Thijs Defraeye is the leader of the SimBioSys team at Empa, an interdisciplinary research institute for materials science and technology development based in Switzerland. He works with a team that uses data and physics-based simulations to understand the causes of fresh food loss and ways how to avoid it.
Thijs worked for over 10 years in postharvest food technology and worked previously at K.U. Leuven and ETH Zürich. He also published over 100 scientific publications in food science and technology and other fields.
Thijs received a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from KU Leuven in 2011 and habilitated at ETH Zurich in 2021.