Peter Grognard
Managing Director
von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics
Waterloosesteenweg 72
1640 Sint-Genesius-Rode
Phone: +32 2 359 96 04 (secretariat)
Education
April 2020 – June 2020 Certificate,Governance of companies & functioning of boards of directors, Vlerick Business School
February 2015 – June 2015 Certificate, Mergers & Acquisitions of companies, Vlerick Business School
September 2012 – June 2014 Certificate, High Studies Security & Defence (HSSS), Koninklijk Hoger Instituut Defensie – Royal Higher Institute for Defence - Brussels
September 2010 – June 2012 Certificate, Portuguese language – Level 1 & 2, KU Leuven – Centrum voor Levende Talen
July 2008 Executive Program for Growing Companies, Stanford University – Stanford, CA – USA
June 1997 – August 1997 Certificate of Completion, Summer Session Program, Aerospace Engineering – Aerospace Economics – Space Law – Space Medicine, International Space University , Houston, TX, USA
September 1992 – June 1993 Master of Science, Aeronautics,Fluid Mechanics – Structural Mechanics – Flight Dynamics – Experimental Methods – Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), California Institute of Technology – Pasadena, CA – USA
September 1990 – September 1991 Bijzondere Licentie Informatica, Computer Science – Supercomputing, including practical programming on Cray supercomputers, Vrije Universiteit Brussel
September 1983 – July 1988 Burgerlijk Werktuigkundig-Electrotechnisch Ingenieur Toegepaste Natuurkunde, Electrical Engineering & Electromagnetism – Applied Physics, mainly Nuclear Physics and Optics , Vrije Universiteit Brussel
September 1977 – June 1983 Diploma Hoger Middelbaar Onderwijs, Mathematics – Sciences – Latin – Languages, Koninklijk Atheneum Oostende
Professional Experience
February 2018 – ongoing
Managing Director - Von Kármán Institute for Fluid Dynamics
General management, international stakeholder relations and business development
September 2017 – July 2018
Senior Strategic Advisor, Swift Navigation
General management and business development
July 2017 – July 2018
Senior Strategic Advisor, TAS-B Leuven
General management and business development
November 2014 – June 2017
Managing Director, Thales Alenia Space (TAS) site Leuven
General management and business development
February 2014 – September 2014
Occupation or position held Founder & Executive Director, Septentrio nv
Business Development of Aerospace and Security project and product business of Septentrio.
This comprised the important project business with the Galileo Supervisory Authority (GSA), ESA, the EU and its Member States, and the European Aerospace & Defense Industry
January 2000 – January 2014
Founder & CEO, Septentrio nv
As Founder and CEO, I created Septentrio as an initial team of seven people and grew it to a team of
100 people, increasing the company’s topline every year. Under my guidance, Septentrio has
developed and produced the world’s first Galileo receivers, and has become one of the world’s most
important manufacturers of high-precision professional satellite navigation receivers
June 1998- December 1999
Business Development Manager, IMEC
Main activities and responsibilities Main responsibility: preparing spin-off of IMEC’s satellite navigation unit, and the creation of an
independent company. The two key assignments comprised the creation of a completely new team
and raising the start capital for the new company (Septentrio).
March 1998 - June 1998
Space Business Development Manager, SABCA nv/sa
Business Development for SABCA’s ARIANE product lines
April 1994 - March 1998
Scientific Attaché at Embassy of Belgium in Washington, DC, FOD Buitenlandse Zaken, Buitenlandse Handel en Ontwikkelingssamenwerking
Main activities and responsibilities Responsible for bilateral Belgian-US civil nuclear relations – Belgian representative for
Intergovernmental Negotiations on the International Space Station
February 1992 – March 1994
Delegate to the European Space Agency (ESA), Belgian Science Policy Office
Belgian Delegate to ESA JCB and ESA IPC
January 1991 – February 1992 – MILITARY SERVICE
Occupation or position held 2nd Lieutenant (Reserve)
Aircraft Maintenance and Logistics
September 1988 – December 1990
Research Assistant, Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Responsible for development of numerical code – Customer: ESA – Hermes Program
Other Useful Experiences and Distinctions
- 2020: appointed as Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) - http://www.aiaa.org
- 2020: appointed as member of the Board of Directors of arcsec, spinoff of KU Leuven
- 2020: appointed as expert of European Commission for evaluation and monitoring of research projects in the area of satellite navigation
- 2019: appointed as President of the Board of Directors of MAGICS Instruments , spinoff of KUL and SCK.CEN - http://www.magics.tech
- 2018 - onwards: Member of Navigation Innovation Program Advisory Council (NAVAC), European Space Agency – http://navisp.esa.int
- 2016-2019: Director of Agoria Vlaanderen – http://www.agoria.be
- 2016-onwards: appointed as Director of Dutch Institute of Navigation (NIN) – http://www.navnin.nl
- 2015-2017: Engineering Fellow of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel – http://www.vub.ac.be
- 2014-2017: Member of the Spectracom Advisory Board – http://www.spectracom.com
- 2014-2018: vice chairman of the Federal Council for Science Policy belspo.be/belspo/council
- 2011-2014: expert in Galileo Mission Evolution Advisory Group (MEAG) – European Commission, Brussels
- 2002-2015: co-Founder & Board Member (2002-2015); Vice Chairman (2008-2015) of Galileo Services – http://www.galileo-services.org
- 2008- onwards: director, Vlaamse Ruimtevaartindustriëlen (VRI) – http://www.vri.vlaanderen
- 2008 - 2015: vice chairman, DSP Valley – http://www.dspvalley.com
- April 2002 - April 2004: expert for Belgian Federal Government on US-Europe negotiations on Galileo
- June 2002-September 2005: Deputy Chair International, Civil GPS Service Interface Committee (US) - https://www.gps.gov/cgsic/
- December 2000-June 2015: director of the Flemish Aerospace Group – http://www.flag.be
- March 1993-onwards: Senior Member (since 1999), American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics – http://www.aiaa.org
- September 1997 - onwards: member of the Institute of Navigation (ION) - Arlington, VA – US – http://www.ion.org
- 1992: Van Buuren & Van Itallie Fellow of the Belgian American Educational Foundation – http://www.baef.be
- 1992: admitted for graduate study in Aeronautics at California Institute of Technology & Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
- January 1, 1989 until December 31, 1991: Member of the Board of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel – http://www.vub.ac.be