[4] In 2009, at the age of thirteen, Mackenbach won the 2009 edition of Junior Songfestival with the song "Click Clack".

[5] As a result, he represented the Netherlands in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2009, and went on to win the competition with 121 points.

[10] After graduating secondary school with a VWO certificate, Mackenbach studied at the Eindhoven University of Technology.

In 2019, he finished a master's degree in nuclear fusion, for which he wrote the dissertation Numerical Modelling of Mode Penetration in Cylindrical Geometries Using M3D-C1.

[11] Continuing his studies at the Eindhoven University of Technology, Ralf completed his PhD cum laude in November 2023 with a thesis titled Available Energy: A compass for navigating the nonlinear landscape of fusion plasma turbulence.