ACCELERATE THE INNOVATION OF ENGINEERING

Building on insights from the Mario Draghi report, "The Future of European Competitiveness", this year’s ESI Symposium focused on the urgent need to boost productivity to secure Europe’s competitive edge. With growing global demand for sustainable and transformative technologies, the engineering sector plays a pivotal role.

The symposium explored how enhanced research, knowledge sharing, and streamlined collaboration can drive the next wave of innovation. Key topics included the use of generative AI and model-based techniques to tackle complexity in cyber-physical systems — a challenge that remains central to high-tech engineering.

P1 Future-fit organizations

The current trends in the high-tech industry present significant challenges and opportunities for organizations. It is crucial to understand and address these changes by developing effective strategies and best practices to thrive in this new era. Adopting an approach where technology and human skills complement each other can lead to more sustainable, resilient, and human-centric industrial practices, ultimately delivering better value for customers and stakeholders.

Moderator: Joana Teixeira, TNO-ESI

• Paul Hilkens, Vice President Research & Development, Canon Production Printing

• Sezen Acur, TNO-ESI - Research Fellow

• Marloes van de Wal, Vanderlande - Managing Director Innovation Strategy and Transformation

• Radhika Vijaykumar Nedungadi, Vanderlande - Manager Platform Integration and Quality assurance

• Sapfo Tsoutsou, Eindhoven University of Technology - Project Manager for NXTGEN Systems Engineering

P2 The quest for engineering productivity: a synthesis-based approach 

The high-tech industry is challenged to increase productivity due to increasing complexity of its systems and a shortage of skilled engineers. Logic, code and configuration synthesis from increasingly high-level descriptions is a key promise of model-based engineering and enables automation in many areas, including logic synthesis and implementation of supervisory controllers and synthesis and deployment of product variants.
This track will explore recent advancements in synthesis-based engineering and showcase its productivity benefits using examples from various domains.   

Moderator: Ben Pronk, TNO-ESI

• Hans Schurer, Thales Nederland BV - Study manager R&T, Technical directorate & Innovation

• Benny Akesson, TNO-ESI, University of Amsterdam - Senior Research Fellow

• Jeroen Kouwer, Thales Nederland - Software Architect

• Dennis Hendriks, TNO-ESI, Radboud University - Research Fellow

• Prabhat Kumar Sharma, VDL-ETG T&D - Mechatronics Design Engineer 

• Lars Moormann, Rijkswaterstaat - Consultant Industrial Automation

P3 Intelligent diagnostics: boosting equipment effectiveness

High-tech manufacturers are seeking ways to improve the servicing of their systems. This need is driven by the goal of ensuring overall equipment effectiveness, managing the ever-increasing complexity of systems, and addressing the challenge of scaling service organizations. Intelligent diagnostics leverages system knowledge, real-time data, and AI techniques to assist in designing diagnosable systems and to provide digital tools that support human decision-making.

Moderator: Marco Vicari, TNO-ESI

• Mauro Barbieri, Philips Innovation & Strategy -Principal Architect Services  

• Jimmy van Schoubroeck, ASML Research, Senior Mechatronics Researcher and
  Thomas Nägele, TNO-ESI - Research Fellow

• Eelco Schillings, Canon Production Printing - Department Manager – Technology Development and
  Leonardo Barbini, TNO-ESI - Research Fellow

P4 Understanding and evolving systems with Generative AI

Development and use of high-tech systems generate large volumes of data—code, documentation, logs, operational data, and quality records—crucial for system and software maintenance and evolution. However, its complexity makes it challenging for engineers to interpret and use effectively. This track explores how generative AI, combined with traditional techniques, can help analyze diverse data sources, provide actionable insights, improve efficiency, and make maintenance and development more manageable. 

Moderator: Rosilde Corvino, TNO-ESI

• Gernot Eggen, Philips Ultrasound - Software Leader

• Alok Lele, ASML - Project Manager for Twinscan Software Research and Innovation

• Lina Ochoa Venegas, Eindhoven University of Technology - Assistant Professor

• Dennis Dams, TNO- ESI - Senior Research Fellow

• Ivo Canjels - Philips Image Guided Therapy - Software Architect

Finding your path in applied research

Are you starting to think about what’s next after your studies or current role? Have you wondered how to turn your research interests into real-world impact — or what a career in applied research might look like? 

This mentoring program offers two parts to help you explore applied research from different angles: 

Part 1 – Explore & Learn: Presentations introducing ways of working in applied research, with applied researchers sharing their career stories. 

Part 2 – Talk & Connect: Small group coffee chat with a mentor. This is your opportunity to connect with people who have been where you are — and who have walked the path of applied research through various roles, from theory to prototyping, from research outcomes to real-world integration, and everything in between. 

Showcasing cutting-edge work from TNO-ESI and its partners, the innovation market offered a dynamic space for applied research, cross-sector dialogue, and meaningful collaboration. Alongside it, the poster market brought together 25 academic posters, sparking lively discussions and new ideas.

• P1 Future-fit organizations

• P2 The quest for engineering productivity: a synthesis-based approach

• P3 Intelligent diagnostics: boosting equipment effectiveness

• P4 Understanding and evolving systems with Generative AI

• Posters