Martin Schagerl was born in Vienna, Austria. He received the Ph.D. degree in mechanical engineering and the Habilitation degree in mechanics from the Vienna University of Technology. From 1995 to 2002, he held a university assistant position with the Institute of Mechanics, Vienna University of Technology. Awarded with a Max-Kade Fellowship, he visited the Mathematics Department, University of Maryland, USA, in 2000. Publications from this period treat mainly non-linear problems of elastic structures with geometrically exact theories. In 2002, he started to work with the Structural Analysis Department of the Aircraft Manufacturer Airbus, Hamburg, Germany. In 2009, he was appointed as a Full Professor and the Head of the Institute of Structural Lightweight Design, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria. Since 2014, he has also been the Head of the Christian Doppler Laboratory for Structural Strength Control of Lightweight Constructions. In these positions, his current research interests include static strength and fatigue life analysis of lightweight structures, effects of damages and manufacturing defects in composite materials, and mechatronic systems for structural health monitoring.