Alumni Talks: Student lunch lectures

Kees Eijkel is a connector. His entire career has been dedicated to bridging the gap between science and entrepreneurship, with the aim of creating a positive social impact.

Eijkel has a degree in Mathematics and came to Twente to pursue a PhD. In the years that followed, he held various positions within the university and became one of the driving forces behind Twente’s innovation ecosystem.

Eijkel is now as General Director of QuTech, TU Delft’s Dutch research institute for quantum technology.

Leonie van der Steen is on a mission: to create sustainable, societal systems that care for all kins of life.

At the UT, Van der Steen embodied the university’s More Than A Degree motto. Alongside her studies in Civil Engineering, she was actively involved with Audentis, served on the board of the Student Union, and became a partner at PIP Advice, a consultancy entirely run by master’s students.

Now she is the co-founder of the Gideons Movement, a community of around 1,200 bold pioneers committed to driving positive change in the construction sector. She is primarily focused on the regenerative estate De Kleverbergh, where she is bringing her vision for the future to life.

Bert Lutje Berenbroek knows that data is the key to a successful energy transition. As Founder and CEO of NET2GRID, he has spent more than a decade helping households, utilities, and grid operators better understand and optimize energy consumption.

After earning his degree in Electrical Engineering from the UT, Bert began his career in the semiconductor industry in Silicon Valley and Boston. 

Today, Bert leads NET2GRID, an internationally operating scale-up that uses AI-powered analytics to transform energy data into actionable insights for major utilities across Europe and North America.