Rate My Professor Joost Duflou

Joost R. Duflou is a full professor in the Faculty of Engineering Science at KU Leuven, affiliated with the Department of Mechanical Engineering. He holds master’s degrees in Architectural Engineering and Electro-mechanical Engineering, as well as a PhD in Applied Sciences from KU Leuven. Following years of industrial experience in international companies, he joined the KU Leuven Mechanical Engineering Department as a faculty member in 1997 and advanced to tenured full professor in 2012. Duflou heads the Division of Industrial Management, Traffic and Infrastructure (MIM) and the Subdivision of Design Methodology and Life Cycle Engineering within Manufacturing Processes and Systems (MaPS). He holds the LVD Chair on Sheet Metal Processing, leads research groups on ecodesign, life cycle engineering, and flexible sheet metal forming, and is a CIRP Fellow.

Duflou’s research centers on sustainable manufacturing, with emphasis on life cycle engineering, ecodesign, industrial symbiosis for material efficiency, metal and electronics waste recycling, laser cutting, single point incremental forming, and environmental impacts of additive manufacturing. He has produced over 435 publications, garnering more than 23,000 citations. Key contributions include “Efficiently preserving material resources in manufacturing: Industrial symbiosis revisited” (CIRP Annals, 2024), “Investigating intermediate shapes for multi-stage forming of cranial implants” (Journal of Manufacturing Processes, 2024), the ESAFORM 2024 benchmark on geometric accuracy in single point incremental forming (International Journal of Material Forming, 2025), and analyses of heavy-duty laser cutting efficiency (Materials Research Proceedings, 2025). He supervises PhD research on bio-inspired design, circular economy, and process optimization. Duflou teaches courses including Ecodesign and Life Cycle Engineering, Design Methodologies, Project Management, and Leadership and Strategic Management, influencing advancements in low-impact manufacturing and resource preservation.