Antonio Gens - Biography#

Professor Antonio Gens is a globally recognized leader in geomechnaics and geotechnical engineering. He is Emeritus Professor at the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC BarcelonaTech), where he has been Head of the Department of Geotechnical Engineering and Geosciences and member of the Governing Council of the University. He graduated from the Technical University of Madrid and obtained M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from Imperial College, London. He is also a Senior Distinguished Researcher at CIMNE.

He has been involved in geotechnical research and education throughout his career. He has led transformative research in soil and rock mechanics, coupled processes in geomaterials, and underground infrastructure. His research interests have notably included soft clays, unsaturated soils and the development of coupled multi-physics analysis, areas in which he has made seminal contributions. His work has significantly advanced the understanding of thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) behaviour in engineered barriers for nuclear waste and CO₂ sequestration. He has also made significant advances in the areas of laboratory testing, field measurements and backanalysis and constitutive and numerical modelling. Beyond academia, his research has informed major infrastructure projects, with strong influence in the areas of tunnelling, nuclear waste disposal, and resilience to natural hazards.

This work has been supported by over 50 research grants from the regional and national research councils as well as from the European Commission and private industry. He is the author or co-author of more than 400 scientific papers and he is or has been a member of the Editorial Board of twelve International Journals. He has delivered over 100 Keynote Lectures and General Reports as well as numerous Honour Lectures such as the 8th Prague Geotechnical Lecture, the Golders Associates Distinguished Lecture in Canada, the Coulomb lecture (Paris), the Šuklje lecture (Slovenia), the First Geoffrey Blight Lecture (Melbourne), the Manuel Rocha Lecture (Portugal), the Ladd Memorial Lecture (Boston), the Nabor Carrillo Lecture (Mexico), the ALERT Geomechanics Lecture (Aussois, France), the Jean Mandel Lecture (Paris), the Arrigo Croce Lecture (Rome) and the 10th Terzaghi Oration (Sydney). In 2007, he delivered the prestigious 47th Rankine Lecture.

He has been a member of the Organizing, Scientific, Advisory or Programme Committees of more than 50 International Conferences and meetings. He was member of the Board of Directors of the European Network of Laboratories ALERT: Geomechanics (1993 - 2010) and, from 2002 to 2020, he was a member of the Executive Committee of the UNESCO-sponsored International Centre for Numerical Methods in Engineering (CIMNE). He was a member of the Peer Review College of the UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and Adviser to the UK’s 2001 Research Assessment Exercise. He has served in the IACMAG Board and he has acted as referee for a large number of research grant bodies, academic appointments and promotions as well as for research prizes.