Executive Committee

Brigitte de Vet has been CEO at Materialise since January 1st, 2024. She succeeded Fried Vancraen, who co-founded Materialise in 1990 and served as the company’s CEO for 33 years. Brigitte started as Vice President of Materialise Medical in June 2016 and has over 20 years of experience in the healthcare and life sciences sector. Before joining Materialise, she held various management roles at Johnson & Johnson and served as the CEO of Acertys Group, a provider of medical devices, software, services, and supplies to hospitals and medical professionals. Brigitte holds a Master of Business Administration with a Major in Engineering from HEC Liege and an MBA from INSEAD.
 

Bart has been an Executive Vice President of our company since January 2011, serving as our Chief Technology Officer since 2016, Senior Vice President of Software in 2022 and 2023, and Chief Strategy and Technology Officer since 2024. In this role, he oversees the Research & Technology (R&T) department and is responsible for identifying and sharing strategic technology and industry trends in the market and for defining the strategic directions of Materialise. Prior to joining Materialise, Bart worked at KU Leuven as a liaison engineer for the newly founded Materialise. He played a pivotal role in establishing the basic research activities for the company and founding research activities in 3D Printing at KU Leuven. Bart then earned a PhD in Selective Laser Metal Sintering. In 1995, he officially joined Materialise.
 

Johan has been with Materialise since it was founded, holding a Master’s degree in Electro-Mechanical Engineering from KU Leuven. In 1990, he completed his Master’s thesis on Stereolithography by studying the very first 3D printing machine at Materialise. After graduating in 1991, he stayed on with the company, focusing on software development to support our 3D printing services. Throughout his career at Materialise, Johan has held several positions, including Software Sales Manager and Director of Sales, as well as Executive Vice President, responsible for global sales organization. In March 2021 he was named Chief Operating Officer.
 

Koen joined Materialise in 2023 as CFO. He has an academic background as a Commercial Engineer. Throughout his career, he held diverse finance roles in different industries, countries, and types of organizations. He started in large corporations like PwC and ExxonMobil before transitioning to privately owned and private equity-backed growth companies. In the course of his career, he developed a strong interest in the business side of organizations, gradually moving from business controller to treasurer and CFO roles.

Philippe Verlinde joined Materialise in September 2026 as Chief Digital Information Officer (CDIO). He brings extensive leadership experience at the intersection of technology, digital transformation and business innovation. Throughout his career, he has led large-scale enterprise transformations spanning digital, technology platforms, and AI, with a strong focus on simplification, innovation, and business impact.

Prior to joining Materialise, he held senior leadership positions across IT, Research & Development and Innovation Program Management at Barco and Philips.

Annelies joined Materialise as Chief Human Resources Officer in September 2026. Her extensive HR leadership experience spans both large global corporations, mainly in healthcare - including pharmaceuticals and vaccines at GlaxoSmithKline, and consumer goods at PepsiCo - and smaller organizations in telecoms and biotech.

Before joining Materialise, Annelies served on the Executive Committee at Galapagos, where she led the HR department and supported the expansion of the company’s European commercial organization. Annelies spearheaded key projects, namely targeted acquisitions, divestments, and a broader strategic transformation that repositioned the company’s new business strategy and footprint as Lakefront Biotherapeutics.

Annelies graduated from the Faculty of Arts (Philology) at KU Leuven and completed extended Master’s programs in France and Italy (at Sorbonne University in Paris and the Università Cattolica in Milan, respectively), as well as a Master’s in Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP).