What do you want to achieve with the title Engineer of the Year?

If I win, I would wear the title Engineer of the Year with enormous pride and it would motivate me to make even more positive impact on many facets.

First, I see the title as a platform to provide an approachable face to engineering and specifically AI, and to draw more attention and awareness to what I think is important: showing how we can deploy AI effectively and responsibly in the Netherlands. This requires technical innovation, but also a broader view to ensure AI meets needs and expectations. As was the slogan of 'my' University of Twente: High Tech, Human Touch. With the title, I therefore hope to inspire and encourage young people to dare to think outside the box, and to act from enthusiasm and ideals. After all, the world could use that. Moreover, the title can help me be a female role model. A role model for both women and men, that is, because that gender bias is present in everyone and I would like to reduce it.

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Sound ambitious? Ambitious yet realistic I would say, given my nice reach on LinkedIn (2000+ followers), my lectures to all kinds of audiences, my hands-on AI work at Dutch companies and organisations, as well as my teaching at TU Eindhoven and JADS in 's Hertogenbosch. The title Engineer of the Year can serve as a catalyst to further expand my reach, with my own reach that I have (partly unconsciously) already built up myself serving as a springboard. In this way, I make an impact with deeds as well as words, because my words hopefully lead to nice deeds by others.

It helps here that the title adds to my credibility. As a young lady in the tech world, the title shows: I really know what I am talking about. At the same time, you never stop learning and I want to keep developing myself. The podium of the Prins Friso Ingenieursprijs can open doors to new connections for personal growth, more impact and new collaborations. A better future starts with yourself, and with the title Engineer of the Year, that future can get a little bit better still.

How would you interpret KIVI's mission statement 'Engineer your Career - Improve our Society'?

Making positive impact with technology is my driving force, and that fits perfectly with 'Engineer your Career - Improve our Society'. My "career" cannot be put into one box or job title, but is multi-faceted and cross-role. And this is something I have consciously chosen. Yes, I love being the technical nerd and thinking out solutions mathematically and then programming them. But I also fully realise that a good engineer takes up broader responsibilities to ensure that technical applications also reach society. "Improve our Society" can thus be interpreted broadly: a good engineer makes society a bit better thanks to technical expertise, but also has a vision with an eye for the social aspects of technology to further increase its impact.

As a data scientist with a PhD in computer science, I flesh out the technical side of my career. I develop AI solutions for all kinds of organisations. Here, it is important to keep abreast of the latest developments. Technology never stands still and certainly in AI things move at lightning speed. Keep reading and learning is crucial for me to keep my technical expertise up to date.

As a teacher, organiser, speaker and scientist, I also give substance to the broader sense of being a good engineer. For instance, I give lectures to citizens about what AI is and how it works, so that everyone can form their own opinions about it and participate in the social dialogue. In doing so, I always pay attention to both the possibilities and limitations of AI. I also teach master students (and working professionals) about techniques to make AI explainable and responsible. As a scientist and researcher, I also continue to get involved in developments in this field, with "improve our society" as my underlying motivation.

Contact with the public, consulting with students, and working on real-life AI challenges from Dutch companies broadens my view, gives me back inspiration for new technical solutions, and thus influences my career. so 'Engineer your Career - Improve our Society' works both ways!