Wubbo Ockels - Scientific Career

Scientific Career

In 1992, Ockels was appointed part-time professor Aerospace Engineering (in particular, Aerospace for Sustainable Engineering and Technology) at the Delft University of Technology, and promoted to full-time professor in September 2003. In this function, he has overseen the Nuna projects. He has also proposed the development of a Superbus, a new method of high speed (250 km/hour) public transportation by road. The public transportation company Connexxion is the first company to invest in the development of this Superbus.

Currently Wubbo Ockels is involved in his "LadderMill" sustainable energy program. A Laddermill is a kind of windmill consisting of a "ladder" of "kites". As quoted from his website:

The LadderMill is the response to the challenge for exploiting the gigantic energy source contained in the airspace up to high altitudes of 10 km. The concept has been developed with the aim to convert wind energy at altitude in electricity on the ground in an environmental and cost effective manner.

Whilst working at the university he has assisted and advised the Nuon Solar Team, a solar racer team consisting of students, which has won the biannual World Solar Challenge 4 consecutive times from 2001 to 2007.

In 2009, Ockels presented a talk arguing that the notion of time is human-constructed as a result of our interpretation of the effects of gravity.