Axelle Viré appointed Full Professor of Floating Wind Energy
Dr. Axelle Viré has been appointed Full Professor of Floating Wind Energy. In her new position Prof. Viré will help grow TU Delft’s activities in the field of floating wind energy. An essential field, according to Viré, as “about eighty percent of the offshore wind resource is located in water depths inaccessible for conventional wind turbines.” Axelle Viré also chairs the faculty Personnel Committee, she’s the faculty Diversity Officer, and a member of the TU Delft wide energy transition accelerator team.
I feel honoured by the trust that the faculty and the university are giving me with this new role, and I am excited to continue implementing my vision for our research, education, and organisation as a whole.
Axelle Viré graduated in Mechanical Engineering at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium), where she also completed a PhD in computational fluid mechanics in 2010. She then worked at Imperial College London as a Research Fellow for 3 years before joining TU Delft. Viré and her group address the scientific and technological challenges of floating wind turbines. Viré: “About eighty percent of the offshore wind resource is located in water depths that are inaccessible with conventional fixed wind turbines. To tap into this resource, floating wind turbines are necessary. I want to bring TU Delft at the forefront of the research and education in floating wind energy and I want to strengthen university-wide initiatives, such as our Floating Renewables Lab, in collaboration with our national and international partners.”
Axelle Viré is also a very active member of the university community. She chairs the faculty Personnel Committee and is the faculty’s Diversity Officer. In that role she was one of the initiators of the Parental Fund that support parents in and around periods of maternity and parental leave. As a Full Professor Axelle Viré feels even more responsibility: “I hope that my promotion will help inspire others and will contribute to sustainably increase diversity and inclusion in our organisation.”