Practice Council

Gilles Meijer

Co-founder, Golden Egg Check

Gilles is a former BA-student, and is now co-founder of Golden Egg Check B.V. This spin-off from the university is developing and marketing software to build, assess and share innovative business ideas. The Golden Egg Check is based on real-life investor's criteria. His company collaborates with NIKOS in different parts of the curriculum, is working closely with other spin-offs in the region, and Gilles was president of the supervisory board of the Student Union (Twente). He hopes to bring new ideas to the table and have an added value to the program by participating in the Advisory Board.

Jenny Wassenaar

Chief Sustainability Officer and Global SVP Research & Development, Trivium Packaging.

At Trivium they shape the future of packaging to ensure a better planet for everyone – today and for generations to come. With more than 50 global production location, 7000+ employees and a turnover of >3 bil USD they aim to enhance the circular economy by producing >100mil packaging items, made from infinity recyclable metal, every single day! As a Dutch national, sustainability is in her DNA and her true passion. She believes sustainability is no longer a choice, but an imperative for the success of any company. At Trivium she is committed to positively impacting the lives of millions of people through the company’s sustainable and circular product offerings. Jenny Wassenaar is the Chief Sustainability Officer at Trivium Packaging, a leading metal packaging solution provider. With years of experience in the packaging industry, she has quite a story to share. She was invited to various conferences globally to speak on topics of sustainability, packaging, innovation, and women in leadership. Climate action requires collective efforts. Therefore, she encourages people to consume less, challenge your purchasing decision and act accordingly.

Peter Morsink 

Senior Advisor Control (Controller), Rijkswaterstaat

Peter Morsink studied MSc. Business Administration - Financial Management at the University of Twente and graduated in 2018. In the same year, he started working in the public sector at the Dutch Audit Authority department of the Ministry of Finance. During his second year, Peter Morsink successfully graduated for his second master’s degree in Management Science at the Open University. Peter Morsink worked for four years at the Ministry of Finance in the roles of Senior Financial Auditor and Audit Manager. In 2022, he started working at Rijkswaterstaat (executive agency of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management) in the role of Senior Advisor Control (Controller) at the Corporate Services department. By participating in the advisory board, Peter Morsink would like to reinforce the connection between the academic world and the public sector. Moreover, provide various opportunities to the young-talents of the University of Twente.

Valentin Röttger

Senior Manager (ppa), AURICON 

After studying IBA and BA from 2013 to 2017 at the University of Twente, he started to work in consultancy back in Düsseldorf, Germany, where he lives with his wife. Currently, he works as a Senior Manager at AURICON, where he started as an intern after the studies. Valentin advises preferably the top managements of SMEs with focus on restructuring processes as well as business valuation. 

During his studies, Valentin already got engaged in various projects in companies from different sectors. This was a valuable basis and sparked the idea of working as a consultant. It’s the constant strive for new challenges what makes this profession so interesting. The personal persuasion of the mixture of theory and practice at the IBA/BA study program, was the motivation to engage in the Advisory Board and further develop the study program. The fact that the UT has implemented such a board, is his understanding of „Human Touch“ to a study program. 

Luuk ijland

General manager, ExplainiT

After completing his HBO bachelor at Saxion University of Applied Sciences, Luuk IJland started his Master Business Administration in 2011. Starting his career as an account manager at Supporter-groep, Luuk helped improve several business processes within Microsoft products, such as SharePoint and Project Server. Supporter-groep was part of the ExplainiT-groep, where Luuk currently operates as the general manager after working in several positions and segments within the company. ExplainiT is part of INVINITIV, a company active within the Digital Solutions domain, consisting out of four companies each with their own specialization in the digital domain. Luuk combines his interest in IT with his advisory skills, as ExplainiT trains thousands of people to improve their digital knowledge by combining several learning methods. Therefore, he is a valuable addition to the practice council of (I)BA. 

Natalia Popova

Senior Internal Recruitment Partner, Booking.com

Natalia graduated the Master Business Administration (Cum Laude) in 2019, whilst also participating in the Honours programme. Since 2020, she has worked in technical recruitment for companies like Deutsche Bank and EPAM, operating from St. Petersburg. In 2022, Natalia joined Booking.com, one of the world’s leading online travel platforms, based in Amsterdam.

In early 2023, she moved into a newly created internal recruitment team, with the goal of "strategically matching employees with opportunities to nurture & retain the best talent whilst maximizing business impact." Natalia is passionate about forward-thinking with company talent—anticipating the skills, refining how to access people, and helping employees take control of their career growth.

Sten bruggert

Marketing Manager, Thales Group

After completing two masters at the University of Twente, namely an MSc in Business Administration and a MSc in Communication Studies, Sten started working at EuroDev as a Marketing Manager after also completing his thesis here. His thesis focused on building a business model framework aiming to analyze EuroDev's unique business development strategy. EuroDev contributes to North American businesses by helping them develop their business in Marketing, Sales and HR. Having a commercial mindset, he shaped various successful marketing and sales tactics together with his team.

In 2018, Sten started working in another internationally focused business within the Netherlands, Thales, as a Marketing Manager. The role requires collaboration with cross-functional teams within Thales to drive business growth by informed marketing decisions and communicating value of high tech solutions and innovative services. With 80.000 employees working in 54 countries, 2500 employees are based in the Netherlands. Thales Group is a global electronics company active in aerospace, defense and information technology. 

Thales and EuroDev are both closely connected to the region, but still internationally focused. With Sten as an addition to our (I)BA Practice Council, we aim to further build on this international, yet regional connection and contribute to our specialization Strategic Marketing & Servitisation.

Claudio armandi

Head of Indirect Procurement, Cloetta

Claudio obtained his Master in Business Administration at UTwente in 2015. Since then, he has always worked in Procurement in The Netherlands at several companies, including Danone, JDE, and Kraft Heinz. He managed diverse teams and several spend categories, being involved in transformational and growth projects. He currently works in Procurement at Cloetta. Claudio would like to strengthen the cooperation between business and universities and is keen to support the development of young talents from UTwente.