Anton Schleiss

Expertise Hydraulic and hydro-mechanical analysis of hydraulic structures (steady or unsteady flows and transient phenomena, vibration and stability problems)Planning and design of hydroelectric and irrigation schemes including dams and reservoirs; hydropower design under uncertaintyHigh speed flows on spillways and in bottom outlets; effects of aeration and cavitation; formation of shock waves; pressure fluctuationsPlanning and design of high head pressure conduits (penstocks, steel liners, shafts and tunnels, caverns)Supervision and interpretation of geotechnical site investigations for pressure tunnels and shaftSupervision and interpretation of hydraulic model testsNumerical analysis and simulation of coupled mechanical-hydraulic problems, especially in the field of high head pressure conduits under consideration of seepage phenomena through concrete lining and rock and transient operation. Design of linings in pressure tunnels and shafts.Planning and design of river flood protection measures; river morphology and river restorationReservoir management and flood forecastReservoir sedimentation, physical processes including turbidity currents, innovative technical measures for sediment removal and management of turbidity currentsRock scour due to high velocity falling plunging jets downstream of spillways and bottom outletsMitigation measures against hydropeaking downstream of dams; interaction of river morphology with aquatic biotopes Prof. Dr. Anton J. Schleiss graduated in Civil Engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1978. After joining the Laboratory of Hydraulic, Hydrology and Glaciology at ETH as a research associate and senior assistant, he obtained a Doctorate of Technical Sciences on the topic of pressure tunnel design in 1986. After that he worked for 11 years for Electrowatt Engineering Ltd. (now Pöyry) in Zurich and was involved in the design of many hydropower projects around the world as an expert on hydraulic engineering and underground waterways. Until 1996 he was Head of the Hydraulic Structures Section in the Hydropower Department at Electrowatt. In 1997, he was nominated full professor and became Director of the Laboratory of Hydraulic Constructions (LCH) in the Civil Engineering Department of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL). The LCH activities comprise education, research and services in the field of both fundamental and applied hydraulics and design of hydraulic structures and schemes. The research focuses on the interaction between water, sediment-rock, air and hydraulic structures as well as associated environmental issues and involves both numerical and physical modeling of water infrastructures. In May 2018, he became Professor emeritus at EPFL. More than 50 PhD and Postdoc research projects have been carried out under his guidance. From 1999 to 2009 he was Director of the Master of Advanced Studies (MAS) in Water Resources Management and Hydraulic Engineering held in Lausanne in collaboration with ETH Zurich and the universities of Innsbruck (Austria), Munich (Germany), Grenoble (France) and Liège (Belgium). From 2006 to 2012 he was the Head of the Civil Engineering program of EPFL and chairman of the Swiss Committee on Dams (SwissCOLD). In 2006, he obtained the ASCE Karl Emil Hilgard Hydraulic Price as well as the J. C. Stevens Award. He was listed in 2011 among the 20 international personalities that «have made the biggest difference to the sector Water Power & Dam Construction over the last 10 years». Between 2014 and 2017 he was Council member of International Association for Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research (IAHR) and he was chair of the Europe Regional Division of IAHR until 2016. For his outstanding contributions to advance the art and science of hydraulic structures engineering he obtained in 2015 the ASCE-EWRI Hydraulic Structures Medal. The French Hydro Society (SHF) awarded him with the Grand Prix SHF 2018 and the International Association for Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research (IAHR) with the Honorary membership in 2021. After having served as vice-president between 2012 and 2015 he was president of the International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD) from 2015 to 2018. In 2024 he was listed by Int. Water Power & Dam Construction presents among the 75 most influential individuals in the hydropower industry. With more than 45 years of experience he is regularly involved as a consultant and expert in large water infrastructures projects including hydropower and dams all over the world. On behalf of ICOLD he was coordinating the Hydropower Europe Forum from 2018 to 2022 funded by the EU Horizon 2020 research and innovation program and is now the coordinator of the EU project ETIP Hydropower.Awards (besides those mentioned above): ASCE-Journal of Hydraulic Engineering Outstanding Reviewer Recognition 2013ASCE-EWRI-Journal of Hydraulic Engineering 2014 Best Technical Note Teaching & PhD Past EPFL PhD Students Niki Beyer Portner, Daniel Hersberger, Christoph Oehy, Erik Bollaert, Stéphanie André, Pedro Manso, Selim Sayah, Philippe Heller, Tobias Meile, Frédéric Jordan, Burkhard Rosier, Azin Amini, Sameh Ahmad Kantoush, Alexandre José Pessanha De Oliveira Caimoto Duarte, Jolanda Maria Isabella Jenzer Althaus, Jean-Marc Ribi, Matteo Paolo Elia Antonio Federspiel, Marcelo Leite Ribeiro, Fadi Hachem, Javier García Hernández, Walter Gostner, Michael Müller, Martin Peter Bieri, Émilie Person, Théodora Cohen Liechti, Violaine Dugué, Tamara Ghilardi, Rafael Xavier Meriade Duarte, Ana Margarida Da Costa Ricardo, José Pedro Gamito de Saldanha Calado Matos, Sebastián Guillén Ludeña, Stéphane Terrier, Mona Jafarnejad Chaghooshi, David Ferràs Segura, Mohammad Javad Ostad Mirza, Elena Battisacco, Irene Almeida Samora, Alexandre Jean Pachoud, Sabine Chamoun, Fränz Zeimetz, Sebastian Schwindt, Felix Oberrauch, Nicolas Jean Adam, Davide Wüthrich, Jessica Zordan, Paloma Furlan Past EPFL PhD Students as codirector Severin Stähly Awards Hydraulic Structures Medal 2015 Karl Emil Hilgard Hydraulic Prize 2006 Honorary Membership Award 2021