Born and raised in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, soon after leaving high school Frederika immigrated to Sydney, Australia.  After graduation in electronics engineering at North Sydney College of TAFE, she worked as a technical officer at CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation) and at the University of Sydney.  Frederika returned to The Netherlands in 1998 and completed her MSc. at the Faculty of Technology, Policy & Management of Delft University of Technology in 2001.  Upon graduation Frederika worked three years as a research assistant at the Erasmus Medical Centre (Faculty of Medicine, Erasmus University) in Rotterdam. Since 2005 Frederika has been a researcher at the OTB Research Institute for Housing, Urban and Mobility Studies, Delft University of Technology in 2005.