Burgert Ingo

Biography

Ingo Burgert has been a Professor for Wood Materials Science, at the Institute for Building Materials in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatics Engineering, since 2011. He was born in Bad Harzburg, Germany, in 1968. Ingo Burgert studied wood science and technology at the University of Hamburg, Germany and obtained a PhD at the Institute for Wood Biology of the same university in 2000. He went on to work from 2000 to 2003 as a postdoc at the Institute of Physics and Materials Science of BOKU, the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna, Austria. From 2003 to 2011 he was research group leader “Plant Biomechanics and Biomimetics” at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Department of Biomaterials, Potsdam, Germany

Research Interest

Professor Burgert’s research focus is on the nanostructural and micromechanical characterisation of wood and fibre composites and their modification in order to optimise material properties. For this purpose Professor Burgert and his group analyse and transfer principles and mechanisms that can be found in nature to technical applications (biomimetic, bio-inspired materials). To improve the dimensional stability and durability of wood and thereby increasing its reliability as a building material, the water uptake of the cell wall needs to be reduced. Polymer chemistry and nano(bio)technological methods are utilised to modify the cell wall accordingly. These principles of cell wall modification can also be used to generate wood with new functions. This may lead to responsive materials which can be the basis for wood elements that are able to perform directed movements.