Partners
Our partnership brings together Vestas, the global leader in sustainable energy solutions; the Bristol Composites Institute, a world leader in composites research; and LMAT, an SME specialising in advanced composites process control and simulation. Together, we combine industrial insight, academic excellence, and innovative engineering to drive the future of wind turbine blade design and manufacturing.
Meet the partners and people working together to deliver BladeUp.
The Bristol Composites Institute (BCI) is the UK’s largest university research group exclusively focused on composites research, technology development, and skills training. The Institute has world class expertise in materials science, structural mechanics, advanced simulation, and manufacturing innovation.
Prof. Alberto Pirrera is the academic lead for BladeUp and leads the wind energy research activities within BCI, bringing extensive expertise in structural analysis, design and optimisation.
The wider BladeUp lead academic team brings consolidated expertise in advanced structural design, wind turbine aero-servo-elastic optimisation, multiscale and process modelling of composites, and advanced computational methods:
- Dr Jonathan Belnoue — Workstream 2 (WS2) Co-Lead
- Dr Bassam Elsaied — Workstream 1 (WS1) Co-Lead
- Dr Rainer Groh — Cross Workstream Co-Lead
- Dr Terence Macquart — Workstream 3 (WS3) Co-Lead
BCI also hosts a dedicated research team supporting delivery across all workstreams, including:
- Post Doctoral Researchers:
- Dr Aewis Hii — WS1
- Dr Anatoly Koptelov — WS2
- TBA — WS3
- Dr William Lavie – Cross Workstream
- Research Software Engineer:
- TBA — supporting software tool development and integration across workstreams
Vestas is the global leader in sustainable energy solutions, designing, installing, and servicing wind energy projects worldwide. With a mission to transform the global energy system, Vestas develops onshore and offshore wind technologies and maintains the world’s largest fleet of wind turbines.
Vestas’ innovations in wind turbine technology and efforts to reduce the levelized cost of wind energy support the global transition to sustainable and renewable energy systems, benefiting societies worldwide. Their commitment to sustainability throughout operations, from manufacturing to end-of-life turbine recycling, sets a benchmark for the industry and promotes broader environmental stewardship.
Vestas has collaborated with the Bristol Composites Institute (BCI) since the early 2000s. In 2024, BCI was announced as a Strategic University Partner for Vestas, marking a significant strengthening of our shared commitment to advancing wind turbine technology.
Dr Adrian Gill, Chief Engineer – Vestas Blades, is the business lead for BladeUp and jointly leads the project with Prof. Alberto Pirrera, the academic lead. Dr Gill is a world leading expert in wind turbine blade technology, and you can hear about his work in his TEDx talk “The Future of Energy”. He leads a team of specialist engineers at Vestas who contribute to all BladeUp workstreams.
LMAT is a spin-off from the Bristol Composites Institute, specialising in the design of polymer-based manufacturing processes. LMAT’s primary focus is on developing software and control systems to enhance composite production. LMAT's CEO, Dr Tomasz Garstka, is a world-leading expert in composites process control and modelling, and co-leads Workstream 2 (WS2) within BladeUp. LMAT senior engineers play a key role in supporting the development and implementation of methods for WS2 and preparing them for industrial deployment.