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Laurent received his PhD in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Manchester. He also graduated from the French Grandes Ecoles in Aerospace Engineering (Ecole Superieure des Techniques Aerospatiales-ESTA) and in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering (Ecole Speciale des Travaux Publics, du Batiment et de l’Industrie-ESTP).

He is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, a Chartered Engineer (CEng and Eur-Ing)  and the Past President of the Aeronautical Society of South Africa (AeSSA).

Laurent was titular of the Chair in Aerospace Engineering and Head of the Aerospace Research Group at the University of Pretoria (South Africa) till October 2016. He has a very long and successful experience in applied and fundamental research in international aerospace projects, such as in the FP6 European project NACRE (New Aircraft Concepts Research), where he was the Chairman of the Advisory Group. His research is based on a multi- and cross- discipline approach, combining analytical/engineering (using Asymptotic Theory for instance), experimental and computational methods.

His fields of expertise are Aerodynamics, Aeroelasticity, Aeroacoustics, Flight Mechanics and Multidisciplinary Optimisation Methods.