STFES team
We are a young, dynamic group of researchers, regularly visited by foreign experts. We welcome researchers for short as well as extended stays.
If you think your research can be valuable to our group, please get in touch with us.
Tenured Academic Staff
Michel De Paepe
He graduated as Master of Science in Electromechanical Engineering at Ghent University in 1995. In 1999 he obtained his PhD in Electromechanical Engineering at Ghent University, graduating on 'Steam injected Gas Turbines with Waste Recovery'.
His research is focusing on heat transfer in heat exchangers, two-phase refrigerant flow, electrical drives and thermal energy storage (TES). He is also interested in energy efficiency in buildings and industry by using heat pumps (for domestic applications), fuel cells, ORCs and other small scale energy conversion systems.
Michel De Paepe is president of EnerGhentiC, the interdisciplinary community of Ghent University researchers working on the energy challenge. He is also member of Flanders Make Motion Products core lab MIRO.
T: 09 264 32 94
Sebastian Verhelst
Sebastian Verhelst is member of EnerGhentiC.
E: sebastian.verhelst@ugent.be
T: 09 264 33 06
Steven Lecompte
Steven Lecompte (°1988) is assistant professor of Thermal Machines in the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture at Ghent University.
He obtained his Master of Science and PhD degrees in Electromechanical Engineering at Ghent University in 2012 and 2016 respectively. His PhD thesis was titled 'Performance evaluation of organic Rankine Cycle architectures: Application to waste heat valorization'.
His research focuses on thermal machines (heat pumps, organic rankine cycles, refrigeration cycles) including thermo-economic optimization, renewable energy integration, multi-phase processes, expanders and compressors.
Between 2016 and 2018 he was recurring visiting researcher at Imperial Collage London, doing research on multi-phase flows. In 2017 he obtained a postdoctoral fellowship of the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO).
Steven Lecompte is secretary of the KCORC board, Chairman of Koelplatform and member of EnerGhentiC and Machines & Factories.
T: 09 264 33 91
Wim Beyne
Wim Beyne (°1993) is assistant professor in the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture at Ghent University, specializing in two-phase numerical heat transfer.
He obtained his Master of Science in Electromechanical Engineering at Ghent University in 2016 and completed his PhD in Electromechanical Engineering in 2021, with a thesis titled 'The development of e charging time energy fraction model for latent thermal energy storage heat exchangers'.
His research primarily focused on the numerical modeling of two-phase heat transfer, including both solid-liquid and liquid-gas change phenomena. Since 2024, Wim Beyne has been appointed as an assistant professor, where his work continues to explore phase change processes and their application in thermal energy systems.
Wim Beyne is a member of EnerGhentiC, the interdisciplinary energy community at Ghent University. He is also member of the Flanders Make core lab MIRO, where he collaborates on advanced research in thermal systems and energy efficiency.
T: 09 264 32 48
Visiting Professor
Administrative & Supporting Staff
- Annick De Coster
- Annie Harri
- Tom Robeyn
- Yves Maenhout
- Frederik Martens
- Koen Chielens
- Thomas Blancke
- Bart Van Daele
Postdoctoral Researchers
Research staff
Former scientific staff
- Somayeh Parsa - Modelling of Premixed Dual-Fuel Combustion in Marine Engines
- Hugo Monteyne - Energy-efficient dehumidification
- Filip Bronchart - Thermodynamics of greenhouse systems
- Zaaquib Ahmed - Thermal modeling of a steel slab in a continuous walking beam reheat furnace of a hot strip mill
- Jari Raeymackers - Experimental investigation of flow boiling heat transfer under a time-varying heat flux
- Jera Van Nieuwenhuyse - Heat transfer to supercritical refrigerants in the near-critical region
- Elias Vieren - Advanced industrial high-temperature heat pumps
- Tara Larsson - A pressure-oscillation-based RON estimation method for spark ignition fuels
- Tom Robeyn - An alternative pressure-oscillation-based octane rating method
- Ward Suijs - Scaling the performance of methanol-fueled spark ignition engines
- Toon Demeester - Efficient quasi-Newton methods for steady free surface flow
- Yuanfeng Wang - Comparative analysis and optimization of hydrogen combustion mechanism
- Jeroen Dierickx - Use of Methanol in compression ignition engines through the dual fuel combustion process
- Ilya T'Jollyn - Assessment of nucleate pool boiling heat transfer and critical heat flux
- Katarina Simi´c - Experimental performance analysis of a fuel cell unit for various natural gas-hydrogen fuel mixtures
- Willem Faes - Strategies for the design and predictive maintenance of heat exchangers exposed to a geothermal brine
- Thomas Schoonjans - Thermal model and energy optimization of the continuous annealing and processing line
- Haohan Li - Dual-fuel engine combustion
- Judith Vander Heyde - A Comparison of the Thermohydraulic Performance of Oil-Cooled Heat Sink Geometries for Power Electronics
- Gilles Decan - CFD simulation of dual-fuel engine combustion
- Louis Sileghem - Alternative fuels for spark ignition engines: alcohols/gasoline mixtures
- Aditya Pillai
- Alihan Kaya - Experimental study of nucleate and convective flow boiling in a large diameter horizontal tube
- Marijn Billiet - Experimental performance study of metal foam in cooling applications
- Duc-Khanh Nguyen - Fuel reforming using engine exhaust heat
- Flavio Brighenti
- Roel Verschaeren - An optical study of evaporating fuel sprays for medium speed engines
- Marija Lazova - Characteristics of forced convection heat transfer to R125 at supercritical state in a horizontal tube
- Asal Sharif - Performance of cross-corrugated plate heat exchangers made of polymeric and metallic materials
- Stijn Broekaert - HCCI heat transfer
- Ozer Bagci - Comparison of heat transfer and pressure drop between analytical and computational approaches
- Lenka Bokisova - Thermal analysis of a plastic helical coil heat exchanger for a domestic water storage tank
- Sven De Schampheleire - Natural convection in classical heat sinks and open-cell metal foam
- Thomas De Cuyper - In-cylinder heat transfer
- Bernd Ameel - Optimisation of compound louvred fin and vortex generator heat exchangers
- Jakob Coulier- Use of methanol in compression ignition engines through the dual-fuel combustion process
- Dieter Daenens - sustainable use of steam
- Hugo Canière - Flow pattern mapping of horizontal evaporating refrigerant flow based on capacitive void fraction measurements
- Kathleen De Kerpel - Refrigerant two-phase flow behaviour and pressure drop up- and downstream of a sharp return bend
- Jonas Galle - Alternative fuels for compression ignition engines
- Jeroen Vancoillie - Alternative fuels for spark ignition engines: alcohols
- Henk Huisseune - Performance evaluation of louvered fin compact heat exchangers with vortex generators
- Marnix Van Belleghem - Modelling coupled heat and moisture transfer between air and porous materials for building applications
- Ivan Verhaert - Evaluation of an alkaline fuel cell as a micro-combined heat and power (micro-CHP) system for building applications using simulation
- Joachim Demuynck - In-cylinder heat transfer measurement and modeling
- Peter De Jaeger - The use of procalcitonin testing in adult patients in A&E departments with a Q-SOFA score as an additional predictor of the prognosis of sepsis
- Marijke Steeman - Hygrothermal modelling for building energy simulation applications
- Ramon Piloto Rodriguez - Determination of biodiesel influence on the performance of diesel engines
- Arnout Willockx - Using the inverse heat conduction problem and thermography for the determinaton of local heat transfer coefficients and fin effectiveness for longitudinal fins
- Hendrik-Jan Steeman - Modelling local hygrothermal interaction between airflow and porous materials for building applications
- Christophe T'Joen - Thermo-hydraulic study of inclined louvered fins