Michel Peters

Chief Executive Officer

Since 2010, Michel Peters (1959) has been the Chief Executive Officer of Royal NLR – Netherlands Aerospace Centre, the leading centre for aerospace research and innovation in the Netherlands with a global reach. Michel is responsible for NLR’s strategy and applied research agenda. In partnership with industry and government, NLR focuses on more sustainable civil aviation, safe and secure integration of drones in civil airspace, protection of aircraft and helicopters during international peacekeeping missions, and the development of small-scale, affordable satellite systems.

Michel Peters believes collaboration is extremely important, as shown by his other positions. He is a board member of the Association of European Research Establishments in Aeronautics (EREA), a board member of the Association of European Space Research Establishments (ESRE), a board member of the International Forum for Aviation Research (IFAR), Chair of the board of German-Dutch Wind Tunnels (DNW) and chair European Transonic Windtunnel (ETW), a member of the Council of ‘Lucht- en Ruimtevaart Nederland’, a board member of the Dutch National Aviation Program (LiT) and a member of the Committee of Recommendation of the Dutch Aerospace Foundation NLF.

Aerospace is the connecting theme in Michel Peters’ career. Before being appointed as CEO of NLR, he served as head of NLR’s Aerospace Systems & Applications division and Air Transport division. Prior to NLR he held various positions at Martinair (now part of KLM), where he was responsible for aircraft maintenance. The foundation for his career was established at Delft University of Technology, where he obtained an MSc in 1987 specializing in Avionics Engineering.