Prof. Lyesse Laloui
Prof. Lyesse Laloui is an active scientist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, EPFL. He is a member of the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences and the vice-president for Europe of the International Association of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering. He has a strong focus on sustainability and geo-energy topics. Prof. Laloui’s efforts to help meet society’s needs in areas such as climate change, renewable energy and the optimisation of natural resources have been recognized and awarded by the European Research Council with an Advanced ERC Grant, received Honorary Doctorate Causa Degrees from Heriot Watt University (UK) and Cluj Technical University (Romania), the “Excellent Contributions Award” of the International Association for Computer Methods and Advances in Geomechanics, the “Roberval Award”, the “RM Quigley Award” and delivered the “Vienna Terzaghi Lecture”, the “Vardoulakis Lecture”, the “G.A. Leonards Lecture”, and the “Kersten Lecture”. He is the Founder and Honorary Editor-in-Chief of the Elsevier Geomechanics for Energy and the Environment journal. His research portfolio includes 13 written and edited books and over 380 peer reviewed papers; resulting in more than 18000 citations. Two of his papers are among the top 1% in the field of Engineering. Prof. Laloui has given keynote and invited lectures at more than 50 leading international conferences.
Prof. Dr. Dietmar Adam
Dietmar Adam is the Head of the Institute of Geotechnics at the TU Wien (first chair Karl von Terzaghi). He obtained his PhD from TU Wien in 1996 and completed his habilitation in 2002. In 2008 he was appointed Full Professor.
Since 1992 his research covers theoretical and experimental soil dynamics, compaction control, ground improvement, innovative geo-materials, railway tamping and dynamic track stabilization, ground freezing, and energy geo-structures. He initiated numerous research projects with pioneering findings and is mentioned inventor in several patent specifications.
His research is reflected in 370+ publications and more than 270 invitations to presentations, keynote and special lectures. In 2010 he was the 2nd Kézdi Árpád Memorial Lecturer, in 2022 the 18th Nonveiller Lecturer, in 2023 the XXVIII. Széchy Károly Memorial Lecturer and in 2024 he will be awarded with the 2nd Balushev Lecture.
He received several awards, e.g., the Austrian State Award for sustainability in climate protection for transportation technologies.
He is the Secretary General of the Austrian Geotechnical Society, member of ``Technical Committees`` of the ISSMGE, expert of the commission of large dams and authorized tunneling expert of the Republic of Austria. He is Editor of the prestigious journal BAUINGENIEUR.
His consulting activities are characterized by a high degree of internationality; he has been fully responsible for 1,000+ projects in more than 40 countries.
