Biography

Ignaas VERPOEST, full professor (from 1990 till 2013) at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium), was guiding a research group which consisted (average of last 5 years) of 8 postdocs and 25 PhD-students, carrying out research in the areas of mesomechanics of (textile based) composites, nano-engineered composites, natural fibre composites and advanced production methods for composites. He is the author of more then 380 journal papers, about 500 conference papers and 4 books, and holds 15 patents. Since September 2013, Ignaas Verpoest is emeritus professor at KU Leuven, continuing to be involved in projects on carbon fibre and natural fibre reinforced composites. He has a special interest in “the history of composites”, and in the relation between composites and design(ers). prof. Verpoest was President of the European Society for Composite Materials (ESCM), and of the International Committee on Composite Materials (ICCM), and co-founder of the companies Econcore, and Rein4ced.

About KU Leuven

The Composite Materials Group in the Department of Materials Engineering (MTM) of KU Leuven, carrying out research on polymer matrix composites, was started by Prof. Ignaas Verpoest in 1982. Now, the Composite Materials Group (CMG) is one of the worldwide recognised centres for composite materials research, which hosted Toray Chair for Composite Materials from 2012 to 2022 with Profs. Ignaas Verpoest, Stepan V. Lomov, and David Seveno as Toray Professors. The group is coordinated by Prof. Yentl Swolfs. The Composite Materials Group is a very diverse and international community, consisting of about 60 professors, post-docs, PhD students and technical staff. Our research on composites ranges from very fundamental to very applied and/or industry oriented studies. There are currently five main research themes in our group: Micro- and mesostructural design of composites, Process and application development, Bio-based and sustainable composites, Composites and principles inspired by nature and Physical chemistry of interfaces.