Maike Mertens completed her studies in the field of event and leisure management at the Hogeschool Zuyd Heerlen in the Netherlands in 2010. After that she took up her master studies at the Belgian University of Leuven, which she completed with a Master of Science in communication science in 2012. Mrs. Mertens has been working at the WZLforum since January 2013 and has been responsible for event management since 2015.