Who we are

At the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture of Ghent University numerous Mechanical Engineering courses are taught at the Laboratory Soete, going from structural analysis, over machine elements and welding to applied student projects. More information can be found under education.

Next to our educational tasks, about half of our activities concern basic research, while the other half is industrial or applied research in the fields of weld testing, fracture mechanics, tribology and fatigue.

In the field of tribology our main area of interest is the behaviour of bearing materials for large-scale applications. Over the years we have gathered the necessary experience and developed the experimental facilities to simulate the proper working conditions in such large-scale applications. For the testing of machines, welds and components in fatigue we possess a large array of servohydraulic testers, including a modular test-floor to perform both standardised as made-to-order tests.