Technology is not only changing, the pace of change is accelerating. Technology is expected to evolve further in the next decade than in the last 100 years combined. So there has never been a better time to focus on innovation, to think bigger! Everyone in the world is working towards a 10% improvement. With a Moonshot Mindset, you set a goal of 10x instead of 10%. As a space engineer and Flight Operations Director, working on innovative and inspiring space projects, a moonshot mindset is my natural attitude. For instance, I led a team of experts around the world during the launch of the PROBA-3 satellites. Satellites that will use a radical new technology to build telescopes tens to thousands of times larger than what is currently technologically possible. In this keynote, we start from the ultimate moonshot, where John F. Kennedy inspired an entire nation to achieve an almost impossible goal: putting a man on the moon. His vision created a moonshot mentality that made it possible to achieve the extraordinary! With this example, we look at how you can acquire this moonshot mentality in your organisation and apply it from small to world-changing projects. A journey full of inspiring anecdotes, management and design techniques from Tesla, Apple, Google, SpaceX, Kodak! Using SpaceX and PROBA-3 as examples, we look at what techniques are used by the world’s most successful innovators. Moonshot goals will give your organisation a clear, bold vision, which can also help you win the war for talent and even become a talent magnet. An inspiring keynote that will give you the passion to innovate, strengthen your organisation and achieve the extraordinary.
Stijn Ilsen is a Master of Science in aerospace engineering. He has worked in aerospace for almost 20 years. He started at the European Space Agency ESA studying for a European manned mission to the moon. He then worked for Airbus/EADS on the HERSCHEL space telescope throughout Europe. He currently works at Redwire Space (former Verhaert / QinetiQ Space) in Kruibeke on Belgian satellites.