Three sessions at the Alumni Days ask the questions every UT alumnus recognises: About the human side of organisations, About what is lost when technically trained people are absent from the tables where crucial decisions are made; And about what happens when data and technology are used where they matter most.
The University of Twente prepares future engineers, social scientists, designers and policy thinkers who understand technology from the inside. But what happens when that same analytical lens is turned on the organisations and systems we are part of ourselves? Three sessions on Saturday 9 May approach that question from three different angles.
Are we actually building organisations well?
We design bridges and chips to the millimetre. But how deliberately do we design the organisations we work in every day? Jan de Leede (Industrial Engineering & Management, 1987–1992, PhD), Professor of HRM & Innovation at the UT, asks a question every alumnus will recognise — whether you are an engineer, manager, entrepreneur or policymaker.
Organisations are complex systems. They have structures, processes, incentives and cultures that shape behaviour — often without anyone noticing. Jan de Leede argues that we need to be far more deliberate about this. And that something needs to fundamentally change.
A session for everyone who has ever thought: surely this could be organised better. 8 May | 16:00–16:45 | UPark Hotel | Language: Dutch
From science to public reality: the case for technical expertise in policy
From AI legislation to the energy transition: crucial decisions are still being made with limited technical input. Bèta in Bestuur & Beleid (BiBB) — which translates roughly as Scientists in Governance & Policy — believes that technically trained people have an indispensable voice in the public sector.
In this session, alumni and BiBB board members Kevin Klein Gunnewiek (alumnus Technical Medicine, 2016–2023) and Liedewij Laan (alumna Applied Physics, 1999–2005) speak from personal experience. Kevin works as a researcher at the Princess Máxima Centre for paediatric oncology. Liedewij is Associate Professor at TU Delft and co-founder of BiBB.
What drove them to build BiBB? What changes when technical thinking reaches the decision-making table? And what is at stake if it doesn't?
BiBB is convinced: technically trained people are not just useful in policy, they are essential. Not as technocrats, but as people who know how to think through a complex system before making a decision. 9 May | 16:00–16:45 | UPark Hotel | Language: Dutch
From ITC to the World: spatial data engineering and global impact
What does it take to turn data and technology into real change?
Kisanet Haile Molla (Spatial Engineering, 2019–2021, ITC/UT) works as a Transport Modeler at the World Bank, at the intersection of spatial data engineering, large-scale infrastructure planning and international development — collaborating with governments and partners across multiple continents. Alongside her career at the World Bank, she is also an entrepreneur, building platforms and initiatives that connect and inspire the next generation of spatial data engineers through SEWOB and Inspiring Hub.
In this session, Kisanet shares her journey from ITC to the world stage, and what it truly means to make an impact where it matters most, at global scale. 8 May | 15:00–15:45 | UPark Hotel | Language: English
Three sessions, one thread
All three sessions touch the same underlying question: are we making good enough use of the knowledge and analytical thinking we developed at UT — in the organisations we work in and in the society we help to shape?
That is not a rhetorical question. It is an invitation to a conversation that takes place on 9 May — and that we hope continues long after.
Register for the Lustrum Alumni Days on 8 and 9 May 2026.
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