Friday 17th of December 2021
Morning session, restricted to attendance by Alumni
08:30 – 09:45 Registration of Alumni
10:00 – 11:45 General Assembly of VKI Alumni Association
11:45 – 12:45 Sandwich lunch
Afternoon session, open for external people
13:00 – 13:10 Welcome by the VKI Board of Directors
Mr. Sven Van Loo, Chair of the Board of Directors
13:10 – 13:25 The importance of Science & Technology for the Alliance
Dr. Giovanni Sembenini, Deputy Director, CMRE, Italy
13:25 – 13:50 VKI in a Changing World
Mr. Peter Grognard, VKI Director
13:50 – 18:20 Scientific Session by outstanding VKI graduates and Laudationes for Profs. J.M. Buchlin and H. Deconinck on occasion of their retirements
13:50 – 14:20 Rocket Lab - Space is open for business (online)
Dr. Sandy Tirtey, Director, Global Commercial Launch Services, New Zealand
14:20 – 14:50 Chances and challenges of supersonic flights
Mr. Andres Garzon, Sr Program Manager, AeroTEC, Seattle Washington
14:50 – 15:20 How cityscapes catch the wind
Prof. Catherine Gorlé, University Stanford, USA
15:20 – 15:50 Break
15:50 – 16:20 Building a safe, clean and affordable hydrogen economy – challenges & opportunities
Mr. Paul Bogers, Vice President Hydrogen, Shell, United Kingdom
16:20 – 16:50 Hydrogen as an energy carrier and an important component of Europe’s decarbonization plan
Dr. Athanassios Stubos, Director of Research at National Research Center Demokritos, Greece
16:50 – 17:20 Fluid dynamics research for industrial safety
Dr. Hugues Prétrel, Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire, France
17:20 – 17:50 Laudatio of Prof. J.M. Buchlin
Prof. Miguel Mendez, von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics, Belgium
17:50 – 18:20 Laudatio of Prof. H. Deconinck
Dr. Mario Ricchiuto, Senior Research scientist, Deputy head of science, Inria Bordeaux Sud-Ouest research center, France
18:20 – 19:30 Cocktail
19:30 – 20:00 Bus Departure to the Restaurant (Van Der Valk - Hôtel Nivelles-Sud: https://www.hotelnivellessud.be/en/culinary)
20:00 VKI Alumni Dinner
Saturday 18th of December 2021: Open Day
11:00 – 16:00: Visit of Laboratories for the alumni and families and open to public
14:00 – 16:00: VKI Alumni Association Board Meeting