Mark van Koningsveld is an innovation expert with a strong passion for water and maritime challenges and a unique background in both research and practice. Throughout his career he always worked on the interface between specialist knowledge and end user needs. First as a researcher at the University of Twente and Deltares (10 yrs), then as lead engineer and program director innovation at marine contractor Van Oord (10 yrs full time, since 2018 part time), and since 2018 as part time professor Ports and Waterways at Delft University of Technology. In 2020 he was appointed as member of the Topteam Water & Maritime representing academia by the Secretary of State of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy. As a strategic and critical thinker his track record is characterised by out-of-the-box innovations that open up new perspectives for decision makers to achieve their strategic and tactical objectives. Recurring themes are nature based solutions, data driven engineering and integral designs from a systems perspective. He co-authored a number of impactful articles and books and developed various open source software packages that are applied both in practice and in Delft Universities curriculum. For his research, please visit: https://www.tudelft.nl/en/ceg/about-faculty/departments/hydraulic-engineering/sections/rivers-ports-waterways-and-dredging-engineering/staff/prof-dr-ir-m-mark-van-koningsveld