Teaching should not be limited to the transfer of knowledge but should be open to the transmission of the global and critical vision that the academic has been able to build throughout his career.HillewaertNewsKoen HILLEWAERT, Associate Professor in Design of Turbomachinery. Picture: ©MichelHouet 

K

oen Hillewaert graduated as a civil electromechanical engineer from Ghent University and joined the von Karman Institute in 1995 to work on the simulation of radial turbomachines under the direction of Professor René van den Braembussche until 2001. After a short stint as a development engineer at Numeca, he attended the creation of the Aeronautics Research Centre (CENAERO) in 2003, where he became responsible for the development of the Argo software and the coordination of the "fluid dynamics" theme, first as a senior developer, then as team leader and finally as technical referent. It is also in this context that he obtained in 2013 a doctorate in Applied Sciences, under the supervision of Pr Jean-François Remacle of UCLouvain, on the industrialization of finite element methods with high convergence order.

"My research activities have not only enabled me to build up extensive technical and scientific experience in turbomachinery, fluid dynamics, numerical methods and finally in high-performance computing, or as a principal investigator in four PRACE and two INCITE projects, but also in the management of research teams, the direction of theses and finally in the setting up, participation and coordination of European and Walloon projects." Koen Hillewaert is also involved in the development of several open source software, in the coordination committees of the European Research Community on Flow, Turbulence and Combustion (ERCOFTAC) and co-chairs the steering committee of the CFD general notation system (CGNS) standard.

Provide students with the opportunity to follow tangible and interesting experiences

"I think that the academic teacher has two complementary responsibilities, which lose part of their usefulness if exercised in isolation. The first is obviously to broaden knowledge in one's scientific field, both through one's own research and by consolidating the work of one's peers. However, any knowledge restricted to a small community without "radiation" to the general public may become obsolete. So I see the second role more broadly: to put one's knowledge and experience at the service of society and the public. This role is also reflected, for example, in the active and sometimes informal participation in initiatives in his or her field of expertise."

"Moreover, teaching should not be limited to the transfer of knowledge, as described in the literature, but should also be open to the transmission of the global and critical vision that the academic has been able to build throughout his career. Whenever possible, the teacher should provide the student with tangible and interesting experiences, including active involvement in master's or doctoral research. This implies a form of collegiality and closeness to the student".

Contact Information

Koen Hillewaert

Share this page