Alexandra Bech Gjørv is the CEO of SINTEF, preceded by Unni Steinsmo, Morten Loktu and Roar Arntzen.

With that link to the university in mind, the full name was, until a statute change in 2008, the Company for industrial and technical research at the Norwegian Institute of Technology.

SINTEF had its strongest growth period in the 1970s, linked to the growing technology demand in the Norwegian oil industry.

This growth also gave the Trondheim region a boost as part of a "goodwill period" that lifted NTH/SINTEF to a high, international level in the technology area.

[4] SINTEF maintains a close collaboration with the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim.

SINTEF scientists include Nils Anders Røkke, Håvard Fjær Grip and Torleiv Maseng.