The fifteenth edition of the WCM Summer School took place from August 24 to 28 in Den Helder. For one week, forty young professionals and students focused on how the Royal Netherlands Navy can transition from periodic to condition-based and predictive maintenance. During the closing session, eight teams presented their solutions, resulting in diverse proposals regarding technology, data, organization, contracting, and industrial collaboration.

Summer School director Jan Braaksma opened the final session on Friday afternoon. He welcomed everyone and reflected on fifteen years of the WCM Summer School. During this period, more than six hundred students and young professionals have participated. Braaksma noted that over the years, there has also been “a significant development in the level of the practical cases.”

The arrival of dozens of new ships equipped with more complex systems and smaller crews creates a significant maintenance challenge for the Royal Netherlands Navy. During the WCM Summer School 2026, participants will examine how the Ministry of Defence can keep the next generation of naval ships fully operational while having fewer technical personnel on board. “It is precisely the combination of technology, data, and organization that makes this issue so interesting,” says Tiedo Tinga of the Royal Netherlands Defence Academy.