69th VKI Diploma Ceremony

The 69th VKI Diploma Ceremony for the Research Master in Fluid Dynamics was a memorable event, held on June 27th, 2025, at the von Karman Institute. The atmosphere was filled with excitement and pride as the graduates were celebrated for their great achievements.

The ceremony  kicked off with a message from Mr. Peter Grognard, VKI’s Managing Director, who praised the graduates for their hard work and dedication. Then, Mr. Sven Van Loo, Chair of the VKI Board of Directors, took the stage and delivered an inspiring speech. Dr. Bryan Wells, NATO’s Chief Scientist, also joined the celebration and gave a powerful talk about how important VKI is to NATO’s mission.

A special technical presentation was given by Dr. Tommaso Carlesi, now working at the Joint Research Center of the European Commission. He recently completed his PhD in 2025 and shared his research on a new experimental method to measure turbulent heat flux in liquid metals, work he did in collaboration with VKI and the University of Mons.

Dr. Isil Saraker, who leads the “Structures for Satellites and Exploration” group at DLR, also delivered a warm and heartfelt message to the graduates. She reflected on her own time at VKI and how it helped shape her career, offering valuable insights and encouragement.

Finally, the moment everyone was waiting for arrived, the diploma ceremony! The graduates received their diplomas and awards, handed out by Dr. Bryan Wells himself, making it a special and proud moment for all.

The recipients of the awards showcased exceptional talent and dedication. Gianmario PERRUCCI received the Theodore von Karman Prize for his outstanding project titled " Physics based shock capturing methods for high order simulations of hypersonics flow."

Yannick LECOMTE was recognized with the Belgian Government Prize delivered by Mr. Fiel Vanthemsche, representative of H.E. Ariadine Petridis, , for his remarkable project on " Reinforcement twinning for attitude control of multirotor drones: an experimental proof of concept."

Théo VAN DYCK was recognized with the Prince Alexandre of Belgium Award for the Best Presentation. Théo received a gift on behalf of Her Royal Highness Princess Léa DE BELGIQUE, who was unable to attend the ceremony.

Charles JACQUET was honored with the Excellence in Experimental Research award for his great work on " Power, loading and wake dynamics of floating wind turbines under cyclic pitch or roll motion: insights from wind tunnel experiments," while Tobias WINTER received the Excellence in Numerical Research award for his project on “Robust shock treatment for hypersonic flows within a discontinuous Galerkin framework.” 

The new award for excellence in machine learning for fluid dynamics this year went to Arda OZUZUN for his project entitled: “Multi-level fidelity approach for generating an aerothermodynamic database in hypersonic regime” 

The ceremony was also a moment to acknowledge and congratulate all the graduates who received their diplomas. Their names were called out, accompanied by applause for their exceptional accomplishments.
Honored mentions were given to Joran DARTEVELLE, Tommaso DE MARIA, Giacomo Gaetano DE SIO, Alice FISCHER, Endino GIESKE, Yannick LECOMTE, Arda ÖZUZUN, Gianmario PERRUCCI, Vittorio PIRO among other graduates, Corentin BEYAERT, Samuele CECCHINI, Petros CHATZOPOULOS, Felice CHIANTESE, Samuele Nicolas GINEYS, Furkan GÖKENIŞ, Hasan Berk GÜÇLÜ, Charles JACQUET, Nuno Bernardo LOPES SOUTINHO TEIXEIRA BORGES, Anastasios PAPAZAKAS, Justin PESESSE, Federico PETTINATO, Nuno PINTO DE SOUZA, Matias STANDAERT, Andrea TINI, Théo VAN DYCK, Tobias WINTER and Oğuzhan YILMAZ.

The guest speaker presentation continued with a talk by Dr. Tamas Regert, President of the VKI Alumni Association. Speaking on behalf of the alumni, he presented the Best Collaborative Student Award to Theo Van Dyck.


Prof. Jeroen VAN BEECK, the dean of the faculty, took the stage to present the Best PhD Presentation Award of the Phd Symposium 2025. Ata Onur BASKAYA was awarded for his work on " Influence of Ablation on Atmospheric Entry Aerothermodynamics." Sebastiano RANDINO was recognized with the Best Poster Award for his research on  Reinforcement Twinning of Floating Wind Turbines."

Finally, Charles JACQUET, Corentin BEYAERT and Gieske ENDINO representatives of the Research Master students, gave a vote of thanks to the guests.

The 69th VKI Diploma Ceremony celebrated the exceptional achievements, dedication, and commitment of the graduates, leaving an important mark on their journey towards a brilliant future.