{"id":15052,"date":"2026-09-15T08:56:48","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T08:56:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/incose.nl\/?page_id=15052"},"modified":"2026-09-15T08:56:48","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T08:56:48","slug":"tjaard-spijpkes","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/incose.nl\/en\/the-dutch-systems-engineering-days-2026\/tjaard-spijpkes\/","title":{"rendered":"Tjaard Spijpkes"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Tjaard Spijpkes
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Associate Professor of Advanced System Thinking at TU Delft |
\nPioneering \u201cSystems Thinking Beyond the Horizon\u201d |
\nFormer CTO at Ebusco & Head of Technology at GKN\/Fokker |
\n<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/div>

Breaking out of our Bubble to Lead Tomorrow’s Systemic
\nTransitions Beyond the Horizon
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Bio.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tjaard is Associate Professor Advanced System Thinking at the faculty of Aerospace Engineering of the TU Delft. Additionally he has held seats in several advisory councils such as TU Delft, Fontys Engineering and NLR.
\nTjaard graduated at the TU Delft in 1986 as vehicle dynamics specialist at the faculty of Mechanical Engineering. After his study he worked at DAF Special products and was involved in the development of military vehicles and landing gear of aircraft and helicopters of large international programs such as the Fennek reconnaissance vehicle, the NH90 tactical transport helicopter and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. As director of Technology & Engineering he initiated the development of composite technology for landing gear which resulted in 2001 in the first flight worldwide of a composite landing gear on an F16 of the Netherlands Royal Airforce.
\nIn 2004 he obtained the position CTO of Fokker Landing Gear. In 2015 he became Head of Technology of the Fokker Group as part of the merger with GKN Aerospace.
\nIn 2018 Tjaard joined Ebusco, a startup of electric city buses as CTO, where he developed an ultra-light fully composite electric city bus together with a team of previous Fokker engineers.
\nIn 2021 Tjaard was asked to join the faculty of Aerospace Engineering of the TU Delft for innovation strategy and thought leadership in system thinking. His area of research is System Thinking Beyond the Horizon.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

<\/div>

Abstract.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Modern systems engineering practices are frequently confined to localized operational
\nbubbles, optimizing near-term specifications and reacting linearly to market demands. This is
\nhighly efficient and has created highly successful products and companies. However, this
\nincremental focus blinds us from the second-order systemic shifts occurring just beyond the
\nhorizon. This paper and presentation explores the critical transition from functional systems
\nengineers to visionary system architects and chief engineers, leading us into the new frontier of
\nstrategic systems leadership beyond the horizon. Further it addresses the challenges for
\neducating this systems workforce.
\nUtilizing Plato\u2019s Allegory of the Cave and Senge\u2019s Systems Iceberg, we need to look beyond the
\nsuperficial metrics of first order immediate products and projects. We need to challenge deeply
\ningrained doctrines. We need to foster the cognitive agility required to lead global transitions
\nsuch as the energy transition, Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Computing. To do this we
\nneed to understand the second order sociotechnical effects that cause the actual systemic
\nshifts we experience.
\nBoth academic and professional domains need to intensively work together. We need to step
\nout of our conceptual bubbles and collectively shape the future of beyond the horizon systems leadership.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tjaard Spijpkes Associate Professor of Advanced System Thinking at TU Delft | Pioneering \u201cSystems Thinking Beyond the Horizon\u201d | Former CTO at Ebusco & Head of Technology at GKN\/Fokker | Breaking out of our Bubble to Lead Tomorrow’s Systemic Transitions Beyond the Horizon Bio. Tjaard is Associate Professor Advanced System Thinking at the faculty of...","protected":false},"author":402,"featured_media":0,"parent":13872,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-15052","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/incose.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/incose.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/incose.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/incose.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/402"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/incose.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15052"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/incose.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15052\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15056,"href":"https:\/\/incose.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15052\/revisions\/15056"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/incose.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/incose.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}