Boud Vogelesang

Man with a clear vision: cooperation leads to the best result

Boud Vogelesang graduated from the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering in 1967 and was immediately welcomed into Professor Spies’ Design and Materials department. There he specialised in materials and their structural application. Vogelesang also made a major contribution to the establishment of the faculty’s laboratory, where he founded the university workplace in 1984. He described this concept as a testing ground for close cooperation between laboratory, PhD students, companies and relevant parties. The university workplace brought together research, design, product and application. The external money flows that came into play with this were initially disdained, but the concept soon bore fruit.

The aviation world regards Vogelesang primarily as the inventor of the pioneering aircraft material Glare, a combination of aluminium and composite. The idea arose after talks with Dutch royal airlines KLM; it took 25 years before the final material was realised. Vogelesang saw it as a wonderful example of teamwork with students. In 2003, Vogelesang received a royal award for his work on Glare.

In 1993, Vogelesang was appointed Professor of Aircraft Materials. He was keen on the importance of cooperation and team spirit, something he encouraged among his students and in the laboratory. He inspired many young engineers. In 2001, after a period as vice dean, he retired from his chair. Vogelesang died in 2020.