy and research & innovation programs of AMS Institute. Annually, about 40 research projects are being executed, involving between 120-150 researchers. In the last two years, 10 urban tech start-ups have spun-off from the work at AMS Institute.

Stephan always wanted to become an architect, but instead got an MSc in systems engineering and applied mathematics, and did his first neural network programming in 1995. He obtained a PhD in business administration and innovation management from Eindhoven University of Technology. Working on research, innovation and new technologies that have an impact on improving our daily lives in cities is what drives Stephan. He is a strategic thinker and doer and enjoys working across disciplines and boundaries. He worked on urban innovation with cities like Amsterdam, Lisbon, Barcelona, Eindhoven, Rotterdam and the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs. And with start-ups, design agencies and corporates like Philips, Google, CleverFranke, DSM, UNStudio, PON, Daimler, TomTom, Schiphol, and KLM.

Stephan is member of the Innovation Board for Smart Mobility at the Amsterdam Metropolitan Region (AMA), member of the EIT Urban Mobility Nomination Committee, and member of the steering committee Impact Monitoring NZ Metroline Amsterdam.