Leon Govaert
Associate Professor – Eindhoven University of Technology, The Nederlands
Short biography
Leon Govaert is an Associate Professor of polymer mechanics at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). His research focuses on the mechanical performance of solid polymers and polymer composites (“polymer mechanics”) covering the fields of polymer physics (phenomenology of deformation and its molecular or microstructural origin), polymer science (design of materials with improved performance), and polymer engineering (design of products with optimized performance). The ultimate aim is to develop a methodology that allows quantitative assessment of the short-term (impact) and long-term (fatigue) response of polymer products, taking the material’s time-dependent deformation and failure response into consideration, as well as the influence of processing conditions and changes in performance during practical use (ageing, degradation); methodologies that allow for performance optimization, already in the early stages of design. In addition to his work at TU/e, Leon is also professor in Mechanics of Polymeric Materials at the faculty of Engineering Technology of the University of Twente. Here, he focuses on research in the area of time-dependent failure of thermoplastic composites.
Leon is appointed as the permanent organizing chair of the triennial conference series on Deformation, Yield and Fracture of Polymers (DYFP), one of the mayor international events dedicated to the mechanics of polymeric materials.