Ignaas VerpoestProf. Ignaas Verpoest received his master’s degree (1972) and PhD (1982) in Materials Engineering from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven), Belgium. As a full professor (from 1990 until 2013) he was guiding a group that consisted ofeight postdoctoral researchers and 25 PhD-students (average 2008-2013), carrying out research on the meso-mechanics of (textile-based) composites, nano-engineered composites, natural fibre-reinforced (bio)polymers and advanced production methods for composites. Since September 2013, he has been an emeritus professor at KU Leuven. He continues to be involved in research projects on carbon fibre and natural fibre-reinforced composites and he also has a special interest in “the history of composites”, and the relationship between composites and design(ers). Over the past few years, he has organized several exhibitions on “composites and design(ers)” at the Design Museum in Gent and has collaborated with JEC-World (Paris) for several exhibitions on the history of composites. Prof. Verpoest was holder of the Toray Chair in Composite Materials at KU Leuven and was Chairman of the European Scientific Committee of The Alliance of European Flax-Linnen and Hemp (formerly CELC). He was President of the European Society for Composite Materials (ESCM), and the International Committee on Composite Materials (ICCM). Prof. Ignaas Verpoest won several awards, amongst others the Descartes Prize for Science Communication of the European Commission (2004), and the ‘Medal of Excellence in Composite Materials’ of the University of Delaware, USA (2014). He is also co-founder of the company Econcore, producer of innovative honeycomb cores, and was instrumental in creating the startups Rein4ced, producing hybrid carbon-steel fibre reinforced thermoplastic composite bicycle frames, and BioFibix, producing innovative flax preforms for composites. Read More Read Less