The Aula of Ghent University in Belgium played host to a dynamic exchange of ideas on November 24-25 at the occasion of the Young Engineers Colloquium 2023. The event, organised by the Belgian and Dutch National Groups of the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE), centres on international knowledge sharing among engineers under 35, with a regional spotlight on Belgium, the Netherlands, and neighbouring countries.
Each year, this colloquium offers young engineers the opportunity to present their research, engineering, or construction projects to an audience of fellow engineers from the structural engineering sector. It provides attendees with an overview of current research topics as well as challenging engineering and construction projects. It also serves as an excellent platform for sharing experiences between seasoned and budding engineers.
On 24 November, seven engineers from BESIX took the stage, presenting five out of the total of 36 topics discussed that day, exploring the edges of structural engineering:
- Kelvin Roovers kicked things off, discussing structural design automation for cut and cover tunnels.
- Eloïse Denis, Stef Feyers, and Simon Van Gompel delved into sustainability through parametric modeling.
- Wouter Lambrechts explored the optimization of construction sequence by anchoring cofferdams to tunnels.
- Niko Verschaeve tackled pile group effects and their impact on the design of high-rise buildings.
- Maarten Van Craenenbroeck wrapped it up with insights into the structural design and analysis of Tour Triangle. Maarten won a prize for his article!
The following day, all participants had the chance to visit BESIX’s COTU project site for the immersed tunnel segments of the Oosterweel Link in Zeebrugge. Pierre Mengeot accompanied the group of young engineers all along, as member of the IABSE scientific committee and involved in the organisation of the event.
The colloquium has consistently proven to be a melting pot of ideas and experiences and a showcase of the potential inherent in the next generation of engineers.
A heartfelt congratulations to the young BESIX engineers who represented our company with such enthusiasm and intellect at this event!