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Meet the people behind DuFor | Niels Hoffard

As a child, Niels Hoffard was determined to become an inventor. He was constantly thinking up new things. For him there was no question: he wanted to become the new Gyro Gearloose. So it was no surprise that after high school he chose to study chemistry. Now Niels has been working at DuFor for 12.5 years, where he currently fulfills the role of technical director. It’s his “ultimate dream job”. Why is that? You can read all about it here.

Few people are as determined as Niels when it comes to plotting a career. He consciously chose a college degree in chemistry and could also be found in the laboratory for his side job. For his graduation project, he ended up at a research institute specializing in polymers. "The then CTO of DuFor sometimes outsourced research at that company. Coincidentally, I met Marco Brons (former Technical Director of DuFor, ed.) at lunch. We immediately had a click. A few weeks later Marco asked if I was interested in applying for a job with the goal of building the company further up", Niels looks back.

Relocating

Niels didn't have to think long about it. He carried out his graduation project for DuFor on behalf of the research institute. Shortly after completing the assignment, Niels was asked if he wanted to work at DuFor. And then things suddenly went fast. "I was living in Emmen and DuFor is located in Zevenaar. It soon became clear to me that I would then also have to move," Niels says with a laugh. "In August, I graduated and immediately afterwards, I moved to Arnhem, a big city nearby, to start at DuFor."

Immediately a lot of responsibility

Although Niels came straight out of school, he already brought with him the necessary experience. Knowledge that came in handy, because a great challenge immediately awaited him. "I was given the opportunity to further expand the quality, research and compliance departments together with Marco. Those departments were still small at the time. It was my job to expand them and I was given a fair amount of responsibility right away. Fortunately, I had already worked in a polymer chemical lab as a side job, and in addition, I had gained a lot of experience in the pilot plant and polymer lab at the research institute. Moreover, I learned a lot from my mentors at graduation and, of course, from Marco, a true chemist and researcher at heart. So, there were multiple sources to gain my knowledge from.”

Expanding knowledge

Niels worked as an R&D manager for about ten years. When Marco sold his DuFor shares and started to focus entirely on CuRe Technology, Niels became CTO of the company. “While Marco was still working at DuFor, I had already been given more and more responsibilities, but since then I have been ultimately responsible for the three departments, which have now grown a lot larger than in the early days. Fortunately, I now work with a strong team with whom I can share my accumulated experience. In the meantime, I also took a master's degree in polymer engineering. A valuable addition to the knowledge I had already acquired."

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