Adriaan Mels, PhD, is affiliated with Wageningen University & Research (WUR) as a professor and chairholder in Water Technology and Metropolitan Solutions. His work focuses on innovative solutions for water and wastewater treatment, resource recovery, and urban resilience. Mels earned his PhD at WUR in 2001, specializing in energy-efficient wastewater treatment technologies for urban environments.
Following his doctorate, he served as theme leader at the Lettinga Associates Foundation (LeAF) and led the Urban Environment Group. Under his leadership, this group was integrated into WUR’s Environmental Technology chair group in 2010, evolving into the Urban Systems Engineering group. He also played a pivotal role in revamping the MSc programme in Urban Environmental Management.
In 2010, Mels joined VEI, a collaboration of Dutch drinking water companies focused on international partnerships. He led projects in various African and Asian countries, aiming to improve water and sanitation services. In 2016, he co-founded the WaterWorX programme, a long-term initiative to enhance water and wastewater services for 10 million people across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Since 2022, Mels has worked part-time at WUR in collaboration with VEI.
In his current role at WUR, Mels leads research on urban circularity, the removal of pathogens and micropollutants, such as PFAS and pharmaceutical residues, from drinking water and wastewater, and the application of machine learning in the design and operation of circular systems and in modeling uncertainty for decision-making.