Mission and values
Companies, organisations and institutions worldwide are working hard to make a positive contribution to a more sustainable future.
Efforts to counter climate change are a central part of that. Climate change is caused by human activities, and will have to be reversed by human effort. In 2015, the Paris Agreement set concrete goals to limit the rise in temperature to preferably 1.5 oC.
We accelerate sustainable changes
Becoming more sustainable requires major decisions and significant transformations that can only go well if they’re based on the right insights, if they’re given the right guidance, and if they’re supported by effective communication.
Doing The Math can accelerate those changes with decision-support tools that incorporate the desired goals. We help to clarify the strategy, sharpen it if necessary, and make that strategy come to live with everyone involved, through powerful and appealing communication. On top of that, we support putting your strategy into operation by making its progress measurable and transparent.
Our approach
Unique to our approach is that it’s founded on data and mathematics, guaranteeing high-quality, fact-based, quantitative answers to your business questions.
Our approach provides you with a firm grip on your business challenges, and supports you in making the right decisions.
It’s our objective to provide our clients with the consulting support and technology needed to make business decisions at all levels in their organisation, and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of their decision-making by utilising the benefits of applied mathematics.
Team
Doing The Math was founded by experienced analytics experts with a solid background in mathematics and data science. Our unique expertise and experience form the basis for our solutions.
Doing The Math was founded with the ambition to simplify the complicated strategic and tactical decision-making that organisations face in their journey to become more sustainable. We strongly believe that the use of data and mathematics are instrumental in supporting our clients throughout that journey.

John Poppelaars
John Poppelaars has founded Doing The Math to realise his ambition to support organisations in becoming more sustainable. John is a passionate proponent of the use of data and mathematics as a key business enabler. Throughout his career, he has applied the business maxim of ‘fact-based improvement of decision making’ to numerous projects across many industries. John was awarded the Franz Edelman Award for this work at TNT Express, which resulted in substantial financial savings and CO2 emission reduction. Next to his work for Doing The Math, John teaches at JADS and the AOG business school and is a member of the innovation board of the Dutch Platform for Mathematics.
Prior to founding his company, John was employed at BearingPoint and ORTEC. John earned a Master’s degree in Econometrics (1990) from the Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands and is INFORMS Certified Analytics Professional.

Robert Schwarz
Robert Schwarz develops software tools that empower decision makers to answer their own questions. He prioritises finding the right solution approach and a high-quality implementation, and explaining how the methods work and where their limitations lie. He enjoys engaging with the open-source community and keeping up with the latest research papers.
Robert studied mathematics in Heidelberg and did research at the Zuse Institute Berlin, working on optimisation problems for gas network operation and expansion planning. He later managed development of a web-based platform for next-generation modelling and applications at LITIC.

Bernard Zweers
Bernard Zweers has experience with using analytical methods to solve business challenges in both healthcare and supply chain applications. He believes that the mathematical model should capture all the complexity of business problems, but that the solution should always be computed in such a way that it is understandable for everyone.
Bernard holds a PhD degree in mathematics from the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. In his PhD research, he developed mathematical models and algorithms to optimise inland container transportation.

Felix Hennings
Felix Hennings is driven by the urge to understand complex systems and processes, which enables him to find specialized solution strategies for a given problem or uncover potential for improvement. He is experienced in creating decision-support systems for industrial problems, knows the relevance of clean and accessible data for a successful project, and believes in the benefit of a high-quality and well-documented implementation that ensures long-term maintainability.
Felix studied Business Mathematics at the Technische Universität Berlin. Afterward, he worked at the Zuse Institute Berlin on optimizing the operation of large real-world gas transport networks, which is also the research topic of his soon-to-be-completed PhD degree.

Arjan Gras

Benjamin Sluijter
Benjamin Sluijter has always had a passion for mathematics. This first led him to the national math Olympiad finals in high school and it made him choose to study Physics, which in his eyes is just applied mathematics. Previously, he put his Data Science knowledge to practice at DSW health insurances, making him comfortable with working with large datasets.
During his bachelor he particularly enjoyed programming, which made him choose his current research master at the University of Leiden in classical/quantum information: a mix between Physics and Data Science.

Lars van der Meer
Lars van der Meer is currently in his third year of the Bachelor of Econometrics and Operations Research at the Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands. He is particularly drawn toward the operations research side and is eager to find meaningful applications of his knowledge, such as in the field of sustainability.