History
Nature is our guide in efficient design. Like our company name would suggest, the inventor of our composite joint Marko Pavlovic assistant professor Steel and Composite Structures at TU Delft, got inspired by trees. Near his hometown the local community saved a 300 years old tree by supporting it with steel tubulars. Over time it grew over and around these steel tubulars, creating a structural connection.
A tree reacts to the loads it is subjected to, it will grow additional fibres only in the locations where they are needed, this forms the essence of our joint technology to shape it in an optimal manner. With the first prototype being built in 2017 at Versteden B.V., a close collaboration has followed with over 90 tests executed at TU Delft to perfect this technique. With success after success, Tree Composites was founded in 2020 with the aim to get this technology to the market. At the end of 2020 the certification body Det Norske Veritas provided the statement of feasibility for this technology.
Our Team
Tree Composites consists of a dedicated team, with ties to academics and industry. Everyone brings specific knowledge and experience to the table. We are ambitious, passionate and thoroughly enjoy creating the bridge between science and industry. Our team is eager to listen, learn and improve.
Maxim Segeren
CEO & Co-founder
Experience in BD at TU Delft setting up over 20 new innovation projects between Academia and industry. From all the innovation he has seen he believes that the wrapped composite joint can make a major impact and create a positive impact on the energy transition. He is highly motivated to lead the start-up company Tree Composites to a success. MSc in Offshore Engineering with focus on jackets for offshore wind turbines at TU Delft & PhD at Civil Engineering at TU Delft in connections for offshore wind turbines.
Eline Spek
COO
Experienced People & Program Manager with 15 years' experience in start-up and scale-up companies, previously working on the River program of The Ocean Cleanup. Within Tree Composites, she focusses on delivering results within the project portfolio. Very motivated to be working on an innovation that will positively impact the energy transition. MA in Public Administration with a focus on organisation & management.
Marko Pavlovic
Inventor & Co-founder
Assistant professor in Steel and Composite Structures at TU Delft. Aim at creating new knowledge for implementing Fibre Reinforced Polymer (FRP) composite materials in structures. PhD in Civil Engineering TU Belgrade. Post-Doc at Lulea in Sweden focusing on steel and composites structures for wind turbine support in structures. Member of CEN TC/250 WG4 - development of Eurocode for FRP structures; Member of Bouwen met Staal TC23 - committee on joints between FRP and steel structural members.
Peter Bogers
Commercial Director &
Co-founder
Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering at the HTS in Breda. Since
1995 he is active in the FRP piping business and in 2009 he became the
commercial director of Versteden B.V.. His expertise and experience in
the manufacturing of fibre reinforced polymers is invaluable for the
company. His role is to lead the development of the manufacturing of
the wrapped composite joints.
Jeroen Rondeel
CFO
Experienced all-round finance professional with A MSc in Business Administration, Law and a post-master's in accountancy. Within Tree Composites, he is a valued sparring partner and responsible for the Finance function, sourcing of funds, planning and control cycle and forecasting including financial modelling. He is also Founder of LION finance, CFO to share for SME entities. Services ranging from compliance, planning & control, forecasting to CFO services.
Tim Kapteijn
Business Developer
Tim brings a background in structural engineering and experience in project management of offshore structure design and certification of innovative technologies. As Business Developer at Tree Composites, Tim focuses on identifying and cultivating new partnerships and business opportunities to expand the adoption of our composite joint solutions.
Collaborating closely with our engineering and manufacturing teams, Tim ensures that product development aligns with market demands, driving innovation and delivering value to clients in the offshore wind and renewable energy sectors. His strategic approach and technical expertise play a key role in advancing Tree Composites' mission to revolutionize offshore infrastructure.
Mees Wolters
Lead Engineer
Graduated from TU Delft in December 2020 at which he developed a forming analysis to create mesoscale finite element models of complex composite structures. During his master studies, Mees worked part-time at SPIE Nederland where he developed analytical models for high-voltage lattice masts and substations. Within Tree Composites he focusses on the composite design of the TC-joint, production process and cost determination.
Berend van Leengoed
Lead Manufacturing Engineer
Berend graduated from the Aerospace Structures and Materials master's program at TU Delft in July 2022, specializing in composites manufacturing. During his studies, he gained hands-on experience as the Chief Structures Engineer for the student rocket team, Stratos IV. At Tree Composites, Berend manages the manufacturing team and focuses on developing and industrializing the manufacturing process. He ensures the successful delivery of all upcoming manufacturing projects.
Hayley Ittmann
Project Manager
Hayley is an experienced Project and Program Manager with over 12 years experience in the construction industry. She graduated from University of Pretoria with a master's degree in Architecture in 2010. Within Tree Composites, she focusses on Project Management of various projects within the overall portfolio ensuring that deliverables are achieved.
Anders Brodsjo
Manufacturing Specialist
Graduated from TU Delft in 1999, with an MSc in Mechanical Engineering and specialisation in composites materials. With more than 20 years of experience in the composite industry, he has been involved in numerous projects, from research and development, to setting up manufacturing for composite components. Within Tree Composites he is responsible for the development and implementation of new manufacturing methods, enabling the high-volume production capability needed for future projects.
Vasilis Mylonopoulos
Composite Engineer
Graduated from TU Delft on bi-material interface properties of composite to steel bonds. Before coming to the Netherlands, he studied Civil Engineering at the University of Patras in Greece. Working as a trainee in Milan he gained experience with finite element modelling of large commercial and public projects. Within Tree Composites he focusses on the development of automated manufacturing of the TC-joint.
Paraskevi Karatsi
QA and Continuous Improvement Engineer
Paraskevi graduated with a MSc in Structural Engineering from TU Delft, takes on the role of Quality Assurance and Continuous Improvement Engineer. Drawing from her fascination with Steel and Composite structures, she's set to refine our processes with a focus on quality assurance. Through her commitment to innovation, she aims to drive ongoing improvement, ensuring that excellence is a natural part of our work.
Clément Waltener
Structural Engineer
Having obtained a MSc. degree in structural engineering at the TU Delft, Clément has developed a strong eagerness for the field of offshore wind energy over the past years. By undertaking a graduation project with Tree Composites, Clément is dedicated to expanding the fatigue efficient TC-joint technology into its application to transition pieces of offshore wind turbine jacket substructures.
Niels Keppel
Manufacturing Engineer
Graduated from InHolland Delft with a BSc. in Auronautical Engineering. Niels has a strong passion for design and development, in combination with rapid prototyping through the use of additive manufacturing. His responsibilities within Tree Composites involve prototyping and testing new manufacturing methods suitable for scaling up the production of our joints.
Janneke Kortsmit
Quality and Manufacturing Project Engineer
Janneke graduated from the Civil Engineering faculty of TU Delft on the influence of temperature changes on composite material. Within the Manufacturing Team of Tree Composites, she uses her eye for detail and planning to further develop quality procedures, whilst making sure manufacturing deliverables are achieved.
Chi Zhang
Composite Engineer
Chi obtained his MSc degree in Aerospace Structures and Materials at TU Delft in summer 2023. During his study Chi developed a lot of experience on the composite material not only in theory, but also in real practice. He has years of experience joining Formula Student competition previously, and is currently still active in the competition to help with the development of future engineers. His major responsibility at Tree Composites is R&D of the wrapped composite joint and structural certification.
Sedat Guray
Manufacturing Engineer
Sedat graduated with a degree in Industrial Product Design and has specialized in the design and manufacturing of composite parts. He has gained extensive experience working on diverse projects in the defense industry, aerospace, radar systems, and motorsports. In his role at Tree Composite, Sedat is dedicated to refining ply design, process optimization, development, and creating innovative solutions.
Matti Lang
Manufacturing Engineer
Matti graduated from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at TU Delft in 2024 with a MSc degree in Robotics. At Tree Composites, Matti applies his knowledge of robotics to build autonomous systems from the ground up, aiming to accelerate the manufacturing process.
Johan Keukenmeester
Graduate intern
Graduated from the HAN Arnhem, with an Bachelor degree in Civil Engineering, Johan is now doing a thesis research internship at Tree Composites to obtain the MSc in Structural Engineering with steel-timber-composite specialisation.
The goal of his research is to design, perform and post-process several 3-point bending experiments of medium scaled composite joints that will provide vital data for future designing of composite joints.
Nick Ruigrok
Graduate intern
Having achieved his Bachelor degree in Civil Engineering, Nick is pursuing his Master's degree in the specialization of Construction Materials at Tree Composites. During his thesis research internship his focus is set on the modelling of the cracking behaviour of FRP's under fatigue loading by relating the stiffness degradation from experiments to accumulated damage. This model could help our understanding of the fatigue response of our joints and reduce the need for testing.
Advisory Board
Frank Sliggers
Technical advisor
Former Associate professor on offshore bottom founded structures at Tu Delft and 25 years of service at Shell. His experience on the design of Jackets for offshore conditions and experience in the installation and operational phase of offshore project is a true addition to the team.
Milan Veljkovic
Technical advisor
Head of the Section Steel and Composite Structures at Tu Delft. He bring in his experience and expertise on steel structures and the fatigue issues related to those. Member of the European Standardization committee CEN250/SC3 Steel Structures and Standardization committee CEN250/SC4 Composite Structures.
Work with us
We welcome new ideas, applications and partners with open arms. We would like to hear from you and we’ll gladly introduce our technology to you. If you are interested you can contact us by phone or e-mail.
