Stefaan is Senior Strategy Officer and the acting leader of the Strategy Team in the Human and Robotic Exploration Programmes Directorate at ESA. He also represents ESA in the International Space Exploration Coordination Group, a global group of 27 space agencies, where he currently serves as the chair. Before this, on a secondment from ESA, he worked for EURISY, an association that connects space and society, and promotes the use of satellite data and applications. Stefaan has extensive experience in ESA exploration programmes, having managed the integration of ESA payloads for the International Space Station. He also worked as a system engineer for various payloads and systems, such as biomedical instruments for microgravity research, a re-entry vehicle demonstrator, and an Earth Observation system for high altitude lightning. Stefaan began his career as a researcher in cardiovascular fluid dynamics and the non-invasive detection of heart failure using ultrasound. Stefaan has a PhD and a Master degree in biomedical engineering, a Master degree in civil engineering, and a bachelor degree in law.