David May

Background

About David May

David May studied Industrial Engineering and Management at the Technical University of Kaiserslautern. He completed his studies with a diploma thesis on the economic efficiency of the thermoplastic tape laying process. Since then he has been an enthusiastic researcher in the field of composite materials with a strong focus on manufacturing science. In 2015, he received his doctoral degree in mechanical engineering for his thesis investigating the impregnation behavior of textile reinforcements and in 2016 became manager of the competence field "Impregnation & Preform Technologies" at the Institut für Verbundwerkstoffe GmbH. Given his interdisciplinary background, integrated product development has always been of great research interest. Since 2016, he is a lecturer at the Technical University of Kaiserslautern for the course “integrated product development with composites” and in 2020, published the corresponding text book on the topic through Springer Nature. In 2020, he was also awarded with funding from the German Ministry for Research and Education, allowing him to build up his own scientifically independent and interdisciplinary junior research group „TopComposite - topology-optimized and resource-efficient composites for mobility and transport“. With this group, which is active since March 2020, he strives to develop a new generation of fiber-reinforced polymers, which perfectly coordinates various aspects of material, process and design. In June 2021, after successful habilitation, David May received the venia legendi for "Process Engineering for Composite Materials" at the Technical University of Kaiserslautern. In 2023, he became Technical Director of the newly established Digitalization Department at IVW, focusing on digitalized material and process development. In 2024, he was appointed to the University of Bremen, where David May now represents the field of materials engineering/fiber composites/lightweight construction. As director of the Faserinstitut Bremen e.V, he conducts research on topics ranging from fibers to technical textiles to composite materials and - as part of the Airbus endowed professorship - with a particular focus on rivet-free assembly technologies for fiber composites.