CoWaves
Collaboration in Motion
Philosophy
At CoWaves, every project is an opportunity to enhance clarity and control in ship building by systematically analyzing operations, identifying bottlenecks, and turning insight into action. We combine advisory strength with hands-on execution, implementing solutions directly alongside your teams to ensure progress is practical, measurable, and sustainable. Guided by our core principles — Transparency, Proactivity, Integrity, and Good Humor — we build partnerships founded on trust, flexibility, and mutual respect.
Skillset
With specialists across technology, business, operations, and data management, we support projects from strategic planning to day-to-day execution. Using the Critical Path Method, we analyze and identify pinch points early, align teams with clear priorities, and build structured, actionable plans that keep projects on track — even under pressure.
Equally important is our commitment to clear communication. We create transparency across departments and disciplines, ensuring data, insight, and human effort come together seamlessly. This empowers both projects and people to perform at their best. We are CoWaves — Collaboration in Motion.
What makes us unique
Professional &
systematic
Personalised &
Hands on
Goal &
Result driven
Thomas Combe
Role: Founder of CoWaves
Education: MSc. Offshore & Dredging Engineering / Bsc. Civil Engineering, TU Delft.
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Thomas his strengths lay in getting things done, connecting easily with people and bringing positivity in difficult situations. Besides his work he enjoys cooking, cycling and scuba diving in his free time.
Why CoWaves? CoWaves has provided a steady basis for personal and professional growth for the team, and that motivates Thomas.
Ilja van Ketel - Brussel
Role: Project-/ & Operations Manager
Education: BSc Naval Architect & BEd.
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Ilja is both an experienced naval architect, with a wealth of knowledge on maritime expertise, and a former lecturer, with a heart for people and education. Ilja is great at distinguishing main- and side issues. This makes her the perfect person to support the team and help them develop as it makes her a great addition to a project.
In her free time, Ilja loves riding her motorbike, taking her own boat out on the water, and enjoying quality time with her family.
Maarten de Vreede
Role: Project Coordination
Education: MSc Offshore & Dredging Engineering, TU Delft
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Maarten is a hands-on project and operations professional that enjoys solving complex problems, improving processes and ways of working, and managing projects from planning through execution. With experience across operations, production, high tech manufacturing and technical project environments on- and offshore, he combines engineering knowledge with a pragmatic approach to connect people, processes and technical challenges and gets things done.
Eite de Vries
Role: Project Support
Education: BASc, Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering
Floris van Duijn
Role: Project Support
Education: Technische Bedrijfskunde aan de Haagse Hogeschool
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Floris is a technically minded and analytical professional with a background in Technical Business Administration and experience in both technical and commercial environments. He has a strong ability to quickly understand complex processes and distinguish main issues from side issues. His practical mindset, combined with strong communication and organizational skills, allows him to connect different disciplines and keep projects focused on their objectives. Floris is a valuable addition to a project team, bringing structure, initiative and a hands-on approach to achieving results.
Melissa Behrendt
Role: Administrative Coordinator
Education: Hight School Marinette, Wisconsin, USA
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With over two decades of experience in administrative roles within healthcare and shipyard environments, Melissa has built a reputation for professionalism, dependability, and exceptional organizational skills. Her career has been centered on helping organizations operate smoothly by managing complex administrative processes, coordinating teams, and providing outstanding support to both clients and colleagues. Melissa's practical experience and dedication to excellence have been the foundation of her success, and she continues to bring that same commitment to every client and project she serves.
Bora U. Ekizoglu
Role: Project Support
Education: MSc. Ship Hydromechanics TU Delft
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A lifelong passion for sailing first sparked my interest in marine engineering. What began as a fascination with the sport grew into a curiosity about complex engineering problems and the physics behind them. My background in marine hydromechanics, numerical modelling and machine learning taught me to work analytically, handle complex data and understand how different parts of a system influence one another. That mindset now shapes my role in Project Support at CoWaves, where I enjoy bringing structure to complex projects, collaborating in multidisciplinary teams and applying engineering precision to planning while continuing to grow beyond my original engineering specialisation.
Aaron Nermal
Role: Project Support
Education: Ocean Engineering, Texas A&M
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Aaron is a rookie controls engineer getting his start in the world of naval architecture. He excels at understanding the relationships between engineering tasks and departments. In addition to his eagerness to always learn more about the field, this allows him to develop clear analyses of project operations and delays.
Aaron is also an avid motorsports fan with a love for endurance racing. He also enjoys sketching and bowling.
Alexey Shifman
Role: Project & Business Manager
Education: MSc Naval Architecture
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Alexey is an experienced naval architect and project manager with over 14 years of experience across shipbuilding, offshore and superyacht projects. With a background ranging from engineering and project management to customer-facing and startup environments, he brings a broad and practical perspective to every project. Alexey is at his best when working on complex challenges, connecting people and disciplines, and creating structure where there are many moving parts.
Lisa Huisman
Role: Office Manager
Education: Politieacademie De Yp, Den Haag
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With a background from the Police Academy 'De Yp' in The Hague, Lisa brings a structured, responsible and practical approach to the team. Within CoWaves, Lisa supports the financial and administrative processes, including invoicing, financial administration and keeping track of outstanding actions. Lisa also helps with quotations, team activities and the day-to-day operational organisation of the company. Lisa is a reliable point of contact for colleagues and enjoys taking ownership, keeping an overview and making sure things get done. In her free time, Lisa enjoys being outdoors, working in her vegetable garden, getting lost in a good book and spending time with her animals.
Read about our associates
Testimonials
Thomas is an enthusiastic man and has an excellent eye on the business interests for which he works, he is vital in assessing the situation and needs, and you can spar well with Thomas.
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The cooperation was excellent, he trained my people well, was clear, understanding, and a bit of aftercare was perfect. Because of his enthusiasm, knowledge, and inquisitiveness to imagine himself in the company he works for, he can make a good analysis of what is needed to lift the company to a higher level.
His positive attitude and a dose of humour make cooperation very easy. I would recommend Thomas because he is a team player. He stands for what he does and says.
Jos Aarts
Owner Zijlstra
My role is to supervise large, complex and not your every day projects within the maritime sector as senior Project Manager at Damen Shiprepair & Conversion. Thomas is broadly
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oriented and more than just in planning. It is a kind of service that Thomas offers of his own accord and that is a pleasure to work with. He also takes the initiative to find out all the details of a project. I enjoy working with Thomas because he has a lot of potential and positivity. He has an enormous drive and is very employable. In which the results were excellent. He is in a state of solving a problem without negativity. Thomas energizes your team when working with him and Thomas' input adds value. He is a loyal team player.
Mark Derks - Senior Project Manager Damen Shiprepair & Conversion
We worked very closely with Thomas on the development of a program schedule, several iterations incorporating new ideas and developing details for a dredge construction.
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With his superior knowledge of dredge construction it was a great support. Thomas always brings a fresh perspective to the task at hand.
Justin Slater - Director of Sales and Marketing at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding located in Wisconsin, USA
I got to know Thomas as a driven, ambitious critical mind, who won't let anything stop him from achieving his goals. He is super good at connecting and keeping people hooked.
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He's a pacesetter, a nice guy to have around when you're having a party. We went abroad a few times together, including Miami, and we got to know each other better there. So driven and so eager to learn. It is a beautiful and logical step that Thomas started his own business. Entrepreneurial and independence are two characteristics of Thomas. I would recommend Thomas if you are looking for someone who gets things done. Preferably in a hectic environment where he can use his knowledge and control skills, you're having a party. We went abroad a few times together, including Miami, and we got to know each other better there. So driven and so eager to learn. Selfish, of course. It is a beautiful and logical step that Thomas started his own business. Enterprising and independent are two characteristics of Thomas. I would recommend Thomas if you are looking for someone who gets things done. Preferably in a hectic environment where he can use his knowledge and control skills.
Floris Groeneveld
Owner Critical Minds
We worked very closely with Thomas on the development of a program schedule, several iterations incorporating new ideas and developing details for a dredge construction.
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With his superior knowledge of dredge construction it was a great support. Thomas always brings a fresh perspective to the task at hand. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock in Chicago. He is very good at arranging the things that need to be done and can operate very independently. On the other hand, he is very good at handling people, and communicating. While in the USA, he arranged experimental research at Texas A&M himself, including building the testing facility and setting clay. So Thomas is the guy to get the job done. He is very good at building a network.
Sape Miedema - Head of Studies Delft University of Technology
Across several challenging projects at Conrad Shipyard, the organization required renewed structure, clearer visibility and stronger control over time-related commitments.
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Under my leadership, CoWaves played a valuable role in strengthening these elements within project management, planning and reporting.
Their team supported us by training the project management organization, conducting independent schedule analyses and providing well-founded recommendations to improve visibility and leadership decision-making. CoWaves also contributed to the development of structured backup for major change orders, ensuring documentation, narrative and planning logic were aligned and defensible.
In addition, they assisted in laying the groundwork for facility-level scheduling and enhancing schedule reporting for leadership across our work areas. These steps helped create alignment during periods of high workload and operational complexity, before responsibilities transitioned internally.
CoWaves brought structure, clarity and independent insight at a moment when the organization needed it. Their involvement contributed to steadying the workflow, improving communication around planning issues and supporting several key decision points throughout our collaboration.
Rene J. Leonard – Conrad Shipyard; Senior Vice President Technical Operations and Government Programs
For the largest yacht ever constructed in the Netherlands, with its nearly 119-metre length and innovative propulsion architecture, the project required structure,
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clarity and strong control over time-related agreements. CoWaves played a valuable role in strengthening these elements throughout the build from engineering up to delivery. Their team supported us in safeguarding the project schedule, electrical interfacing, monitoring change orders and ensuring that each of the project team members could perform at its best. Their input for project board meetings was consistent and well-founded, helping us navigate several key decision moments.
During last phase and commissioning, CoWaves contributed to the coordination of outstanding items and the structured hand-over of various systems as well as the punch list.
CoWaves brought reliability, overview and practical problem-solving to a project of this scale. Their involvement supported a steady workflow and helped maintain progress throughout an extraordinarily demanding build.
Mattes Kruize – Royal Van Lent Shipyard; Director New Business & Supply Chain