Frans Beenker leaves ESI

After more than 20 years, Frans Beenker is leaving ESI. “I’m getting closer to retirement and I decided some time ago to reduce my workload by 50 percent and to now stop with my role as business director of ESI,” he explains in a statement. On 1 October, Beenker will move to parent organization TNO, where he’s accepted the part-time role of program manager for commercial excellence, at most until his retirement in May 2024. He hopes to bring to TNO his experiences in building long-term relationships with partners. Jacco Wesselius has taken over as business director at ESI, leading the institute in conjunction with Wouter Leibbrandt.

Together with Martin Rem and Marloes van Lierop, Beenker formed ESI’s first management team in September 2001. Since then, the institute has become a recognized partner in innovative systems engineering methodologies for the Dutch high-tech industry. “Every day of my ESI career, I’ve greatly enjoyed building long-term relationships with industry and academia,” Beenker says. “I loved the challenge of understanding the needs of our partners and translating them into impactful results that really make a difference.”