Research InterestAki Mikkola received a Ph.D. degree in the field of machine design in 1997. Since 2002, he has been working as a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Lappeenranta University of Technology, Lappeenranta, Finland. Currently, Mikkola leads the research team of the Laboratory of Machine Design. He has worked for more than two years as a Visiting Scholar for the University of Illinois, Chicago, USA, from 2000 to 2002, and again in 2011. In addition, he worked at the University of Seville, Spain, in 2005. He has been awarded five patents, has contributed to more than 50 peer-reviewed journal papers and has presented more than 50 conference articles. His major research activities are related to flexible multibody dynamics, rotating structures, and biomechanics. Mikkola has served on several occasions as session organizer for international conferences. In the First Joint International Conference on Multibody System Dynamics that was organized in Finland during 2010, Mikkola served as Chair, together with Prof. Werner Schiehlen. He is currently a member of the Advisory Board of the Journal of Multibody System Dynamics (Springer).