Stefan Smeets

Stefan Smeets has a strong background in the chemical industry, particularly in the development and innovation of coating resin technologies. Stefan started their career in 2000 at UCB Chemicals as a Chemical Engineer, where they obtained a Ph.D. Stefan then moved on to Cytec in 2006, where they held various roles including Technical Manager, Global Market Manager, and Global New Business Development Manager. In 2012, Cytec's Coating Resins business was acquired by Advent International and became Allnex, where Stefan continued their career. At Allnex, they served as the Global Product Line & Marketing Manager for Powder Coating Resins before transitioning to the role of Global Development Director and later Global R&D Director for Radcure, one of Allnex's industrial coating resin technologies. Stefan was responsible for leading research and development teams, setting and delivering innovation targets, and driving technical knowledge exchange and people development. Recently, they have joined Tessenderlo Group as the Senior Vice President of Innovation. Overall, Stefan Smeets has extensive experience in driving innovation and fulfilling customer and market needs in the chemical and coating resin industry.

Stefan Smeets completed a part-time international MBA at Vlerick Business School from 2006 to 2008. Prior to that, they received a PhD in Chemistry from KU Leuven, where they studied from 1992 to 2000.