Wouter Hamer holds a PhD in semiconductor electrochemistry (2005) and a Master's degree in Materials Science & Engineering (1999) from Delft University of Technology.

In addition, Wouter has worked as a post-doc for the Netherlands Institute for Metals Research with a focus on hydrogen embrittlement of roller bearing steels.

Joining Shell in 2007, in Wouter’s first role he became one of Shell Netherlands Refinery's Materials & Corrosion Engineers. Moving from the hard-core science of electrochemistry to extreme applied engineering in the Pernis refinery turned out to be a giant leap with a very steep learning curve.

Working with the experienced team of Materials & Corrosion Engineers in Pernis was a fantastic experience. Wouter was tasked with one third of the Pernis site units (including distilling, oil movements and base oils) as well as the new crude oil evaluation as a member of the Crude Oil Review Team.

From September 2011, Wouter has joined the PTI/GM team of materials researchers as Research Engineer Materials & Corrosion with a focus on high temperature materials and metal dusting corrosion. In this role, Wouter leads the research projects on high temperature materials (approximately 1MUS$/yr).