Guy Van Assche

Guy Van Assche is a Professor in Sustainable Materials Engineering at Vrije Universiteit Brussel, specializing in polymer science with expertise in thermal analysis, rheology, and self-healing materials development. His research focuses on structure-processing-property relations of polymers and related materials, with significant contributions to reversible covalent polymer networks and their applications.

His research interests span multiple areas including the application of advanced thermal analysis techniques, experimental studies of chemical and physical processes kinetics, development of kinetic models for polymerization reactions, numerical modeling of heat transfer combined with chemical processes, and the development of (thermo)reversible polymer networks for self-healing and recyclable materials. His work bridges fundamental polymer science with practical applications in robotics and sustainable engineering.

Prof. Van Assche has received numerous awards including the Czech Science Foundation fellowship (2009), IWT-Vlaanderen fellowship (2008), and a Solvay award for PhD thesis (2008). He has also won multiple poster awards, most recently a Best Poster Award in 2024.

He actively supervises students and has served on numerous PhD committees. His leadership extends to external positions including Chairman of the Thermal Analysis Working Group Netherlands since 2019 and President of the Materials Committee at ICTAC (International Confederation for Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry) since 2016. His research is supported by multiple active projects including EU626: Soft, self-reacting smart materials for robots, FWOTM1230: EMSOR, and FOD171: Self-closing, durable vacuum cups.