Robert Deckers EngD,PhD

Architecture consultant, coach, and method engineer | Trainer at High Tech Institute | Founder, Atom Free IT

Robert Deckers EngD PhD has more than 30 years of experience in software architecture, method engineering, formal specification, domain modeling, and model-driven development. He is the founder of Atom Free IT, based in Heeswijk-Dinther, and a trainer at High Tech Institute. He advises and supports clients at all organizational levels.

After earning his Master’s degree in Computing Science and his Engineering Doctorate (EngD) in Software Technology at Eindhoven University of Technology, Deckers worked at KISS bv as a software architect and method engineer, at Philips as a senior scientist and modeling architect, and at Sogeti as a principal software architect and teacher. He founded Atom Free IT in 2013 and completed his PhD research at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in 2024. The central theme of his research is that software development is fundamentally about integrating knowledge and decisions across multiple disciplines, rather than the realization of technology.

Most engineers who become architects have a technically sound but incomplete mental model: they know how to design a software system, but not how to reason about whether it is the right system for the customer or what role the architect plays in the development process. Deckers teaches architecture as a discipline structured around three dimensions: what the system means to the customer, how the technology is structured in the design, and how development fits within the organization and its processes. He connects these three dimensions to a concrete definition of good architecture: correct, consistent, and communicated. While many development approaches focus on system functionality, Deckers argues that the real complexity of software architecture lies in non-functional requirements, or quality attributes, which are harder to understand and more difficult to realize.

Selected publications

Deckers, R.; Steeghs, R. DYA|Software: architectuuraanpak voor bedrijfskritische applicaties. Sogeti, 2010. ISBN 978-90-75414-31-8.

Deckers, R.: From smallest software particle to system specification, MuDForM: Multi-domain formalization method, PhD thesis, VU Amsterdam (2024). https://doi.org/10.5463/thesis.831

Deckers, R.; Lago, P. “Engineering a cognition-based specification method.” Software and Systems Modeling (2026). DOI: 10.1007/s10270-026-01392-8

At High Tech Institute, Robert Deckers teaches

• Good Software Architecture – a five-day course designed for software professionals with a technical software background, who are transitioning into an architectural role.

Robert Deckers EngD PhD is the founder of Atom Free IT and a trainer at High Tech Institute in Eindhoven, where he was named Teacher of the Year in 2024. He holds an MSc in Computing Science and an EngD in Software Technology from Eindhoven University of Technology, as well as a PhD from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, awarded in 2024. He is the lead author of DYA|Software (Sogeti, 2010).