In this webinar, Axelle Viré, Full Professor of Floating Wind Energy at the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering and the Scientific Director of the Floating Renewables Lab at TU Delft, discussed the ongoing DEI work at her faculty. She explained her drive for more DEI in academia and will show how both bottom-up and top-down measures are needed and can help. In particular, she discussed recognition and rewards policies for academic staff, inclusive leadership training, and how to deal with misconduct or micro-aggressions. She further introduced the Parental Fund policy that was started two years ago at the faculty.
PROGRAMME (TIMES IN CET)
15:00-15:10 Introduction (Sarah Barber)
15:10-15:25 Presentation “Bottom-up and top-down approaches to DEI in academia“
Axelle Viré, TU Delft, NL
15:25-15:50 Questions and discussion
15:50-16:00 Summary of discussion and closing (Sarah Barber)
ABOUT AXELLE VIRÉ
Axelle Viré is a Full Professor of Floating Wind Energy at the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering and the Scientific Director of the Floating Renewables Lab at TU Delft. She graduated in Mechanical Engineering at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium), where she also completed a PhD in Physics. She then worked as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at Imperial College London (UK) for 3 years before joining TU Delft. Currently, she leads a team of researchers working on the numerical modelling, experimental testing, and system design for floating offshore wind turbines and farms. She coordinates major national and international projects on offshore and floating wind, such as “HybridLabs”, a 13m€ NWO project to accelerate Dutch innovations in offshore renewables, and the MSCA EU-funded “STEP4WIND” project focusing on the design, control, and deployment of floating wind farms. She is also the recipient of a prestigious NWO VIDI grant aimed at better understanding the aerodynamics of floating wind turbines. Next to her research activities, she is committed to increasing human capital in offshore wind energy and received an Education Fellowship at TU Delft in 2023. She is also the Diversity and Inclusion Officer at the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, and in this role, joined the Faculty Management Team in November 2023. Outside TU Delft, she is a member of the scientific advisory board of the NoordzeeOverleg, a national body in charge of implementing the North Sea Agreement.
