Roelof Heezen

Having been born and raised closed to the Technische Hogeschool Twente (now Twente University) in the Netherlands and with a keen interest in science and engineering, Twente University was a natural choice for Roelof Heezen when it came to higher education. Roelof commenced his studies in Chemical Engineering at Twente in 1979.

After studying for more than five years and completing a Masters in process engineering, Roelof sought a role which had a strong focus on research and development. He began his professional career at Shell’s laboratories in Amsterdam, where he worked for five years on a variety of projects including those featuring drying, adsorption and extraction.

During the 1990’s, Roelof worked in the hydroprocessing field. During this period, Roelof worked at the Shell Pernis refinery (Hycon unit) in the Netherlands, the hydrocracker in the Saudi Aramco Shell Refinery in Jubail (Saudi Arabia) and servicing hydroprocessing units at Shell’s US refineries while based at the Westhollow Technology Centre in Houston, Texas. He subsequently secured the opportunity to work as Process Engineering Manager at the Shell Deer Park refinery in Houston.

After nine years overseas, Roelof returned to The Netherlands in 2003, where he joined Shell Global Solutions (now Shell Projects & Technology) in a global role which largely focused on business improvement and hydrocarbon management for refineries.

In early 2007, Roelof returned to hydroprocessing and base oil as global technology manager, being responsible for delivery of R&D, design and technical services. During a growth period in the refining industry, his team delivered numerous designs for new hydroprocessing units, producing ultra-low sulphur diesel.

In 2009, Roelof was appointed Vice President of Downstream Technology within the Innovation, Research & Development for Shell Projects & Technology overseeing longer-term research activities. He is based at Shell Technology Centre Amsterdam.