The appointment of Leon Mishnaevsky Jr. as a new professor marks both a personal landmark and a strategic strengthening of DTU’s expertise in materials science, sustainability, and digital modelling of wind energy systems. The professorship contributes to DTU’s efforts to support the green transition through the development of durable and recyclable materials and more efficient wind energy technologies.
From materials modelling to wind energy sustainability
Wind energy has evolved from a pioneering initiative into a global industry. As the sector matures, new challenges are emerging, including increasing maintenance costs, structural degradation, difficulties in recycling composite blades, and concerns about microplastic emissions from blade erosion. “Many of these challenges are linked to processes occurring at the microscale of materials, such as manufacturing defects, degradation mechanisms, and surface erosion”, says Leon Mishnaevsky Jr. and continues: “Understanding these mechanisms allows us to design durable and recyclable wind turbine structures. Computational micromechanics provides the framework to understand, predict, and quantitatively optimize the underlying mechanisms and materials”.
Looking ahead
In his new role, Leon Mishnaevsky Jr. will contribute to interdisciplinary research at DTU across materials science, wind engineering, and sustainability.
He will also contribute to education in computational micromechanics and materials modelling, including courses on the micromechanics of composites and materials design for engineering applications.
The appointment will be marked by an inaugural lecture where he will present how computational micromechanics can be applied to current challenges in wind energy materials and structures.
About the Inaugural Lecture
The lecture "Computational Micromechanics of Materials as a Tool to Ensure Sustainable Wind Energy Development" will present how computational micromechanics can be used to analyse and quantitatively optimize materials and processes in wind energy systems. Topics include leading-edge erosion of wind turbine blades, recycling of composite materials, microplastic emissions associated with blade degradation, and repair technologies. It will show that these phenomena, governed by microscale mechanisms, can be understood and explored using the combination of microscopy, digital microstructure modelling, and physics-based simulations. The lecture will demonstrate how this approach enables the design of more durable and recyclable wind turbine structures.
Time and location
The lecture will take place at 2 PM on Monday May 18, 2026, at Risø Campus, Niels Bohr Auditorium, Building 112.